Labels
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Freshman year of college found me learning all about bulk mailing.
The job was for the recruiting office at the college. My job was to prepare all the promotional mail going to prospective students. I was given the materials: the envelopes and the labels. I faithfully placed the labels on envelopes and placed the material in the envelopes. The material than had to be sorted by zip code and placed together in order to get the bulk mailing rate.
During a recent trip, I reflected on that first job while I was people watching in an airport. I like people watching. There are all sorts of people in the world that come in all shapes and sizes. They dress in all sorts of ways and have all sorts of facial expressions as they navigate the airport.
As I did this, I realized that, sadly, I was guilty of using my pass time to label people.
John 9:1-2 tells of the time that the disciples labeled someone.
Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And his disciples asked Him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind.
Instead of compassion, they wanted to get into a theological discussion about who should get the sinner label applied to them. At times, I think we have all been guilty of this. We worry about labels instead of worry about showing love or compassion.
Labels instead of love.
Jesus was very clear when He said we should love God with all our heart, and we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Two commandments that encapsulate the 10 Commandments. Jesus was and is totally against labels that limit the ability to love. Instead, He wants to place on each of us the label that declares that we are His heirs of the kingdom.
Let Jesus place his label on you, and when He does we will be much less likely to label others and much more able to love.