Reflection
#1 on 'Everyday People' by Nicole C. Mullen
When you were a kid, did you ever sing "Jesus Loves the Little
Children" in Sunday School? It has a line that goes:
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
 As
I think back, I'm grateful that I was taught the idea of racial
equality at such a formative age in this simple, yet profound,
song. Now contrast those lyrics from "Jesus Loves the Little
Children" to these lines from Nicole C. Mullen's rendition of
the classic secular hit "Everyday People":
There is a yellow one
That won't accept the black one
That won't accept the red one
That won't accept the white one
How come God gets it right but we don't?
Most of us would respond, "Well, I know that other people can
be prejudiced, but I certainly am not."
I know that probably would have been my response. Although I
grew up around prejudice, I have consciously worked not to be
prejudiced for most of my life. So you can imagine my dismay
when, several months ago, I was accused of being prejudiced!
After being convinced that prejudice was everybody else's problem
and that I was far less prejudiced than most, here I was, wearing
the scarlet "P"!
I spent several agonizing, sleepless nights talking to God,
wrestling with the accusation. Then I spent several weeks talking
to people, attempting to set things right. I share this with
you simply to demonstrate that perhaps we shouldn't take this
issue for granted, assuming that we ourselves could never say
or do anything that would be hurtful to others.
Did you realize that one of Christ's missions was to end prejudice?
In Ephesians 2:14-18, Paul is writing about the rocky relationship
between Jews and Gentiles when he says that Jesus "himself is
our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier,
the dividing wall of hostility...His purpose was to create in
himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in
this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross,
by which he put to death their hostility... For through him
we both have access to the Father by one Spirit."
Jew or Gentile, red or yellow, black or white, they truly are
precious in His sight. I've renewed my commitment to reflect
this truth in my actions and attitudes. I hope you might prayerfully
consider doing the same.
-Kerry O.
Scripture Reference: Ephesians 2:14-18
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