Once again...Respect

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me...All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." ~ Jackie Robinson

I've received a few emails asking me for clarification on "MY" theology. 


Let me say again, this is my theology and I have come to this by much prayer, reflecting with others, prayer, reading scripture, prayer...

In my last post I said that on any given Sunday the good seed and the bad seed will be sitting side by side.  I referred to the parables of the weeds being allowed to grow in the field and the bad fish being brought in along with the good fish....that at the end, God will sift and sort. 


Am I a "good seed"?


Absolutely! However!!! I am a good seed strictly on the bases of grace. I am not a "good seed" because of the color of my skin, my sexual preference, where I live, how much I have given to the church...


I believe I cannot "earn" the gift of being a "good seed", it is impossible! That is why Jesus came! If I could earn salvation, I would have no need for a Savior!


I have been blessed to have been born in the U.S. to wonderful parents. In some ways, I have been blessed to have been born as a Caucasian.  NOT because the color of my skin makes me better or more acceptable, but because I have not had to struggle agains prejudice and bias simply because my skin is the "wrong color."

In the fun video of A Place in the Choir by Makem and Clancy did you notice the skunk and the opossums? I don't know about you, but I normally will go out of my way to avoid either of these animals! The skunk, I am afraid of the smell, and the opossums? They simply give me the creeps!


Sadly, there are people walking on this earth that have experienced reactions by other people that are similar to my reaction to a skunk and opossum AND it is these people I expect to discover I will be sitting side by side with when I get to heaven! People who have been labeled as "bad seed" by some on earth who assumed they were "good seed" because they believe and do every thing "right."

Again, another parable...Luke 16:19-31.


As a child I read this literally, thinking in terms of the rich and the poor. As an adult who has done much searching of my heart, I recognize there are many ways to be rich, other than just material wealth just as there are many ways to be poor.


Jesus turned human kind's definition of poor, hungry, oppressed upside down in Luke 6:20-26 !


Jackie Robinson's statement, I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me...All I as is that you respect me as a human being says it all for me.

Yes, there are people I am simply not going to like on this earth, but, as a Child of God, that means I do not disrespect them or speak negatively about them!  For me, this includes those of different faiths, political standings, nationality.... Everyone on this earth has been created by God, just as I have been created and in my heart, I believe that all God's created Have a Place in the Choir!

As a "good seed" that has been saved by grace, I am called to respect these people because I am only a good seed because of Christ, I cannot pretend to know the heart and mind of God.  My heart and my mind are much to small to comprehend that of God's. God is bigger, broader, deeper...than my limited self can appreciate.

So, I will do my best to live from a place of non-judgment, respecting those I may not like and those I may not agree with, even those who don't seem to carry the same sense of values I carry. As a Child of God I believe I am called to respect ALL of God's creation AND leave it up to God to decide who will be sifted out when the harvest is collected.

This is where "I" stand and although I may not agree with you, I will do my best to respect you. AND PLEASE...this blog is simply my journal of my thoughts, it is not a place I will argue with another.

Many Blessings ~ Sandi