View of the heart

All blonds are dumb.

Men only want one thing.

Politicians and lawyers are crooked. 

Blacks are good athletes.

 Girls are bad at math. 

Mexicans are lazy.

Muslims are terrorists. 

          Stereotypes make assumptions and judgements about people based on what we can see. They make life easier. If I can judge you based on the color of your skin or your occupation, then I don't have to get to know you. I can bypass all the time it takes to know an individual, and save the investment in another person, and just get right to hating you.We don't call it hate; we call it "discernment."

          We all deal in stereotypes. We make judgements about people based on first impressions. I once disqualified a woman candidate for principal of our school based on her perfect and bright manicure. It was incredibly unfair. Later she joined our staff, and became a good friend whose skills I admired. We do it when we cross the street to avoid a group of teenagers whose music is loud and who dress differently. We do it when we pass on emails that make unsubstantiated claims about political candidates. We do it when we avoid eye contact with the woman on the street whose possessions are all in the shopping cart she is pushing, or with the woman in the pew whose dress is different from the way the rest of us dress, or whose kids are dirty, or who is crying.

          Even when the assumptions we make are correct, they miss the bigger picture of what God can do with a life. God's view of people is vastly different than ours. 

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7 

           Saul was the people's choice of a king. He was tall and handsome, and at the beginning he was fairly humble. The problem was his heart. God saw that. He saw Saul as he really was, as an individual. When it came time to anoint a new king, God sent Samuel to the sons of Jesse. Each one was paraded in front of Samuel, and time after time Samuel thought "this is the one." Each time, God said no. He was looking for something Samuel couldn't see; a heart wholly directed toward God. 

         Knowing a heart takes time. It takes investing ourselves in other people, looking beyond the stereotype and the outward appearance. It requires relationship.

         People are messy. They cost us in time and sometimes money. They are an inconvenience. They almost always let us down. They always require that we look with the eyes of Jesus, that we look beyond the stereotype and stop making assumptions. We cannot lump people together, but need to see each one as a precious child of God, made in his image and completely unique. We need to love like Jesus loves. 

         I need you to see my heart. I need you to look beyond the outer shell to the person that Jesus sees I can become. I need you to value me and help me value you. The relationship will last for eternity, and its worth it.