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Recently I encountered a real estate agent at my place of employment. We were having what I thought to be a nice conversation.
However, once I expressed my interest in protecting my young son from the negative effects of urban decay in our neighborhood, and seeking to purchase a new house in a more "upscale" neighborhood, she immediately changed her tone. She said something about her company not supporting red lining but hey, to each their own. We finished up our transaction and she left, then I was hit with a powerful dose of "I wish I had the last five minutes back." Did I feel that way because I had said something wrong? Absolutely not. I wanted the opportunity to speak more with her because I realized she completely misinterpreted what I said and pasted the all-purpose sticker of racism on it in her mind. Then I gave it even more thought, and realized she was one of many contemporary examples of a reprobate mind. Nevermind the standard reprobate mind definition you'll find on the constantly devolving Internet dictionaries, that alter their principle definitions to suit the cultural zeitgeist every five minutes. When I refer to a reprobate mind, I'm specifically referring to the sort of mind that produces the effects described in Romans 1:29-31. For those who prefer not to pull up that chapter on your phones or computers, here are those effects (NKJV version): "...being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;" Now you may ask yourself, how do I get all that from this woman's desire to judge me incorrectly? I don't. Every person with a reprobate mind doesn't exhibit all those traits. But she exhibited an unwillingness to discern between what one thinks and what reality actually presents, a willingness to immediately assume the worst about someone and a desire to jump to knee-jerk conclusions and judge others without even knowing them. Had I the opportunity to speak further with her while she was still in my vicinity, I would have told her four things: 1) Red lining is about denying a group's entrance to a community based on race. 2) My concerns have never been about race but about behavior, such as criminal activity. 3) She was the one who decided to conflate my concerns over my son's exposure to crime with skin color. 4) In fact, she is the racist because she went somewhere with her thoughts that I never intended, therefore the connection between urban decay and race is her obsession, not mine. In conclusion, I will also note that had I actually been given the opportunity to correct her in this way, it would have made no difference because no amount of human effort can change a reprobate mind. Only the Lord can do that. As my least-favorite pop star spouts, contributing to the ever-devolving nature of our culture's modes of communication, "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate." |