A mini united nations gathering

I did a wedding yesterday for a family in our church. It was most interesting, maybe even the most unique wedding I have done in 18 years of doing them. The couple are young people who love the Lord Jesus Christ and cherish their faith walk. His parents and family are all yet to become people of Christian faith. Her parents are awesome Christian leaders in church and in our area. His dad's side are all Jewish and his mom works with the Okanagan native school. So during the wedding we had a Jewish part, a Christian part and even a native song of welcome as a part of the service. As I mingled among the guests there were Buddhists, Muslims and Jehovah Witnesses all present, all sitting around tables in groups of 4, all talking and enjoying each others company. Someone joked it was like a mini united nations gathering. I found it very interesting how our country has changed in my short 40+ years. Our Canadian society truly is multi-faith, multi-national and multi-cultural. On the other hand, it was very cool to just strip away all the "tags" we give people and just enjoy them as fellow human beings. Maybe that was the most enjoyable part for me. It was interesting to find out who people were, their religious persuasion and their heritage. But it was even more interesting that for a few hours it really didn't matter. We were all there for the same purpose. To bless Sam and Rebecca and their families on that special day.
I wonder if we spend too much time worrying about what tag people should be wearing. Trying to fit them into nice tidy little boxes so we can judge them as being "in or out" based on what they believe or where they come from or even their heritage. I believe Jesus was the master at just loving people no matter who they were. He had a way of dealing with others that was always winsome and honest. He loved people because...well because... they were people. They were people who needed love, just like me.