"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.
James 2:1-4
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Do you remember in the movie West Side Story, Anita sings to Maria, "Stick to your own kind, one of your own kind..."?
I'm glad I have not followed that advice in my life. When I was in grade school, I was fascinated by my Jewish friend's matzo sandwiches during Passover. Not one of my own kind, but my friend to this day. I'll admit, I didn't have an African-American friend until high school. Not because I came from a racist family. Unfortunately, that's just the way it was back then. My horizons broadened during college, but not a lot.
I taught in a rural WV community for 3 years. I was in my 20's and knew everything and was quite superior and my first impression was "these poor country people." Well, guess what? Those poor country people had plenty to teach me!
Over the years, I made many friends via my children and their activities. I discovered over and over again that people who I first judged as a little rough around the edges were the very ones who would give you the shirt off their backs and would work long hours to send their kids on a band trip or make sure a sports team had a coach and uniforms.
Some years ago, a Muslim woman was my substitute co-teacher for a year. We could easily share our faiths with each other and were eager to learn from each other. I consider her a precious sister.
Jesus said, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit._ (Matthew 28:19). Notice he said ALL THE NATIONS. He didn't say, "Go minister to people just like you."
Stick to your own kind? No thanks!
Anita Gardner Farrell
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