Unconsciously, we tend to have a bias towards people who are different from us.  Before we know them as individuals, we’ve already labeled them. These feelings grow, fear becomes anger and judgement.  Divisions grow deeper and poison our communities.  

This story is a telling example.  A rebel took to the streets.  He recruited others to join him.  They quit their jobs.  They left their families.  They challenged authority. They made a lot of people uneasy.  Community leaders feared them.  Religious leaders abhorred them.  Law enforcement labeled them outlaws.  Shut them down, they said.  Protect our communities from these troublemakers.  But this gang wasn’t spreading hate.  They were spreading love*.

This could be the story of Jesus and his disciples.  They too were wrongly judged. The established church saw only rebels that threatened their way of life.  You see, Jesus was there.  He “gets it” when we also are wrongly judged.  He understands. 

Have you been misunderstood?  Have you been put down for what you do and say?  Take your trial to Jesus.  He “gets it.”  He understands.

Judy

*Story adapted from from HeGetsUs LLC.  A religious advertising campaign by The Servant Christian Foundation.