We had a great start to our fall high school season last night as we kicked of our Labels series and had a crazy mattress race. Teams of 6-7 students had to race about 2/3 of a mile away from the church wile carying mattresses AND being chased by one of our four hunters. The racers made mince meat of the hunters this year, but it was still a fun event.
When we returned to church we launched our Labels series with a great and hilarious video our team put together. You can find it on the video bar to the right of this post, or go here. We talked about the labeling we are constantly doing to people. We see or meet someone and right away we're slapping a label on them. Cool, fat, nerd, jock, etc. We may not know them at all, or only know them a little, but we make a total judgement call on who they really all based on very little. When we think of someone as simply a label we really miss who they truly all. This happens not only all the time in our schools, but in the church as well. A recent study showed that 88% of Americans view church as a judgmental place. 88%!!! Thats really sickening if you ask me. The institution founded by Jesus, who suffered and died on the cross so we would NOT have to be judged guilty of our sins, is roundly regarded as a place of judgment. Oh how far from the path of Christ we have wondered! We talked about how we know this to be the case even in our own church. Some in the older generation are quick to slap the label of "disrespectful" on the younger generation because of the way they dress and the type of worship music they prefer, while the younger generation is quick to reject all "old people" (they're term, not mine, so spare me the emails please!) as being outdated, out of touch, and not worth much. Both views are totally wrong, and are prime examples of labeling. We judge without really knowing someone's true heart. My favorite example of Jesus' rejection of labeling and judging comes from the Parable of the Good Samaritan, found in Luke 10. There Jesus is asked "who is my neighbor," which really meant "who do I have to treat with respect, and who can I just label as a sinner and treat like total garbage." To respond Jesus tells this story of how a Jewish man lay beaten on the side of the road and two Jewish religious leaders both walked by, saw him, and chose not to help him. However, a Samaritan man, chooses to go above and beyond to nurse the man to a health. Samaritans were the sworn enemy of the Jews, with Jews believing that even getting dust on your feet that had also touched a Samaritan was sinful, so deep was the hate. Jesus sums it all up by saying that everyone is our neighbor. No one deserves to simply be labeled, judged, and rejected, because we are all God's handywork. To simplify someone down to a label is really to say "oh great work on THAT person God! You really screwed that one up!" We wrapped up with a couple of video clips that taught us that we need to 1) stop the judging and 2) realize that all people are God's handywork.
