Guard against prejudice

James wrote to the church, “Suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, ‘You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor’ – well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? If you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin’” (vv. 2-4, 9 NLT). The early church grew rapidly because prejudice had no place there. Although the Jews and Samaritans despised each other, Jesus made a place for Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, and the Gentile woman at the well who’d been married five times. The early church made room for Onesimus, the former slave, at the same table as Philemon, his wealthy former master. The gospel gives everyone, everywhere, a place of dignity at Christ’s table. The sin of discrimination stands on two legs: prejudice and presumption. And they should have no place in your life. The ancient prophet Habakkuk climbed up in his watchtower in order to “watch to see what [God] will say unto me” (Habakkuk 2:1 KJV). Too much of our Christian experience is taken up with us saying something to God and spending too little time listening to what God is saying to us. He definitely has something to say to us about discrimination. So ask Him to help you to view people through His loving eyes. You just might see a few folks differently than you have in the past.