Are We Too Judgemental?

I spend four hours every Wednesday as a volunteer ambassador at DFW Airport. I assist travelers at an information booth in Terminal C. It's a great place to people watch and I ave seen and met all kinds. I thought I had seen it all until one young man got off a flight a couple of weeks back. It was hard not to notice him. His hair was buzzed short except for a crop of hair that formed a perfect curl right in the front. That hair looked like a rainbow: pink, yellow, and green. I thought of the trolls our daughter played with as a child. It didn't end there. He was wearing a pink sweater vest, lime green pants and pink ballet slippers. My immediate reaction was: "Weirdo."

As it was, he wandered over to the monitors that are above my podium. He stood amidst the crowd of travelers staring, obviously looking for his flight. Thirty seconds went past and he still seemed puzzled. Finally I decided I had to intervene. "Do you need help?" I asked. As it turned out he was flying to New York,and was confused by the airport codes. We located his gate and I pointed him in the right direction. He then asked if I was a really a volunteer. When I responded in the affirmative his response was, "Cool, Thanks for doing that." In the end he seemed like a nice guy. Was he Gay? I don't know. Maybe he was just a little eccentric. The reality is he needed help and I assisted him. I couldn't help but thinking I was doing what Jesus would have done.

That's the kind of Savior we have. Jesus accepted people for who were were and loved them that way. Once the relationship was established, he then had the opportunity to meet their need or confront their sin. Without first having a relationship, that would never happen.

Last week I wrote about two of the reasons young people are leaving the church. My initial reaction to the young man at the airport is an example of another thing that young people see wrong with the church and Christians in general. We tend to be judgemental and exclusive.

Young Americans have been shaped by a culture that esteems open-mindedness and tolerance. As a result young adults are the most eclectic generation in American history. Many young people view the church as a country club that is only open to people who fit certain criteria. When individuals don't fit the mold, they will probably feel excluded and unwelcome. Often, outward appearance becomes the criteria.

One of the challenges that Christian parents and other adults face is now to be accepting of others, without compromising who we are and what we stand for. If we are secure in our faith, encountering people who are different should not be a problem. It is always best to love and accept first. Once we have a relationship we are in a position to talk about our faith and values.