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| What does this rainbow mug mean? |
There is a rainbow on that mug. Hmm. I wonder what the owner of the mug thinks about DOMA, gay rights, politics, the church, faith, hope, and love? Is she conservative or liberal? Is she voting for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?
No matter how any of those questions are answered, someone from the other side will label the person with an opposite point of view as stupid, moron, heathen, radical, socialist, idiot, unpatriotic, clueless, or some other hateful adjective hurled in rage toward another human being created in the image of God. We seem to have lost our ability for civil discourse, thoughtful discussion, exchanging ideas, and giving one another space to have diverse opinions about politics, culture, and the church.
The destructive art of label making has reached new highs during the current election season.We constantly divide ourselves into groups of "Us" and "Them." This tendency has been reinforced by partisan 24/7 television news broadcasts and a thousand social media platforms incessantly demanding that we click, like, copy, paste, repost, favorite, comment, and repin. And if we dare to refuse, we will be unfriended, deleted, and tossed away like worthless trash.
We don't have to agree with one another on anything to be kind to one another. Those who call themselves Christians are commanded by Jesus himself to love one another. It is sad that the name calling comes from inside the church as often as it comes from outside it.The label makers on any side of an issue take the name of the Lord in vain each time they use his name as an excuse to hate, judge, or exclude those they consider "The Others." People with healthy faith recognize that God has not called us to be label makers.He has called us to be peacemakers.He has not called us to label our brothers and sisters by any other name than His.
The mug is not very valuable.It belonged to my mother.I don't remember where she got it but I know that it hung on a cuphook in her kitchen for decades. When she moved into a senior living facility, her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were honored to look through the treasures she had collected over a lifetime and take whatever they wanted. I chose the mug because I like rainbows and I love my mother. It makes me happy to think of her when I sip my morning ginger tea. Ginger Tea Recipe
Maybe it's time for all who say they believe in Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to try to make the world a little more beautiful and a little less fractured by refusing to label the people Our Father God has placed in it with any other name than His.
"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:3 NIV
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