“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Romans 12:16
I was recently part of a conversation discussing who were considered the “outcast” versus the “cool” when in high school. What was interesting was the differing memories of people who went to the same school at nearly the same time. One person said they were an outcast because of where they lived. That person’s sibling not only didn’t feel an outcast but was voted senior class president. These two people obviously have very different personalities. But that doesn’t change that one went through high school feeling like an outcast based on something that couldn’t be changed.
There are times when all of us feel as if we are outcasts. That feeling may have more to do with our imagination than with reality. Or we may actually not be a part of whatever group of people we’re with at the time. We may be the only woman in the room, or the only one of our race, or age, or any one of a number of other variables. Those differences are very real and they will not disappear. Nor should they. God made us each unique and we should celebrate those differences.
Since those differences will always be there, how can we live in harmony, as this verse requires? Harmony does not mean there are no differences. It doesn’t mean we have to all be the same. Rather, it means we hold one another in mutual regard. We don’t ever think we’re better than anyone else. Because we’re not. We may have more privilege or be regarded more highly by the world. But that’s a false status. The reality is that all of us are in desperate need of a savior and any one of us has sinned enough to require Jesus to have to die in order to pay for that sin. There is absolutely no cause for pride or conceit.
You and I are not better than anyone else. Neither are we worse. In God’s sight we are all equal. That means that every one of us should treat every other person as if they are God’s beloved, because they are. And so are you. Let us all live in that reality as we reach out to others, whether they are in a “low” position or “high,” remembering that those positions don’t exist in God’s eyes. That’s when our differences cease to be divisive and become a celebration of the beautiful tapestry that is God’s people.