Labels

I am Christian

I am a son, husband, father, friend, son-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, cousin, colleague, pastor, preacher, writer…

I am male

I am white

I am conservative

I try to avoid labels – they are generally unhelpful and counterproductive. No one label is adequate to fully define me or you or anyone. Even the label Christian, which should be pretty clear, has been blurred by the extremes.

Over the past few days, I have seen a number of people use the tragic events of this past week to paint with very broad strokes. While I have not been personally attacked, I have seen folks in the news and on social media make very broad generalizations about people who share some of my same labels - and for the record, I have not unfriended anyone (although there are a few who I put in “time out” occasionally).

When we all witnessed the violent destruction that took place across our Nation this past summer (that went on for weeks and weeks and even months in some cities), many of these same people regularly reminded us not to judge an entire group of people by the heinous behavior of a few. I agreed then and I agree now. I am also aware that there are those who will condemn me for even daring to draw a correlation between the two. I encourage anyone who is tempted to do so to go back and read what I have written.

Those who know me best and love me most know who I am and what I stand for. I am proud that I have friends across broad theological, political, and social spectrums.

I believe that the vast majority of us are good, loving people who want what is best for our families, our communities, our country and our world. But, make no mistake, evil does exist in this world. There are those who want to divide us. They exist at the fringe of our society. They love labels because that is how they divide and conquer. They work every day to sow seeds of hate and division.

The funny thing about seeds is that they need a conducive environment in which to grow.

I love beautiful, lush green grass in a lawn or on a golf course. Strong, healthy grass can easily choke out weed seeds. But, once weeds take hold, the only way to truly remove them is to rip them out by their roots.

We all have to ask ourselves - what kind of seeds we are planting? What kind of soil are we preparing? Seeds of love, care and compassion will always choke out seeds of hate, fear and despair.