The year was 1996 and my family was beginning the process of transitioning from our small local church to the larger church in the city. There was a youth group, contemporary worship, people that were coming into worship ready to experience God in a new way. At the same time, we would soon be welcoming a new associate pastor, Johnnie Herman Beard. Pastor Johnnie was a Black man with many years of experience of being in the ministry. He was a man that came to the table to help teach us how to be more diverse in our thought process and our welcoming of all people.

We were traveling to a church conference in a neighboring state one weekend when he began to share with me his experiences as a Black man. I had so many questions for him during that road trip, but I wanted to listen and learn. He shared about the years of racism that he personally experienced, he shared about the various names that his race was called, and he shared about how he continued to love people through it all. The last part spoke volumes to me. Through all of the racial slurs, hatred that he received because of the color of his skin, and turmoil that he would endure, he still loved.

The life of Jesus is exemplified through one word: love. Christ endured all pain, all agony, all matters of temptations. Even unto death, Christ still loved. In these days of the pandemic, and on the eve of the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, we can find hope. We can find hope in knowing that we are called to continue to love through our differences. We can find hope in embracing the challenges of reconciling relationships, and restoring the years that we have all lost from being divided. It is time to lay down our prejudices, our hatred, our intolerances and begin to embrace through love. For far too long, I have heard people say, “love is pointing our your wrongs and speaking the truth to you.” That is not the intent of the ministry that Jesus demonstrated to all of us. Jesus simply loved. Our challenge that we face in the days, weeks, months and years ahead is to simply love like Jesus loved.