Last night as I scrolled through my Facebook feed, trying not to become totally obsessed with all the baby pictures (they’re so adorable), something stopped me in my tracks. It was a post about the horrific mass shootings that have taken place over the past month.

I didn’t have words. I’m just heartbroken over it all.

One of the comments was from someone saying something along the lines of, “I bet they both have really checkered pasts!”, and that really made me think.

Checkered pasts. Checkered.

Everything is checkered.

Every past is checkered.

It made me think of a project I’ve been working on for a quite a while for a cover “picture” for a social media page for my church. It’s my desire to make something unique and turn it into a video. For quite a long time I’ve been saving pictures of people within our church to add to it. I drew up an idea of what I wanted it to look like and am hoping someone will be able to help me execute it when I have enough pictures. I take screenshots of our pastors & worship team during service (we have a Watch Live option on our website), I’ve saved pictures of people at church “doing life in community”, and then some of the events we’ve been to. I want the cover to actually look like a checkerboard, but one that comes to a live video when you roll your mouse over it. I’ve seen something similar on another page somewhere and it inspired my idea. I’ve got dozens of pictures on my phone and on my computer saved back for this project and I keep saving for it.

So when I think of checkered, I think of my plans for this page.

And when I think of checkered, I think of these people.

Don’t they all have checkered pasts? And we say that these mass shootings come at the hands of people with checkered pasts?

We all have checkered pasts. We can’t judge people based on the pasts they have had . . . here’s the thing – I’m sickened by what these men did. It was purely evil. I’m so heartsick about it.

But I’ve got a checkered past, and I’m never going to go out and hurt someone. But also because I have a past I know that there are people in my life, who only knew me-before I knew Jesus, that they’re only going to refer to my past. We have to start calling evil for what it is: evil. And we have to start meeting people where they are: no matter where they are. And I think all too often, what we know about someone or usually what we’ve heard about someone, keeps our heads thinking back on something they did or someone they used to be and gives us the idea they have a checkered past, when we need to just accept who they are altogether and see them right now and look at the person they’ve become. Don’t look at the former drug addict for the addiction he battled or the prostitute for the bed she laid, don’t look at the thief for the bounty he stole, or the businessman for the money he lost. Stop looking to the past and look up at people for who they are right in front of you and start looking up to God, and who He called you to be and what He called you to do, to love God and your neighbors as yourself. Not the one with or without a checkered past . . . just your neighbor.

And when people come at you only wanting to remind you of the past you had, because they’re the ones stuck in the past, just tell them that Jesus dropped the charges.