June 9, 2007

I often wonder about the labels we apply to people based on their ethnicity, background, preferences, or social class.  A few years ago, we had a family attending our church who lived in the “rich” neighborhood near us.  He was a financial planner and she was an attorney.  They had memberships at swanky tennis club and golf clubs.  They lived on a lake in a big house.  She had the degree from law school. 

She had asked me if we could get together, and all I could think about was the huge disparity in our backgrounds.  She had it all together.  What could I possibly offer her?  I was intimidated by the thought of a relationship with someone whose life experience was so different from mine.  So, I kept my distance.  For a variety of reasons, they didn’t stay at our church. 

Fast forward to last weekend.  I had the experience of interacting for several hours (at my home) with people who grew up in Detroit.  This, too, intimidated me, but in a different way.  After the event, I received a phone call thanking me.  In the conversation, I was told that one of the family members was nervous about being around “white people.”  They thought we’d think they were “thugs” because they were African American.  I laughed and told her that I was afraid they would think ill of me because I was white. 

I guess I typed all that to think aloud about the labels we wear and the labels we put on other people.  Will we ever get to the point where we’re ready to shed them and just look at the person for who they are and who God intends them to be?