by Rich DuBose
If we are to get anything from Scripture, it is this--that we are our brother's and sister's keepers, and that we are to be kind to "strangers."
“Do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another” (Zachariah 7:10).
“The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, But He thwarts the way of the wicked” (Psalm 146).
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).
The anonymous faces we pass on the streets and in stores bear a strong resemblance to our own because we are strangers to them. They are but a reflection of us. If we could re-trace the steps of each one's journey--all the way back to the moment they came out of their mother's womb, we would find a vulnerable infant lying in their mother's arms, or in a hospital nursery, or on a mid-wife's lap, or in a dumpster, or in a sterile orphanage bed, desperately wanting to be touched and loved. They didn't ask to be born--nor were they given the opportunity to pick their parents, or their socio-economic status. Like everyone else, we simply came out--to be loved, hated, cherished, abused, or killed.
In God's order there are no strangers, no unidentified persons--no dominant, preferred players. Everyone counts equally, and everyone deserves to be loved. Everyone can be traced back to their Creator. Prejudice is the incredible denial of one's own origins--the ultimate proclamation of one's ignorance! Acting with exclusivity and prejudice is not only abusive to others, but to oneself. It’s like taking a bullhorn and shouting to the world, "I AM STUPID!"
Prejudice is ignorance on steroids, because it ignores the universal truth that all are loved by God, and that all are equal in His sight (Romans 2:11).
Gene Stratton-Porter once said, "Do you know that being a stranger is the hardest thing that can happen to any one in all this world?” It's hard because we were created to love--to interact with one another in intimate and lasting ways.
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California. Photograph by Ridwan Gupta, with Pexels.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture usage is taken from the New Living Translation (NLT), copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.