Being The Insider

I think everyone should have to be a minority at least once in their life.  It's a great learning experience and it helps you understand what others see and feel when they are the minority.  It's also a surprisingly different experience when there are two of you versus twelve of you.  Large groups incur a great deal more staring, pointing and watching.  It makes a lot of sense really as when we all saw a group of Kenyans dressed the same way we stared, pointed and watched…and then we met them and found out they were a running team.  The most disappointing difference being in a group makes is that it means the kids act differently.  They don't follow you down the street for blocks on end shouting 'How are you?'  It's true, a few may shout as you pass by but when you answer them you don't get the same interaction and willingness to try out their English.  It's a small price to pay for getting to experience this with so many great people but it's still a little sad.

The most interesting difference for me was the number of times men will hit on you when you're with a group.  I guess they don't look for the ring.  Don't get me wrong…it's kind of nice!

By far the best part of being an Outsider is the number of people who will wave to you as you pass by.  It's a constant game to see if you can keep up to the kids on each side of the road waving to you and hoping for a wave back.  Most kids get a huge smile across their face when you wave back and you can't help but smile too.

It is impossible for us to forget we are Outsiders in this land, but that's not a bad thing.  In fact the entire sermon on Sunday focused on the need for us to be Outsiders.  The pastor was working from Philemon and discussed the letter that Paul was sending and how Paul was asking this Master to no longer treat his Slave as a slave but rather that now they would treat each other as Brothers.  He was asking this man to reach outside of a social construct and outside his tribe and to love this man as Jesus loved him.

The entire sermon boiled down to one very important idea:  We humans have created Boxes/Tribes/Social Groups/Clicks and they are not a good thing.  Jesus died so that we would all be equals in God's eyes and we could all come to him with a hope for grace.  Jesus died so that we could think outside our box, so that we could love each other the same way he loves us, unconditionally.  In order to live this out we need to be the Outsider.

What's it like to be the Outsider?  It's often difficult, usually uncomfortable, sometimes challenging and not easy.  Despite all that we should do it anyways, we're called to it.  

lisa