Ambassadors: It is Time to Unite

I have a friend whose name is Charles. He is married and has a daughter. He and his wife are college graduates with well respected careers. While attending a private Christian university Charles was elected class body president his senior year. He has met many important government officials and even ran for a public office.

If you had to guess which box he would check on the census for his race, would you guess correctly?

I have a husband whose name most people can not pronounce. His parents picked the name because they thought it would be an easy, two syllable name for native English speakers. When people meet him for the first time, he often has to repeat his name slowly multiple times. He's been asked if he could go by a different name so that it would be easier for those around him to say his name. 

Would you prefer someone change his name so it is easier for you to pronounce?

I have two friends whose husbands put on a uniform, carry a weapon and have promised to uphold the law of the land. Their Facebook profiles are filled with family photos, vacations, anniversary celebrations and funny things their kids have said. Their husbands love sports, video games and spending time with their kids. Each day their husbands leave their houses with that uniform on, their day is filled with unknowns. Not everyone is called to a career that requires actively jumping into perilous situations.

If you met them in an official setting with their uniform on, what would your first thought be?

I have a mother who loves to host people and help whenever she can. She loves being actively involved in church and children's ministry. She wasn't born in the country where she now resides but proudly became a citizen of her new country as her family cheered her on. English was not her first language and she still has an accent when speaking it. Some mistake this accent for a lack of intelligence; but that couldn't be farther from the truth. My mother has a college degree and has worked tireless hours continuing her education. 

Do you assume someone with an accent can only apply for certain entry level jobs?

My first name is really hard to pronounce and I always cringed the first day of school when the teacher called out names from the roster. 

I've been asked multiple times, "but where are you really from?" and have been told I look exotic. As a child of mixed ethnicity and cultures, I have never really felt I belonged anywhere.

Prejudice is not always clearly evident. It is not always spoken out loud. Sometimes it is disguised so well that it remains unknown to the very heart that it is infecting.

So what do we do?

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well." (Ps 139:13-14)

We were all made the same way.

We are all of the same classification--human beings.

We each have different stories.

We all seek understanding.

Before Jesus left the earth, His prayer for us was that God would unite us and protect us. 

 "I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:11)

Those of us whom He was praying for, He also called to be ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20). The very Author of Love is counting on us to be ambassadors. If we can not be united but constantly divided, how can we correctly display the brotherly love that the rest of the world so desperately needs to see?

The answer, the solution, the cure we so passionately search for can only be found with the Author of love.

Without Him there is no regard for human life.

Without a regard for human life, we can not see past the stereotype, the predisposed judgment, the annoyance, or the unknown. We no longer see a person--we see only an idea or a pre-programmed response.

As an ambassador of Christ, I seek forgiveness for the hidden prejudices my heart has held. I seek new knowledge of those whose cultures I know little about. I agree with Jesus' prayer for the Father to unite us; and I pray for the day that we as Christians can be recognized for accurately representing His love.

"Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters whom they have seen can hardly love God whom they have not seen!" (1 John 4:20)