He loves all people

"People are interesting." Abigail Minderman

I meet a lot of interesting people at the church I attend.  People of all kinds are attracted to my church because of many reasons but especially because, "There are people that look like me here." My new friend Lauren, whom I met over the weekend at church, said that to me when I asked her what drew her to The Life Church.  I thought that was an interesting answer and as she told me more about her interesting life I began to understand what she ment.

Churches are interesting in general.  Its not necessarily their belief system or how they worship but its the people that they attract.  There's an interesting billboard on Germantown Parkway that reads something like, "Sunday shouldn't be the most segregated day of the week." We've come such a long way since segregation, yet we haven't come very far at all.

You see my friend Lauren is part of a bi-racial couple.  She was telling me about the church that her mother attends and the church that his parents attend and neither of them for one reason or another felt comfortable in the other family's church. Its unfortunate that people would ever feel uncomfortable in church but its especially terrible if they are uncomfortable because of the color of their skin.

I grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood, church and school, everyone looked like me.  I wasn't raised to dislike anyone but I really didn't have any access to anyone that didn't look like me until I was much older and even then I didn't understand what all the hype was about.  I had studied enough anatomy and physiology to know that we were the same on the inside and even now with the Human Genome Project we have discovered that 99% of all of us is exactly the same.

If 99% of each of us is the same, why do we focus on the 1% that's not?  Why are we making people feel uncomfortable about the color of their skin?

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 139:14, it says: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."  The Almighty Creator made each and everyone of us, perfectly in His image.  Church shouldn't be a place where people feel inferior or self-conscious because the color of their skin or that they've come from another side of town or they don't have a newer car.  Churches should be accepting of all people because the Son accepted all people. 

The Son was interested in interesting people. He loved people that didn't look or talk like him.  He welcomed the poor and disabled.  He fed hungry people and offered help to the broken and if we are to call ourselves His followers then we ought too as well.

I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone and engage someone who is different then you.  You might find out that they are as interesting as you are.