“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2
X is for xenophobe. Okay, before you get too far ahead of me here, yes, this is a word … and it has substantial meaning for us today.
I was dreading this day because in all honesty, how many “x” words do I know? Hmm … one!? X-ray! All other words that I know with an “x” begin with an “e.” Ugh!
Last week at the Christian Writer’s Workshop, Sister De, the guest speaker, gave me a writer’s treasure … Merriam-Webster’s Everyday Language Reference Set! I am completely in love! It has The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, and Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder. I have seen the two former ones before but I have never seen the last one.
What great timing though, because today truly was a day that I needed to expand my vocabulary. My only drawback though was this thought, “If I expand my vocabulary as a writer, how will my readers know all of my new words?” Well, we will learn together! So, here we are … xenophobe.
We all know what phobe means. It is a derivative of phobia meaning fear. So, xenophobe means one who has a fear or hatred for strangers. A stranger is defined as one who is strange (different); a foreigner; one who is in the place of another; one who is unacquainted. Well, that certainly brings us to a very fine point here, does it not?
Yes, we are that stranger, that different one, that foreigner, that one who is living in another’s place, are we not? I Peter 2:9 tells us that we “are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar [different from the normal; distinctive] people …” Why would God want us to be strangers on earth? Why would He not take us home to live with Him once we are saved? Well, I Peter 2:9-10 goes on to answer, “that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God.”
As a stranger, this world is not our permanent home. It is only a temporary residing place. When we travel, I do not take all of my belongings … even though my husband thinks so! Why? Because it would be a lot to carry around, but even more important, I will not be there long. I believe that we, as so-called children of God, have become too rooted in this world. We have forgotten that we are not here permanently. Not only are we not here permanently, but we are here for a purpose. That sole purpose is to glorify God in our body and in our spirit so that we may reflect His light to a sinful, dying world.
Lesson Objective: To understand what xenophobe is. To learn that as strangers in a foreign land, we are not to dig roots and hide among the world, but we are to be set on a hill to shine forth the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
Did you pass or did you fail?