When your life revolves around being broken, or working with people who are chronically crushed, "the difference" is not what always matters. You see, I often feel that there is something erroneous with the way people outside of faith interpret our stated positions and displayed actions of faith to them. I often feel that our beliefs and behaviors are seen as just another method meant to simply re-affirm and solidify the differences between us and those we're trying to reach. In other words, many interpret our faith as something intended to amplify just how much we’re “so” different than they are. Most times even worse they see us saying that we're not just different, but better. I am not entirely convinced that this perception is a stretch.

For many, our efforts of love and grace to others are seen as mere avenues to force those outside of our faith to identify their separation from God, which is often a message delivered in a way that forces them to identify their seperation from us. As I often see us acting in this manner towards others, a manner I wouldn’t say stems from wrongful intent, but I often see that it removes the very thing most needed to convey a sense of commonality between those of us who know Christ intimately, and those who don’t. Since I fervently advocate introducing people to God when they have no idea who He is I think there is another way to do this that helps others find a way closer to Him, which also helps us all find a way closer to one another.

As Dre's message is meant to define the differences, I feel like Christ is telling me to define the similarities. For me, the chorus line in Dr. Dre's track that says, “What’s the difference between me and you?” interprets itself to mean “nothing”, or the same as saying “There is no difference between me and you." As I think about those people who are outside of our faith, the sorts of folks I speak of in my above comments, I say to us all "There is no difference between us and them." In my opinion, while Christ is “thee” difference between us and them, He is still really not much of a difference. Of course spiritually He is a grandiose difference, however, humanly speaking there is no difference between me and the next person, or between those of us in faith and those outside of faith. As human beings we are eerily just like everyone else, which to me begs the question of how do we convey Christ in this way? A way that doesn't exclude outsiders from faith and doesn't serve to amplify their seperation from God as being the same as being seperate from us.

What’s the difference there? How can I reach people from that? What does it mean to talk to others about Christ from complete weakness and humanity that places me at the same level as them? Do we want to be at the same level as others? What drives me to look at "the other" from a point of view that to some degree allows me to feel better off than they? Why would I rather feel like I have something they don’t rather than feel that we're both equally in need of something together that we can gain from one another? Why would I rather choose to feel better than they at some level?

Are these questions something that we all wrestle with? Should we be wrestling with these or am I just being too honest right now? Does this even matter? Perhaps this is just something for me because I work with people who are constantly just trying to figure out how to survive, and I am just like them. However, I am finding that people all over the societal scale need this approach. Perhaps you know what I am talking about and you are beginning to as ask yourself when you see others, “What’s the difference between me and you?”

If your answer is Christ, and Christ alone, then join me in an effort to learn how to try to communicate something important. Something that informs all those people outside of faith that while Christ is “thee” difference between us, as human beings there is “no” difference between any of us. For in this approach, we just might be find in our commonality a shared need for the Son of Man to give all of us life. A life where none us needs to be fake, needs to blame others, and where none of use desire to consciously to look at our differences and always see just how much we are ALL on the same level needing His love and forgiveness.