“It seems to me that we have a limited and distorted idea of love. Somehow we’ve developed the mind-set that to love one person or group, we have to hate another person or group. So we direct our love toward the groups we’re part of–our families, our denominations, our political parties, our ethnic groups–and feel free to hate anyone outside these boxes. We may not hate them individually, but we hate them collectively. We condemn people for not belonging to the same groups we belong to–we look down on them for not thinking like us, worshiping like us, voting like us, or looking like us. Maybe we justify this behavior because we know the other group is wrong about God. Jesus doesn’t let us get away with that though. He taught that even being angry with someone else was like murder–and it made the angry person subject to judgment (see Matt. 5:21-22).”
John M. Perkins, Dream with Me: Race, Love, and the Struggle We Must Win. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2017, pages 152-153.
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