Love Without Labels

Short Talk (SHT005) Labels vs Love © Jane Hulme 2015 Aim of Short talk: Main themes: Biblical references: Props: SHORT TALK: “LABELS VS LOVE” (SHT005) To encourage people to love others rather than to “label” them. Loving others Matthew 22:39 Make a series of “labels” on sheets of A4 paper to hang around people’s necks....eg. GIRLS, SCOTTISH, UNEMPLOYED, TEENAGERS etc ........................................................................................................................ This morning I need four people to come and help me.  I need a girl, a teenager and two other people. (Once you have four people stood out the front in a line facing the congregation say something like:) In our day to day lives we can often label people who are different from ourselves can’t we?  So for example, a group of boys at school might agree that girls can’t possibly join in with their game,  because all girls are useless at sport. (Put label saying GIRLS around girl’s neck) They forget that a girl called Alice is in the school football team,  and a girl called Rosy has been selected to play basketball for the county. As well as the label of gender we can give people the label of nationality,  So someone at work might say, “Don’t ask N for money – they are Scottish and Scottish people are mean” (Put label saying SCOTTISH around N’s neck) They forget that Grieg, who comes from Scotland,  paid for everyone to have a drink after work on his birthday. We might give people the label of age,  Saying things like: “Teenagers are lazy.....they spend all their time sleeping in bed.  Don’t offer them a job as they won’t get up in time to do it” (Put label saying TEENAGER around teenager’s neck) We forget that Esme, Louis, Clara, Fred, Michelle, Richard, Hannah, and Russell,  who are all teenagers got up early to clear all the rubbish from the church garden one Saturday morning when it had been fly tipped. A label we often hear given is the one that says,  “The unemployed are all scroungers,” (Put label saying UNEMPLOYED around N’s neck) We forget that Derek lost his job when his company went bankrupt,  and Elizabeth couldn’t get a job because she has had a mental health problem since she was born. We can label people in so many different ways can’t we? © Jane Hulme 2015 2 As well as the labels we have already mentioned we can also label people for their skin colour,  their religion,  and even the music that they listen to! The problem with labelling people is that we stop seeing them as people made in the image of God,  and we can end up treating them badly. Some of the worst treatment of people in history has happened because people have been given labels:  labels like Jew or  black. Jesus said: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  Our neighbour may be a girl, a boy, a man or a woman. They may not share the same faith as us.  They may be a different age from us.  They may have more or less stuff than us.  They may work or not work like us.  They may be from a different country.  They may have a different skin colour,  or be different from us in a hundred and one different ways! BUT: Jesus commands us to love them and not label them,  treating them with the dignity that a person made in the image of God deserves,  so let’s do it! © Jane Hulme 2015 3