• Blog
  • ABOUT
  • BIO
  • BOOK
  • Contact
Picture

Dream Together

8/11/2021

6 Comments

 
Picture
Some people are way too judgmental . . . I can tell just by looking at them! 
Do you find yourself pre-judging others before you get to know them? If you don’t, I admire your character. If you do, welcome to the human condition! It seems we’re all prone to judge others before we get to know them; especially if they look different, act different or dress different than “we” do.   
 
I’ve been thinking this week about our tendency to pre-judge others and grieving the way it impedes our ability to build beloved communities—communities where everyone is welcome and honored. A beloved community is what Jesus had in mind when he invited his first disciples to follow him and what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed about. 
Picture
Can you imagine a community based on justice, equal opportunity, and love—a place where all people share in the wealth of the earth? Can you imagine a world where racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice are replaced by an all–inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood?  This is the way the King Center defines Martin’s vision of a beloved community.
 
If those of us, who follow the way of Jesus, have any hope of living in a beloved community we must “think red together.” We must stop judging and start loving! Jesus tells us straight up: Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Here are four ways we can help cultivate a non-judgmental, beloved community:
 
Keep your side of the street clean: or, as they say in the recovery community, “do your own inventory, not your neighbors.” Jesus said it this way, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye? . . . First take the log out or your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  When you find yourself judging others take the time to reflect on your motives, discern what is underneath your judgmental spirit.  
Picture
​Quit thinking “tolerance” is the answer: Jesus didn’t commandment us to tolerate one another; he said we are to love one another in the same way he loved us. You will never feel like you truly belong if you know your presence in the community is “being tolerated.” Beloved communities don’t tolerate diversity they thrive in it. 
Picture
Taste the flavor of other cultures: There are secret treasures in the kingdom of Heaven that will remain hidden from us as long as we stand in judgment of people from other cultures. A fun and rewarding way to taste the deep and joyful flavor of God’s kingdom is to seek God in cultures different from yours.  Enjoy the art, read the literature, learn the history, taste the food of other cultures and make friends with people who see the world different than you.​
Picture
Dream Together:  Instead of judging others dream together about a community where everyone is loved, welcome and treated with equity. ​
6 Comments
Nancy Tinnell
8/12/2021 05:40:24 am

I appreciate the distinction you make between tolerance and genuine love. Tolerance is not enough, yet we often take great pride in being tolerant. We can go deeper than that. Thank you for your thoughts, Larry.

Reply
larry W stoess
8/16/2021 06:17:49 am

Agree! Tolerance is not enough! I'm so glad Jesus does more than "tolerate me."

Reply
Doris Stoess
8/12/2021 05:55:46 am

It is easy to love the love able ,you have to try much harder to love the unlovable .l hope I do that.

Reply
larry W stoess
8/16/2021 06:25:38 am

Maybe loving the unloveable will make us more love-able.

Reply
gene ford link
8/14/2021 09:13:29 pm

I think our recent teachings to forget wrongdoings and to be more forgiving blends-in with this present teaching.

I believe tolerance holds factors of judgement and insincerity at the same time of tolerating..


gene ford

.

Reply
larry W stoess
8/16/2021 06:19:14 am

Hey Gene, thanks for your sharing your thoughts.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    ​Larry Stoess is an author, public speaker, and urban church planter. He loves telling stories about how dreaming with God will empower people to make old and broken things new again. Larry and a band of friends founded the Church of the Promise in Louisville's Portland neighborhood; The Table, a pay-what-you-can community café; and Promise Housing Plus, a non-profit construction company. He has written about their experience of dreaming with God in his new book: Think Red.

    Archives

    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Committed to Think Red 

​THINK RED TOGETHER PROMOTEs CONVERSATION AND shares INNOVATIVE IDEAS THAT will INSPIRE OTHERS TO IMAGINE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BASED ON THE VALUES, VISION, AND MISSION OF JESUS. WE ENCOURAGE OPEN AND HONEST COMMENTS. WE WELCOME YOUR STORIES, EXPRESSIONS OF ART, POETRY, AND THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION. however, ALL POST MUST ALIGN WITH OUR CONDUCT AGREEMENT. 
​

Conduct Agreement 

Privacy Policy / Conditions 

Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is ​like a wise man who
built his house on the rock.

---
Jesus

Contact Us

    Stay Connected

Submit

Copyright 2020 Larry Stoess

  • Blog
  • ABOUT
  • BIO
  • BOOK
  • Contact