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- Apr 25, 2006
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PREJUDICE
''God is no respecter of persons'' Acts 10:34
'Look at the state of him, he's a right scab. No surprise considering where he's from. Even his own brothers give him a hard time, and they still haven't worked out who his father actually is. They said his mother was a virgin! A virgin? You do the maths!' This was the kind of thing Jesus would have had to listen to as He grew up.
We might even get a bit smug, 'How could they? That's terrible! I'd never do anything like that! Anyway, didn't they know who He was?!' But should it matter who it is? What about that person you know who just doesn't fit in, doesn't speak your language, doesn't wear the right shoes, eat the same food, have the right hair colour? Or maybe you can't even put your finger on what it is about them that winds you up, they just do your head in.
Perhaps you need to take a check on your biases. We may not have 'Jews and Gentiles' in our culture today, but even Peter had to deal with his own prejudice and face it head on. Only by being with people different to himself could he admit his own prejudice: 'I see very clearly that the Jews are not God's only favourites' (Acts 10:34). If 'God so loved the world' but you don't, how can you claim to be godly?
What now? Read James 2:1-13 and commit to making the effort to be friendly towards someone you wouldn't normally be.
written by Bob Gass
''God is no respecter of persons'' Acts 10:34
'Look at the state of him, he's a right scab. No surprise considering where he's from. Even his own brothers give him a hard time, and they still haven't worked out who his father actually is. They said his mother was a virgin! A virgin? You do the maths!' This was the kind of thing Jesus would have had to listen to as He grew up.
We might even get a bit smug, 'How could they? That's terrible! I'd never do anything like that! Anyway, didn't they know who He was?!' But should it matter who it is? What about that person you know who just doesn't fit in, doesn't speak your language, doesn't wear the right shoes, eat the same food, have the right hair colour? Or maybe you can't even put your finger on what it is about them that winds you up, they just do your head in.
Perhaps you need to take a check on your biases. We may not have 'Jews and Gentiles' in our culture today, but even Peter had to deal with his own prejudice and face it head on. Only by being with people different to himself could he admit his own prejudice: 'I see very clearly that the Jews are not God's only favourites' (Acts 10:34). If 'God so loved the world' but you don't, how can you claim to be godly?
What now? Read James 2:1-13 and commit to making the effort to be friendly towards someone you wouldn't normally be.
written by Bob Gass
