Lest I be judged

In my first year of seminary, one of my professors suggested an exercise to our class that sounded fairly simple. He encouraged us to go to a public place, such as a shopping mall, and to watch people.

“Note your reactions to those you see,” he told us. “You will be drawn to some. But others, just by their appearance, will create the opposite reaction within you. And you will have these responses before you know anything about them, other than how they look to you.”

And he reminded us that we should pay attention to the people who repel us. “People like them will be in every congregation you serve,” he told us.