Preaching about prejudice and the Word of God
Today, we confront a challenging but essential topic for every true follower of Christ: Prejudice. It's an attitude deeply ingrained in the human heart, leading us to form judgments about people before we truly know them.
This superficial judgment is often based on external factors: appearance, ethnic or national origin, socioeconomic status, educational background, or even differing beliefs. Prejudice, in all its forms, is destructive. It damages relationships, hinders the spread of the Gospel, and fundamentally contradicts the very character of God, who shows no partiality.
In this study, using our base texts, James 2:1-9 and Acts 10:34-35, we will explore what prejudice is, how it manifested itself in the Bible, why it is a profound sin in God's eyes, and, most importantly, how we, as Christians, can overcome it in our lives.
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I. Examples of Prejudice in the Bible
The Bible, in its raw honesty, presents numerous examples of prejudice, revealing its destructive nature and how it hindered God's purposes.
1. Prejudice in Social Distinctions (Exodus 23:3; Leviticus 19:15): Long before the New Testament, God commanded His people to judge fairly, without bias towards the rich or the poor.
• Exodus 23:3: "Do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit."
• Leviticus 19:15: "Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly." These commands highlight that judging based on wealth or poverty, or any social status, is a perversion of justice and an act of prejudice. God demands impartial justice.
2. Prejudice between Jews and Samaritans (John 4:9; Luke 9:52-56): The animosity between Jews and Samaritans was deep-seated, stemming from historical, religious, and cultural differences.
• John 4:9: When Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, her immediate response was, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)" This cultural hatred almost prevented the Samaritan woman from hearing the life-giving message of Jesus.
• Luke 9:52-56: When some Samaritan villages rejected Jesus, the disciples James and John, filled with prejudice and anger, wanted to call down fire from heaven to punish them. Jesus rebuked them, showing that prejudice, even when cloaked in zeal, is contrary to His Spirit.
3. Prejudice toward Gentiles (Acts 10:28; 11:1-4): One of the greatest struggles in the early church was overcoming Jewish prejudice against Gentiles, particularly regarding their inclusion in the Gospel.
• Acts 10:28: Peter himself, despite being an apostle, had to overcome deep-seated racial and cultural prejudice. He told Cornelius, a Gentile, "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean." God had to give Peter a vision to challenge his ingrained prejudice.
• Acts 11:1-4: When Peter returned to Jerusalem, he faced criticism from other Jewish believers for associating with Gentiles: "So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, 'You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.'" Peter had to explain God's clear instruction. The gospel cannot be limited by human-made racial or cultural barriers.
4. Prejudice from Humble Origins (John 1:46): People often judge others based on where they come from, often with disdain.
• John 1:46: When Philip told Nathanael about Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael's prejudiced response was instantaneous: "“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”" This prejudice, based on a town's humble reputation, blinds people to God's unexpected ways. Prejudice limits God’s work and our ability to recognize His chosen instruments.
5. Prejudice hinders God’s work: When we allow prejudice to dictate who we engage with, who we minister to, or who we share the gospel with, we essentially judge whether someone "deserves" the gospel or not. This directly disobeys the command to preach it to every creature (Mark 16:15: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."). Prejudice becomes a roadblock to evangelization and a betrayal of the Great Commission.
II. Prejudice Is Forbidden by God
The Lord leaves no ambiguity regarding His stance on partiality and prejudice. It is a sin because it directly contradicts His nature.
1. God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11): Peter, after his transformative encounter with Cornelius, declared, in Acts 10:34: "Then Peter began to speak: 'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism.'"
• Romans 2:11 affirms this universal truth: "For God does not show favoritism." God judges by the heart, by righteousness, not by external appearance, social class, ethnic background, or any other superficial human distinction.
2. Our faith must be without favoritism (James 2:1): The Apostle James issues a strong warning to believers: "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism." Our faith, anchored in a glorious Christ who embraced all, cannot tolerate favoritism or partiality based on worldly standards.
3. Favoritism is sin (James 2:9): James further clarifies the severity of this issue: "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers." Prejudging people based on their economic status, cultural background, race, or any other external factor, and then treating them differently, makes us guilty before God and His royal law of love.
4. Let us imitate God in His impartial justice: If God, the ultimate Judge, shows no partiality, neither should we, His children. We are called to reflect His character in our interactions with everyone.
III. The Remedy for Prejudice
While prejudice is deeply ingrained, the good news is that God provides the powerful remedy through the transforming power of the Gospel and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
1. Love your neighbor sincerely (Luke 10:30-37; James 2:8): The parable of the Good Samaritan directly addresses prejudice through the command to love.
• The priest and the Levite, representing religious establishment, did not help the wounded man, likely due to their prejudice against Samaritans and perhaps fear of ritual impurity.
• Only the Samaritan, the one despised by Jewish society, acted with true compassion and went out of his way to help. Jesus concluded by saying, "Go and do likewise." This illustrates that Luke 10:27, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’” is the essence of fulfilling God's law.
• James 2:8 calls this the "royal law": "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right." Sincere, compassionate love for our neighbor, regardless of their background, is the antidote to prejudice.
2. Obey God's command (Acts 10:28): Peter overcame his deep-seated resistance and prejudice by simply obeying God's direct command to go to Cornelius's house. His obedience led to a breakthrough in understanding and evangelism. Love and obedience to God's will are powerful forces that overcome ingrained prejudice.
3. See souls, not appearances: Ultimately, the most effective remedy for prejudice is to adopt God's perspective. He sees every individual as an eternal soul created in His image, desperately in need of salvation.
• We are commanded to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), without judging whether they are worthy or not, because all people, from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, need salvation.
• When we truly see people through the eyes of Christ—as lost, yet infinitely valuable to God—the superficial distinctions that fuel prejudice melt away.
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Conclusion
Prejudice is a silent sin, often justified by cultural norms or personal biases, but it profoundly hinders the advancement of God's Kingdom. It is a barrier to true fellowship, genuine love, and effective evangelism.
The Bible provides powerful examples of how Christ Himself overcame prejudice with the Samaritan woman, and how Peter, under the Holy Spirit's guidance, overcame it with Cornelius. We too must overcome it in our lives, allowing the Spirit to transform our hearts and minds.
Let us commit ourselves to seeing others as God sees them: not by their external labels, but as eternal souls, uniquely created, and in desperate need of His love, His truth, and His salvation.
Let us not judge by what we see with our natural eyes, but let us preach the gospel with genuine love and compassion, without distinction, for all humanity.
Amen.
