See Me as an Individual

You must see people as individuals and not as a group.” That phrase was stated in a video at the Auschwitz exhibit at the Reagan Library by a survivor of Auschwitz. He, along with others in the video were pleading for the listener to never allow something as horrific as the Holocaust to ever occur again. This quote has haunted me. I have in my lifetime judged people because of the group that they associate or belong. As I have grown and matured, I have discovered that not only is it wrong to judge people with their groups, but I don’t identify completely with the agenda that people thwart on my groups.  As I see the world changing, I have noticed that many people today judge others as a group. 

Let me ask you a question. Do you want to live in Florida? Your answer will reveal if you judge people as a group or individuals. I chose that state because so many people, including my students, judge the state according to what the media says about it. I hear the following phrases: “People in Florida are racist.” “People in Florida are homophobic.” “People in Florida are crazy or stupid.” I do take a slight offense at these statements as that is the state in which I grew up. 

I had a beautiful education in Florida in a diverse city with a diverse school, but I still get the “look” when I tell people that I grew up in Florida. By the way, I know people today in Florida who are anti-racists, homosexuals, and highly intelligent. I lived there. I know individuals. Now that I live in Los Angeles, people ask me if I know a movie star. Some people think I am crazy for living here. I wonder if it is where I live that gets labeled as a place that has crazy people. Hmm…

When we don’t see people as individuals, we become arrogant and believe we are superior. It’s how it all started in the Holocaust. It sounded so good. It was so wrong. We have judged groups of people on their ethnicity. We have judged the entire church because a few horrible evil people infiltrated themselves into the church and did evil acts. I struggled with the church as an entity, until I realized that I too was part of the problem. 

So, what do we do? Do we just shift our thinking? In a way, yes. We must see people as individuals. It starts with getting to know individuals. It requires asking questions, and it requires you to look at yourself more than you do at others. 

If you see an entire group of people as one way, you need to get to know individuals within that group. I would encourage getting to know people in-person rather than online because we can hide our true identity online. We can lie as we sit behind a computer better than we can in-person because people can evaluate our body language and our inflection in our voices. We are more honest and truer to who we are in-person. 

Join groups where these groups may exist. Serve in your community to get to know various people groups. You will be surprised that when you get to know individuals, that your point of view as them as a group was skewed because the media you follow only sees the point of view as a group, not individuals. 

Ask questions. People in our current society do not like questions because they either fear they don’t have the answer, or the question is revealing the truth. The most successful people and the most intelligent people ask questions. Don’t ask questions with people who agree with your point of view but to those who have a different point of view than you. You may learn something. Don’t argue. Listen. Listen to understand. You don’t have to agree, but you will be wiser when you leave the conversation. 

Judge yourself more than you do others. Look and see your own sins rather than worrying about the sins of someone you have never met and will never meet. What flaws do you fear people will see in you? Do people judge you as a group with those flaws? Why do you insist to put other people’s flaws on a public forum but hid your flaws? Ask yourself those questions. You may realize that the work you must do in this life to make the world a better place is to work on yourself. 

 

Find something about yourself that goes against what the mob mentality says about you because you are part of a specific group of people because of your ethnicity, gender, age, religion, or political affiliation. When you are able to see that you are not who the group says you are, then you must deduct that other people in other groups are not who society has said they are either.  

Take some time to get to know people as individuals. Start seeing the evil that people do as an individual and not as a group. Find the similarities that you have with someone who is different than you. Maybe, just maybe the mob mentality of the media has lied so much that we have begun to believe the lie. Let’s turn around and find and listen to the truth. May we never be so ignorant in our society to allow an atrocity like the Holocaust to ever occur again. 

 

Free Isn't Free

 This last Saturday, we went to the Angels baseball game as per usual with our season tickets. We left early knowing there would be a line for the “free” giveaway. We were about two hours ahead of the game starting. It was sold out. The line to get into the stadium wrapped around the entire stadium. We were in the back. The reason? That “free” giveaway was a Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout bobblehead. That’s right. The two greatest players in baseball, and they had a “free” giveaway to that game. People were more excited about the bobbleheads than the game, but were they really free? 

Someone somewhere has to pay for what you receive for free. Those bobbleheads were sponsored by two of the companies that advertise at Angel Stadium. The price of the ticket is always higher on a giveaway night, so the consumer also pays for the “free” gift. I watched people get their bobbleheads and leave. What? That’s not free at all! That’s how many people treat the freedom that we have in our country and with Jesus. They take it and go about their business and hoard the freedom for themselves. 

Over two hundred years ago, men fought on the battlefield for their freedom from the ruler of the king of England. They wanted to be free to choose what to believe, think, vote for their own leaders, and not have a leader who is just born into the job, and freedom to choose their own career. The battles were gruesome, but we have benefitted from those lives as we enjoy those freedoms today. 

We are not a perfect country because we are a country full of people, and unfortunately, a country filled with imperfect people. We have made mistakes in the past, and we are trying to make those wrongs right as we are evolving in our knowledge and wisdom. No country is perfect. No country will agree with everyone on everything. If there is a country like that, then you need to stay away because either the residents are robots, brainwashed, or waiting for the chance to have an uprising. 

We cannot just take our freedom and hoard it. We must stay in the game and bring others into our space with freedom for them too. With freedom comes responsibility. We must have a value system that keeps others from harm. Violence is not a sign of freedom with people being able to do what they want, but a lack of responsibility with the freedom to choose because they are harming others. With our responsibility, we can make the right choices, and others will want the freedom that we have. 

Over two thousand years ago, Jesus died for our sins and gave us freedom from sin. We cannot just take that freedom and go and live by ourselves. We must share that freedom with others. We must stay and cheer for the team to be better with their freedom and grace. We must share the love of Jesus with others with our actions, and sometimes, we should use words. 

With those inside the church who have the freedom that Jesus gives, we must have grace and mercy. Jesus gave us grace and mercy with his sacrifice on the cross. Only a person with no sin could save us from our sins, as the Israelites had to sacrifice a perfect lamb for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was that perfect sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed his life for the people in prison, the strange people on social media, and the people inside the church who judge and are authoritarian. 

No church is perfect because it has people inside it. People leave the church all the time because they cannot stand the hypocrites or the sinners inside it, while they themselves have sins that they refuse to allow others to see or know. We must make space for all people to enter into the church and receive the love of Jesus. For some people it will take a long time for them to know and understand the love of Jesus, even if they have been in the church a long time. We must wait with them on God’s time, and not put them on our timetable. That is our responsibility as Christians. 

We have the responsibility as Christians to love others so they can enjoy the freedom of Christ. It’s not our responsibility to judge them or to change their theological beliefs. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love brings freedom. When we love people with the love of Jesus. we love them with patience, kindness, and we don’t keep reminding them of the wrongs that they have committed in the past. That brings freedom to the church and to you. 

Today, as we celebrate the birthday of our country and the freedom we have in this country. Let us remember that nothing is free. We have a responsibility with our freedom because someone has paid a high cost for the freedom we have. Those bobbleheads at Angel Stadium were paid by City Connect and Yakult, and the fans. Instead of grabbing your gift of freedom and running home to hoard or sell it, stick around, and support the rest of us as we fight together to keep the freedoms that we have in this country and share the freedom that we have in Christ.