Lately I’ve had the opportunity to speak to individuals about “Bridging the Gap of the Racial Divide.” This is a hot topic especially with all that is happening in our world today. If we lived in a better world, people would not judge anyone by the color of their skin or by their wealth and ethnicity. Unfortunately, these are the times we live in and we must look to what the gospel says concerning these issues.

On one occasion Jesus was asked by the scribes which of the commandments was the most important? (Mark 12) If Jesus picks one, he could be guilty of picking and choosing the wrong one. Jesus was ready and his answer deconstructed the entire approach of theirs to the Torah.

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ‘ the second is this: “love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  (Mark 12:29-31). 

 What Jesus said to the religulous of his day was this: You are fixated on your love of Torah and judging others by whether or not they live up to your standards and your rulings, but what you must understand is that God gave us a Torah of love.”

What God wants is for us to Love Him but also to love others, and if we do that everything else will fall in line.  Jesus even goes as far as challenging us to “love our enemies.” 

The question I usually get with this one is how can I love someone or show love to someone who doesn’t want it? How can I speak love to someone who hates me and my color  or ethnicity and doesn’t want anything to do with me?  My answer?  Pray for them! Pray for them every day. Ask God to prepare that persons heart so that one day you can encounter that person and get to know them and their history too. So many times, we want to be heard, but are we willing to learn from them and their history and why they feel the way they feel?  At the end of the day, I can’t control how anyone feels, but I can control my own. My job is not to win the conversation, but to win the relationship. Small steps lead to small progress and as we trust in God’s word, we will see that it shall come to pass.

Is there anyone that needs to experience God’s love through you today? Pray!  Here is a quote from one of my favorite authors, Scott McKnight in his book called: ONE.LIFE:

“Without love, society becomes a chaos of individuals.

Without love, society becomes a free-for -all.

Without love, society ceases being society.With love, society becomes community.

With love, society becomes one for all and all for one. 

With love, society becomes kingdom.”

 Let’s Love them Anyways! 

Prayer:  “Lord today I take the time to pray for all my brothers in sisters in Christ. I pray that you will use us to be the light that you called us to be so that we can bridge the gap within our communities. I pray Lord for those who don’t understand why unity is important and pray for those who have been hurt somehow during life in general. Help us love on them and show them what your kingdom is about. May we shine like Jesus in order to show others that there is hope for this world.   Amen!”