3) You are to treat people as if they were Jesus (Matthew 25:40). We understand that when it comes to helping the least among us. But what about demonizing a fellow human? The Hidden Christ can even come to us in our enemies, whom we are admonished to love and care for. When we demonize other human beings because of their ethnicity or personal views, are we not doing that to Jesus? The worse thing that was ever said about the Son of God is that He had a devil. The worse thing that we can do to our fellow humans is to demonize them. We demonize what we refuse to love. This is no little sin. Loving our enemies is all that will turn us to civility in all human relationships. Jesus also taught that derogatory name-calling is as the sin of murder (Matthew 5:21-22); think about that when you call anyone a demeaning disrespectful name. Not only is it a murderous attack on those made in the divine likeness, it is an attack on Jesus Himself who comes to us in the other person.
“But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons ’” (Matthew 12:24 NIV).
From “Growing Toward Maturity”, by H. Lamar Smith.
