'Cause
when you close your heart, then you close your mind
-from Man in the Mirror by Siedah Garrett and
Glen Ballard
A Closed Heart is an attitude that assumes a
group of people is evil simply because they
are that group. With a Closed Heart, you'll believe anything negative, demeaning, or inflammatory about the group your heart is closed to. You can't
see the humanity in an individual from that group.
As a result, the corresponding Closed Mind
can't accept anything less than the demonization and dehumanization of an
individual from that group. Those with this mental condition readily believe
anything that supports their Closed Heart, and vehemently (sometimes violently)
reject anything that contradicts their suppositions.
So. My fellow Christians. Let's take a
heart check, shall we?
When you post political/social memes,
articles, etc. do those postings subtlety imply that, 'This group is
unabashedly evil'?
Don't
lie – I've seen some of your un-credible posts about Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives,
Liberals, Black Lives Matter, etc. etc.…
And when you read some of the political/social meme
or story or article your friends post, do you quickly nod in agreement, with
either silent approval or a quick tap of the Like button? Or do you pause, and
say to yourself something like
Well,
this is a gross, and therefore inaccurate, generalization.
Or
Huh.
I know memes are reductive by nature, but this is obviously not true of
everyone who self-identifies with the group they're talking about.
Or
Wow.
I'm not a [insert political party/ideology here] and I detest this candidate, but this story is just…something's not right.
We know
God doesn't want us to cultivate a Closed Heart. We know it's not His Will for us to have Closed Minds.
We know, and yet all too often we take the
easy way, posting our posts then crying foul when someone we don't agree with
does the same. Let's stop playing around and start doing The Hard Work. Let's resist our impulse to close our hearts.
