Labels, and I’m Not Talking Brand Names
A stereotype is a type of logical oversimplification in which all the members of a class or set are considered to be definable by an easily distinguishable set of characteristics. The term is often used with a negative connotation, as stereotypes can be used to deny individuals respect or legitimacy based on their membership in a particular group.
Earlier this week I experienced the harsh reality of what it is like to be judged and lumped into a group of people. I can honestly say that I have not had much experience being on the “other side”of the stereotyping, and this was the first time that the reality of who I am was brought to the surface. My first reaction was to crawl under a table and hide. I felt the tears well up in my eyes as the anger and hurt consumed me. How could someone be so careless with their words? How could someone that I care about feel that way? Why does every great quality I have get overlooked because of one single characteristic? How could a Christian be so unforgiving? Why does my past have to effect my future??
I want to challenge all of us to think about how, in our everyday lives, we judge our friends, our neighbors, our peers. We issue snap judgements on peoples clothes, their jobs, their skin color, their actions and their backgrounds. We may not say anything or take action, but we think it. It is easy to say that we aren’t biased and that we wouldn’t change our actions based on a stereotype. But, honestly, we all do.
Stereotyping goes way beyond race and gender. Consider conversations you have had about people from the next town, another department in your company, supporters of other football teams, and so on.
What I realized through this is that education goes a long way. It becomes more difficult to pass judgement when a characteristic has a face. I am praying that by getting to know me and understanding my story, the opinion has been changed. It will be a personal challenge for me to walk from this day forward knowing that whether or not I like it, I will have a label. A label that no matter what I do to better myself, learn from, or try to push into my past I will always have it. A label that may limit the people who are willing to be apart of my life….
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:5-7
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