Dear Friends and Family,

Before becoming a pastor, I took a business trip to India that I will never forget.

On this particular trip, I was introduced to India’s caste system – where one’s place in society, the jobs one can take and the person one can marry are determined before one is even born.

I recall going to our country director’s country club for tea. By world standards, it was impressive – a place for the rich and famous.

When the conversation turned to the subject of hiring staff, he pointed to our server and said that, as good as she was at her job, she would never be more than a server.

Although he knew nothing about her, her work revealed her status in society. And society told her and everyone else that she would never get ahead.

As we later drove around the city and passed the many untouchables living in conditions worst than cows, it was apparent that our server was actually one of the fortunate ones.

Why am I sharing all this about a caste system? We don’t have such a system here in America. Or do we?

Although it may not have a formal name, we have a practice that essentially does the same thing. We stereotype others.

We assume people are a certain way based on broad generalizations. 

Then we treat them according to who we think they are. And we do all this with little to no personal knowledge.

Now, this is not a message about racism or discrimination.

This is about the seemingly harmless act of stereotyping certain kinds of people – in particular those who are not like us.

For example, we are currently in a season when elections dominate the news and our conversations.

Have you ever been in a conversation when you realize the other person has an opposing view of who should be the next President?

Did you feel like sticking a label on their forehead?

When people are not like us, we tend to stray from them, keep them at arms length and not look at them.

The result is we struggle to ‘see’ and love them.

So, what can we do to stop stereotyping others?

One way is to see others as Jesus sees them.

Let’s remember that, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

So, how can we see a person’s heart, and not their gender, race, culture or beliefs?

Let me answer by sharing another experience. 

I once took our company’s Shanghai staff out for dinner and drinks.

The best word to describe how the evening started is the word – stiff.

Everyone was stiff. We all came with a stereotype of each other – preconceived notions poured into us by our respective societies.

I was the ugly American. They were communists.

By the end of the evening, they were no longer evil communists. And I’m pretty sure I wasn’t as ugly as they first thought.

We were just normal people enjoying each other’s company. All because we spent the evening talking about the many things we had in common.

And those preconceived notions that caused us to stereotype each other were replaced with a clearer picture of our true hearts.

The truth is all who bear the image of God have more in common than differences. Let’s look first for what we have in common.

This may help stop the stereotyping. And free us to be kinder and more loving towards others. 

In love always,