Recently my husband directed my attention to People Of The Second Chance. I was instantly captured by their message, Labels Lie. People Of The Second Chance recognize that labels distort the truth and they’re doing something about it. I’ve discovered this the hard way. The sad and ugly truth…
I label people I don’t understand
I label people out of fear
I label people because I’m not confident in my own identity
I label people because I think there’s safety in not venturing far from what I know
Just over a year ago I was working at the Rocketown music venue in Florida. During a sold out concert we turned away hundreds of teens. While doing a routine parking lot check I discovered that these hundreds of teens had gathered in a circle. My immediate reaction was to call on my security team. I was afraid. There must be a fight! Or there will be if we don’t get these teens out of here.
Check out the video to see what really happened.
check it out my friends, we all in this together. So live your life, do it right, do what you want.
me and my friends in this circle right now, this is your life,
do what you can, do what you want, don’t let nobody tell you that you can’t do you.
nobody ever tells you that you can’t be you.
you stick your middle finger in the air, like you don’t care, this is your life
There was no fight that night. But the truth of this singer’s message hit everyone, even me. We are all in this together. No one can tell you that you can’t be you, even yourself.
Why was I afraid of a huge crowd of teenagers? Because I saw labels instead of truth. I saw a riot instead of a beautiful generation of honest and expressive teens. I saw a crowd of rebels and fringe kids instead a mass of world changers. Now, sure, the middle finger ending isn’t necessarily beautiful expression. But when Johnny Cash did it, we labeled him an icon of the everyman struggle, so why is it any different for these kids?
Here’s what I decided that night: I want to trade my lies for truth. The truth is, we’re all a little strange. None of us is perfect, but it’s our imperfections that make us unique. And even more important than accepting that we’re all strange and imperfect is the undeniable truth that we’re all perfectly strange. You are you. Don’t listen to the old lies or labels, and don’t make up new ones. The truth. God made you, no one can tell you that you can’t be you, even yourself.
What lies are hiding the truth in your life?
2 Responses to Labels–by Theresa Mazza