Turn on the TV or open social media. Outrage pours out the screen at you. The problem with almost instant information is people develop ill-formed opinions based on that (first-choice bias) and feel the need to share it.
Emotions spread like wildfire then. When your only source of information is what you get from a screen, it causes a fragmented perspective. Honestly, most of us would be better served if we tossed them out the window.
News of protests crossed the country based on shallow information and were mostly unfounded. Fear rose as I heard people around me saying they would plow through the human road block, claiming to ‘be in fear for my life’. It’s cultivating a sense of Us versus Them.
This Should Not Be!
It’s ignorant foolishness.
Earlier that day, I was with the homeless ministry. We had a large group of people of all ages ready to serve. Multigenerational, kids to seniors. Various cultures and backgrounds were present: Deaf, poor whites and blacks, middle class whites and blacks, along with the well-off; all present to feed, care for, and love on the poor and homeless.
Those we served spanned the color scheme. Asian, Black, Latino, White, didn’t matter to us. We saw people in need, that was what was important, not any culturally given line of division.
There is an inordinate amount of focus on the bad lately. It’s easy to get scared if you’re only seeing it from an edited third-hand source such as the news or opinion. Instead, get involved with a group that crosses boundaries rather than creates them.
What Would Jesus Say?
In Jesus there aren’t any cultural divisions. Christians are adopted as God’s Children, renewed. There isn’t a distinction between nationality, race, culture, or how much someone makes, but Christ is all, and in all (Col 3:11). That’s our identity. The ground at the cross is level, no lines, no segregation. Heaven is multicultural.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9 NIV
Our mission is to bring as many with us to Heaven before we go ourselves. We can’t do this by being brats and refusing to play with others. Love your neighbor isn’t a suggestion. Turn off the vitriol and go be a positive force of light in the darkness.
A Ronin's Journey 