Daily Bread

"You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder,' and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with someone, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult someone, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the fires of Gehenna. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that someone has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to them, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with them, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny."

People matter to God. No, people *really* matter to God.

I don't know if you're familiar with the term 'othering' people. This is where we label people, usually in a derogatory way, putting them in a category of 'other' which dehumanises them. In terms of the words used, there are two ways 'othering' can be deployed. The first is to use a correct term such as 'migrant' and then culturally shape the word so it becomes a derogatory word in its own right, for example, when calling someone a migrant is used to categorise them as undesirable. The second is much more subtle and seemingly innocuous, where an incorrect term is used to label someone, for example, calling a person 'horrible'.

Something I've been trying to do in my own walk with God is to try and see people as God sees them, and not 'other' them (even if this is something they do to others). For example, I often hear of well-known people such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, and Mark Driscoll being labelled as 'evil' or 'toxic'.

Now, let me clear. I am in no way endorsing or condoning the words or behaviour of any of these individuals, some of which has been truly horrific, prejudicial, and harmful. What I am saying is that God still loves them. God may not love what they say or do (and that is true for all of us) but they are still — in their inmost being, as created humans — beloved children of God. There is no-one that God cannot redeem and transform through the power of love.

As Christians we must remember that God so loved the world that God sent Jesus to save humanity, and we must also remember the commands of Jesus to love our enemies. We do not get to play God and condemn others, no matter what they have said or done.

One of the saddest examples of othering within Christianity is the use of the word 'evangelical' which simply means to regard the Bible as having authority, however, it has a different meaning in contemporary culture, where it is used to other a group of people who hold conservative religious views. People also mistakenly use it when they talk about those who are passionate about sharing the gospel, when they meant to use the word 'evangelistic'.

The point is, that Jesus reminds us we must be careful not to call someone 'Raca' (meaning 'fool') because when we do so we are taking the place of God. Yes, we must absolutely call out someone's language and behaviour, but the damage done by labelling or othering people can be immense.

Bringing it down to an example we may all be more familiar with, when I was a child with ADHD I was labelled by my teachers as 'lazy' and 'naughty' as if this was who I was — and this affected how other children and teachers treated me. I believed them and took this to the core of my being. Yes, there were times when I was being lazy or acting naughtily, but this did not define me. I was also able to be honest, sensitive, kind, and caring, and exhibit a whole host of other character traits.

I'm not perfect, and I repeatedly fail at my task to love others as God loves them, and I confess that behind closed doors there are times when I swear under my breath and call others names or inappropriately and unhelpfully label them — but I am trying my best to 'label' their words and behaviour and not them as fellow God-loved human beings.

Holy God
There have been times
when I have labelled people
who are loved by you.
Help me to distinguish
between the person
you have created
and their words and behaviour.
Yet, may I continue to
stand against injustice
and protect the rights
of those who are
being harmed by others.
Now and forever.