Make All Things New

Today, I was convicted of a sin I did not even know I was committing. My heart wasn’t fully right towards a brother in Christ. I really didn’t know that my heart wasn’t right until God revealed a lie I was secretly believing. A lie, that if not exposed, would cause unknown consequences.

I was born and raised in California (mostly in Los Angeles). Chances are if you are reading this blog, you already know that because you know me (thanks for reading Mom). Anyway, there is a certain personality and behavior that appears pretty often in people from SoCal. Even after decades of experiencing these people (and in many ways being one of them myself), I am not sure I can fully put my finger on it enough to describe it. Call it a semi-pretentious, bitingly sarcastic with extreme expressiveness (now I realize this is a stereotype – remember I said it was sin – and may not be true). For my own sinful purposes, I have pretty much categorized most people who display any two or more of these characteristics and are from the lower portion of the Golden State as “California people”. In fact, I have so categorized them that I actually feel better about myself by thinking I am not like them (but I probably am). I think I am some how better than them by not being like them. Apparently, I have been deceiving myself into thinking that being prideful is better than being like them. What a mess!

It’s been eight years since we moved out of California (and more than 10 since I lived in LA). The distance and absence makes it even easier to speak of them as “those California people” without considering how I am stereotyping and objectifying them (even if there is a large measure of truth in it!). So when new folks (from Southern California)  started coming out to church and moving into leadership, I started to pick up on what I thought were his “California like” personality traits. But nevertheless, I really like him. We’ve invested time together and with our families and I never thought that I was categorizing him. Honestly, we’ve hit it off well and become good friends quickly (as have our wives). It wasn’t until our conversation today that I recognized how I had been sinning against him. I had fully expected him to fit into this category of California people and almost dismissed some things about him. But today, God shined light on my darkness. Today, God revealed my sin and has given his grace through repentance and restoration. Today, my sinful stereotype of Californians has been redeemed.

You see, today, I asked my friend how he was doing and he shared openly. No pretense, no holding back. He shared something that was on his heart and it wasn’t the “It’s all good, dude” I would expect from the “California people”. It was an honest, “I-am-working-through-this-and-holding-fast-to-the-gospel-type” response. What’s strange is that it wasn’t until after he shared that I realized I had not expected him to share like that. I was completely blind to my judgement and prejudice. But his transparency blew up my prejudice. As I’ve said, I didn’t even realize I had this prejudice until it was revealed and almost simultaneously smashed within one hour.

The God who promises to one day make all things new, has shed light into something that may seem very small: how I have stereotyped folks from where I am from. But in shedding light on that sin, I have found restoration of my affections for a city and people that I share a common history with.

So thank you Wirgs for shattering my view of us “California people”. I am humbled by your honesty. And thank you Jesus for the gospel that brings reconciliation between God and man as well as reconciliation among men.