Are They the Bad Guys?

One of my daughters was recently sharing with me that they decided to have their boys (ages 3 and almost 5) watch their first “real human” movie rather than just the short animated films they have seen before. They thought “The Sound of Music” would be a good choice. Well, at the beginning when all the nuns at the abbey emerge and start singing “How do you solve a problem like Maria?”, my grandsons seemed concerned and asked, “Are they the bad guys?” I thought this was hilarious. Despite the fact that the singing seems pretty harmless, those matching dark uniforms looked rather ominous to them.

Judging by appearances. Are we ever guilty of that? Most of us would have to admit that the natural tendency might be to steer clear of individuals who, by all appearances, look to be very different from us–in a way that we assume we could never relate to them. But, honestly, when I have actually engaged with these people I most often find that they are far from scary, rude or unfriendly. (Sometimes it’s the people who do look like me that ended up being that way!) Different from me? Yes, in some ways. But they are also like me. And like you. They have insecurities. They want to belong and be accepted. They want to be seen. They want to be loved. And, like you and me, they are dearly loved by a Heavenly Father and they may or may not be aware of that life-changing fact.

We tend to want to be with people who are like us. It’s just natural because it’s what we know and what we are comfortable with. But we are called to more. In the book of Luke, chapter 10, Jesus reminds us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind AND to love our neighbors as ourselves. He goes on to tell the parable of The Good Samaritan. You know the story. The robbed and injured man is a Jew, so when the Samaritan comes upon this Jew in need of help, he is not only faced with the decision of whether or not to get involved by helping him, but he also has to decide whether or not to get involved with someone very different from himself. (In fact, Jews and Samaritans intentionally avoided one another as the Jews looked down upon these “half-breeds”.) Think about it. It would be one thing to help a person we don’t know who looks to be a lot like us. But what if the person in need of help looks to be from a completely different world than us–perhaps even from a group we’ve been warned about or taught to avoid.

I don’t think this topic is news to anyone. No new mind-blowing concept here. I’m just asking each of us to pause and reflect on how we respond to those who are different from us: different religion, different ethnicity, different socio-economic level, different personality, different world view, different style, different interests… The list could go on and on. Let’s each consider which difference is most difficult for us to overcome. Let’s challenge ourselves to notice someone who is “different” this week and choose to cross that line. Perhaps it will just be a smile. Or perhaps a full-on conversation or an offer to help. Let’s not allow our pre-conceived ideas about people who look or act differently from us prevent us from the possible blessing of gaining new friendships or, at the very least, showing God’s love to others.

You don’t see a lot of nuns roaming around in full gear these days. But if you do, remember that, although they may look different from you, they are definitely NOT the bad guys.