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²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 English Standard Version

               Our current hyper-partisan culture authorizes and encourages disdaining, despising, and ultimately hating “the other.” Sadly, many in the general Christian community have embraced this thoroughly unchristian viewpoint, consistently posting memes on social media platforms that encourage the hatred of “the other.” We must reject this cultural behavior, recover our love for “the other” and embrace them in a Christlike fashion. But who is this “the other?” For the purposes of this essay, “the other” is anyone who falls outside your general people group, making you feel a bit uncomfortable or engaging in behaviors that you question, find objectionable, or sinful. Often “the others” are people whom life has buffeted about leaving them wounded and pushed to the margins of polite society; people needing our sympathy or empathy. Unfortunately, some Christian authors and leaders have even gone so far as to author books deriding empathy. This is a nonpartisan-specific failing with liberals and conservatives engaging in the same hateful behavior. This cultural antipathy, embraced by so many Christians, is in direct opposition the viewpoint of Jesus and the good news.

⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Romans 5:8-10

               God loved me before I loved him…long before. When I lived in rebellion, raising my punny sin-stained human fist against a holy God, God loved me. It is important for us to firmly grasp this particularly salient relational fact. God embraced me before I was nice, neat, and clean. Of course, compared to Yahweh I am still a dirty rotten mess. Roll those phrases around in your head, “while we were still sinners,” and “while we were enemies.” When I was “the other,” God loved me. Jesus clearly exemplified this on the cross.

³⁴And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34a

               Even as we drove the nails through His hands and feet, Jesus mustered the courage to love those who crucified Him. Here He sets the standard of loving the other. Loving “the other” comes from a place of strength, not weakness. Throughout His walk on this earth, Jesus showed us how to love those who are not like us. We humans struggle with this concept, always have, and always will. But God does not and He seeks to reorient our viewpoint toward His.

¹⁹Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:19

               So those of us who were once far off and have now been brought near should be able to remember that our drastic positional change came about through God’s work, not our own, and we should extend the same love to those who are the other. Now, you may ask, who is “the other,” that we should love?

               A lawyer, listening to Jesus, asked the same question. You can read the entire exchange between the two in Luke 10:25-37. But you know the story, the lawyer, seeking to justify himself, gets a particularly challenging answer, with a question and a directive at the end.

³⁶Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:37-38

The Samaritan showed great mercy and compassion on “the other.” Jesus calls us to do the same. Like the first-century lawyer, we find this quite difficult.

               Sometimes we think that loving “the other” means that we accept or endorse their behavior. Scripture is full of directives to avoid sin. So how do we show love toward “the other” without endorsing sinful behavior. Peter gives us some insight into this difficult assignment.

¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. I Peter 2:15-17

The Message renders this passage in the following way:

It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

Treat everyone you meet with dignity. So often we are guilty of treating “the other” with disrespect and derision. We have embraced the cultural norm of how to treat “the other.” If we want to start being profoundly different, treat everyone you meet with dignity.

               We should discard our current cultural worship of boorish disrespect. Instead, we should be kind and respectful. Much of what we seem to admire and enjoy is Junior High playground behavior. Forgetting our own desperate need of salvation, we treat anyone who might fall into the category of “the other” as an enemy. Much of what we say, especially in social-media, drips with hostility and hatred. How can we ever hope to attract “the other” when we treat them open contempt and hostility. We must learn or relearn how to be winsome, to love “the other,” remembering that at one time, we too were the other. One final thought.

               We must remember that as Christians we are a minority and to most people, we fall into the category of “the other.” With that in mind, we should think on and implement this passage: ³¹And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. Luke 6:31