MAX ON LIFE

58. I'm troubled by the vestiges of racism in the church. Our congregation seems oblivious to the whole topic. It's never mentioned. didn't Jesus address it?

He certainly did.
He told the story of an affluent white man who was driving home from his downtown office. Since the hour was late and he was tired, he took the direct route, which led through the roughest part of the city. Wouldn't you know it - he ran out of gas. While walking to the convenience store, he was mugged and left for dead on the sidewalk.
A few minutes later a preacher drove by on the way to the evening church service. He saw the man on the sidewalk and started to help but then realized it would be too dangerous to stop.
Soon thereafter a respected seminary professor came by and saw the man but decided it was best not to get involved.
Finally, an old Hispanic immigrant driving a beat-up truck saw the man, stopped, and took him to the hospital. He paid the hospital bill and went on his way.
I altered the characters but not Jesus' question: "Which.... was a neighbor to the man?" (Luke 10:36) The answer? The man who responded with kindness. Neighborliness, then, is not defined by where you live but how you love. Your neighbor is not just the person in the next house but the one who needs your help. Your neighbor may be the person you've been taught not to love. For the Jew in the days of Jesus, it was a Samaritan.
For an Israeli today, it is a Palestinian.
For an Arab, a Jew.
For a black male, how about a pickup-driving, gun-toting, tobacco-chewing, baseball cap-wearing redneck?
For the Hispanic poor, how about the Hispanic affluent? For any Hispanic, how about the person who called you "wetback"?
For a white, the one who called you "gringo".
And for the black, the one who called you "boy".
Loving your neighbor is loving the person you used to hate.
A Christian has no excuse for prejudice. The prejudice of pagans can be explained, but in the case of a Christian, there is no explanation. No justification. We will never cross a cultural barrier greater than the one Jesus did. He learned our language, he lived in our world, he ate our food.... but most of all he took on our sins. How can we, who have been loved so much, not do the same for others? Those who find it hard to reach across racial differences should think twice. Unless they are Jews, a foreigner died on the cross for their sins.

By? Max Lucado