I learned the “don’t stereotype” lesson when we lived in the small community of Willits, located in Northern California.
God began to bring fringe-type people to our little church there — which made some of our folks uncomfortable. In fact, at the close of a morning worship service a parishioner told me,
“We want to go to a church that has normal people!”
One of these “characters” God brought our way was a big, strapping guy named Steve Bates. He was in his mid-thirties, a former heroin addict who in his late teens had fallen three stories, off an apartment balcony, headfirst onto the sidewalk below! He survived, but had this huge scar across the top of his head along with a crooked eye. Though exaggerated, Steve jokingly said he thought he looked like an escapee from Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory!
I took Steve under my wing and helped him grow in his Christian faith. Early on we decided we wanted to reach people in Willits — primarily “street” people. There were lots of them to reach! There was even a little group of 5-6 that hung out together, girls and guys, led by a peculiar character named “Mouse.”
It’s pretty easy to drive past people like this and think: “Man, look at that low-life bum!”
“Boy, I can only imagine what kind of life she’s been living!”
“Geez, that guy is about as far from God as a person can get!”
But what Steve and I discovered was that most of these people were actually open to discussing Jesus with us! A majority of them agreed that the Bible is God’s Word and that Jesus is the Son of God. It’s just that no one had ever taken the time to explain the gospel to them so they could put it all together and make a true commitment to Christ.
So, we became seed-planters to these street people. We even went out one chilly Christmas Eve and shared with some young people in the city park. Of course we also witnessed to “regular” looking people as well. The ironic discovery for us was that it was typically these “respectable” folks who questioned the gospel — the well-dressed, the educated, the “together” people!
Here’s the point I want to make: Let’s be on guard concerning the tendency we all have to stereotype people, remembering the Sioux proverb: “Never judge another until you have walked two weeks in his moccasins.”