You’ve met them, haven’t you? Stupid people. They are everywhere! As I think about these people I realize that they get this title because they don’t agree with me! It’s our way to deal with the dissonance in our lives when we run into someone who is different, believes different things, lives a different lifestyle. If they don’t fit with our worldview they are just plain stupid!

But honestly, they would probably think the same thing about you! From their view of the world they would call you stupid. This description of people is a wonderfully large bucket we use to dismiss the lives and thoughts of others…they’re just stupid. They don’t know any better. If they knew what I knew they wouldn’t do that, say that, live that way, believe that….but they don’t, they aren’t, so we have to deal with them and we simply dismiss them.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to ask, “Would you tell me about your life? I would really like to know why and how you have come to where you are.” With that question we have dismissed our fears and resolved the dissonance with the realization that this is a real person that Christ died for. They might be different, think different and even live different from you, but they are people God loves….we should do the same. The only stupid person is the one who sees a political party, a religion, a category and misses the person.

Those we often put in the category of “stupid people” are the very ones Jesus would have been drawn to. He would hang out with them, love them and spend time with them…..and most of us, like the Pharisees, would raise an eyebrow and be irritated with Jesus for wasting his time, but remember…..he “wasted his time” on us.