Acts 10
June 16, 2013
Scott Taylor is prejudicial. The word prejudice means to judge ahead of time, to judge someone before you know their whole story.
I see two young men with white dress shirts and skinny black ties walking on Courtland Ave. and immediately judge them as Mormons.
I see two ladies dressed provocatively standing near a street light and I immediately judge them prostitutes.
I see two gold-chain wearing, hooded, pant-saggers walking down the street and I immediately judge them as rappers.
Is this wrong? Is this what Jesus wants us to do? How are Christ followers to think when it comes to race and cultural differences?
This was a huge problem for the early church. Not only did the Jews label the Gentiles, but their attitudes also separated them from any meaningful interaction. Jews did not associate with Gentiles at all. (28) So they put a label on people and felt that gave them the right to never find out their story. There was nothing accidental about the result of prejudice in the first century.
Addressing racism in a Biblical way requires us to invest time and energy on many different levels. To be effective it must be very personal in its scope. It will never take place if we view racism passively.
I am convinced that the greatest hope for racial reconciliation occurs when the gospel leads the way.
The gospel says God loves all people.
The gospel says the "image of God" is tattooed on every person.
The gospel says to "GO" and be the initiator.
The gospel says to pray for your enemies.
The gospel says to share the love of God with all groups.
The gospel says to sacrifice and give our lives for others.
In the end God wants to reconcile Mormons, prostitutes and rappers into his kingdom. So this requires fresh thinking on our part. The next time you are ready to slap a label on someone walking down the street, ask God how he wants you to reach that person with the gospel. In the end the label becomes the pathway toward reconciliation.
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