Spring 2018

Black and White

All within a few chapters in the Bible, Jews were told not to kill in the 10 Commandments and then to kill off people groups as they moved toward the Promised Land. Imagine the debates that ensued. Imagine the posturing, intellectualizing and condescending laced comments. Imagine most of all, the infighting, hate and division. Millenniums later we are told that at one point, the Pharisees had made so many laws, it would take someone more than a lifetime to read through them, let alone do them. That’s a lot of law. Law, it could be argued, is here because there is a lack of love and respect for others. In fact, about 70% of today’s laws in the US exist to keep people from stealing from one another. While some things may appear to be black and white, Paul reminds us that “the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5: 14). Whatever you do in life, pass your behavior through that text! All of the law is fulfilled in loving our neighbor. February is Black History month—and how many times have we thought of others, based on the color of their skin? May our homes, neighborhoods, businesses or professions, churches and communities know that you think beyond black and white—you think and act through the colorful filter of love we’re reminded of in the kindergarten song, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

-Fred Cornforth

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