LOOK BEFORE YOU LABEL~Max Lucado

Here below is the 25th chapter of Max Lucado's Book, " A Gentle Thunder" (Hearing God through the storm).

Be Blessed,

YSIC

Julia

LOOK BEFORE YOU LABEL

~Max Lucado~

Caring or Condemning? 

Recently we took our kids on a vacation to a historical city. While going on a tour through an old house, we followed a family from New York City. They didn’t tell me they were from New York. They didn’t have to. I could tell. They wore New York City clothes. Their teenager had one half of his head shaved and on the other half of his head, his hair hung past his shoulders. The daughter wore layered clothes and long beads. The mother looked like she’d raided her daughter’s closet, and the dad’s hair was down the back of his neck.

I had them all figured out. The kid was probably on drugs. The parents were going through a midlife crisis. They were rich and miserable and in need of counseling. Good thing I was nearby in case they wanted spiritual counsel.
After a few moments they introduced themselves. I was right; they were from New York City. But that is all I got right. When I told them my name, they were flabbergasted. “We can’t believe it!” they said. “We've read your books. We use them in our Sunday school class in church. I tried to get over to hear you when you spoke in our area, but that was our family night and ...”
Sunday school? Church? Family night? Oh, boy. I’d made a mistake. A big mistake. I’d applied the label before examining the contents.
We've all used labels. We stick them on jars and manila folders so we’ll know what’s inside. We also stick them on people for the same reason.
John tells of a time the disciples applied a label. Jesus and his followers came upon a man who had been blind from birth. Here is the question the disciples asked Jesus: “Teacher, whose sin caused this man to be born blind-his own sin or his parents’ sin?” (John 9:2).
     Never mind that the man is a beggar in need of help. Never mind that the man has spent his life in a dark cave. Never mind that the man seated in front of them is in earshot of their voices. Let’s talk about his sin.
      How could they be so harsh? So insensitive? So... blind.
      The answer? (You may not like it.) It’s easier to talk about a person than to help a person. It’s easier to debate homosexuality than to be a friend to a gay person. It’s easier to discuss divorce than to help the divorced. It’s easier to argue abortion than to support an orphanage. It’s easier to complain about the welfare system than to help the poor.
      It’s easier to label than to love.
      Is that to say we should be unconcerned for doctrine or lax in a desire for holiness?

Absolutely not.

That is to say there is something wrong with applying the label before examining the contents.
      It’s easier to label than to love.

      It’s especially easy to talk theology.

Such discussion makes us feel righteous.

Self-righteous. 
      As long as I’m confessing sins, I might as well confess another. WE had such a theological discussion in Brazil. We missionaries debated whether we should offer Communion to people who are not members of our church. Our reasoning? What if they aren’t faithful? What if they aren’t truly converted? If we offer them Communion, we could be leading them to eat the bread or drink of the cup in an unworthy manner, thereby leading them to sin (see 1 Cor 11:27). So we decided that first-time visitors could not partake.

      We meant well. It sounded right. But I learned a lesson.
      Guess what happened. That very week a friend told me he would like to visit the church. The same friend I had been inviting for weeks. The same friend who had shown no interest was suddenly interested. At first I was elated; then my heart sank. I told him he could come, but he could not partake of Communion.
       As long as I live, I’ll never forget the look on his face as he passed the Communion plate to the person next to Him. He never returned. Who could blame him? We’d applied the label before we looked inside.

      Is that to say religious discussion is wrong?

Of course not.

Is that to say we should be unconcerned for doctrine or lax in a desire for holiness?

Absolutely not.

That is to say there is something wrong with applying the label before examining the contents.

Do you like it when people label you before they know you?

“Hmm, you’re an accountant?” (Translation: Must be dull.)
“She’s an Episcopalian.” (Translation: Must be liberal.)
“She’s an Episcopalian who voted for the democrats.” (Translation: Must be a liberal beyond help.)
“Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t know you were a divorcee.” (Translation: Must be immoral.)
He’s a fundamentalist.” (Translation: Narrow-minded half-wit.)

        Labels. A fellow gave me one the other day. We got into a lively discussion about some ethical issues. Somewhere in our conversation he asked me what kind of work I was in. I told him I was minister, and he said “Oh I see,” and grew silent.
        I wanted to say, “No you don’t. Don’t you put me in a box. I’m not a minister. I am Max-who-ministers. Don’t you put me in a box with hucksters and hypocrites you may know. That’s not fair.”
        Labels. So convenient. Stick them on a person, and you know what pantry to use.
       What if God did that with us? What if God judged us by our outward appearance?

(Thank God He does not do that!!!)

What if he judged us based on where we grew up? Or what we did for living? Or the mistakes we made when we were young? Would He do that, would He?
        “Don’t judge other people. Or you will be judged. You will be judged in the same way you judge others, and the amount you give to others will be given to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2).
Be careful when you judge. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discern. That does mean we shouldn’t pass verdict. The amount of grace you give is the amount of grace you get.       Jesus had another view of a man born blind. Rather than see him as an opportunity for discussion, he saw him as an opportunity for God. Why was he blind? “ So God’s power could be shown in him.” (John 9:3).
       What a perspective! That man wasn’t a victim of fate; he was a miracle waiting to happen. Jesus didn’t label him. He helped him. Jesus was more concerned about the future than the past.
       Who do you best relate to in this story? Some of you relate to the man born blind. You have been the topic of conversations. You have been left on the outside looking in. You’ve been labeled.
        If so, learn what this man learned: When everyone else rejects you, Christ accepts you. When everyone else leaves you, Christ finds you. When no one else wants you, Christ claims you. When no one else will give you the time of day, Jesus will give you the words of eternity.

       Others of you will relate to the observers.

You’ve judged. You’ve labeled. You’ve slammed the gravel and proclaimed the guilt before knowing the facts.

If that is you, go back to John 9:4 and understand what the work of God is: “While it is daytime we must continue doing the work of the one who sent me.”
        What is the work of God?

Accepting people.

Loving before judging.

Caring before condemning.
        LOOK BEFORE YOU LABEL.

~Max Lucado~