Prejudice is hate but Christ is love; He is not prejudiced, nor does He show partiality, because He doesn’t have any unreasonable suspicions, opinions or judgments about anyone.
There are 10 types of prejudice. As you read these, pray “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24). The Church is riddled with these biases and must be purged of them:
1) Racial – This very common form of bigotry stands between blacks and whites, Gentiles and Jews, etc. (See Acts 10:34-35; Romans 2:28-3:23; 4:1-16, 23-25; 10:12; Galatians 3:26-29) But this is only one type of hate.
2) Sexual – The battle dealing with the walls and fears between men and women. It includes men who think women shouldn’t lead corporations, preach or pastor churches and women who want independence or err toward feminism. (See Acts 2:17-18; Galatians 3:28 and Ephesians 4:13)
3) Chronological – This is the battle between the ages, the generations, between the young and the old, where they are intolerant of one another. (See Matthew 21:16; Psalm 92:12-15 and Acts 2:17)
4) Geographical – We often have prejudices based upon certain areas in our city, state and nation, between northerners and southerners, west-coasters and east-coasters and other such differences. Do you have a Mason Dixon Line in your mind? (See John 4:19-21)
5) Educational – A common form of prejudice between those who discriminate based on ones’ level of education or lack thereof. (See Philippians 3:4-8)
6) Financial – The socio-economic battle between the lower, middle and upper classes of our society, between the poor and rich and everyone in-between. (See 1 Timothy 5:21; James 2:1-6; 3:17)
7) Physical – Having to do with how we look or don’t look, whether or not we think we’re attractive, this is the battle between the big and the small, the short and the tall, those who are focused on physique and those who aren’t. (See 1 Samuel 16:7 and James 2:1-5)
8) Denominational – This is a sectarian attitude of exclusivism, that erects walls between various Christian streams, churches and ministries, often based on denominational affiliation. But, in Heaven, there are no walls between Baptists and Pentecostals, Catholics or Charismatics, and Heaven is our standard.
9) Ministerial – A prejudice built around favoring one preacher, church or ministry over another. (See 1 Corinthians 3:1-7)
10) Doctrinal – This kind of prejudice stands between those who disagree on the non-essential issues of Scripture. The “first principles” aside (Hebrews 6:1-2), your doctrine is going to change and none of us have it all right. Sure, it’s important to know what you believe, but why divide over non-essentials?
These ten prejudices are all equally harmful and deadly to the unity of the faith. Jesus prayed for us to be one (John 17) so the world would know we are His (John 13:35). This doesn’t require sameness because unity is not uniformity. He created every snowflake and person to be different because He loves diversity. Understand, unity is a choice, but not an option, for the believer.
God is love. He loves every man, woman, boy and girl, where they are, despite their distinctions. If you are a Christian, in whom God lives, then imitate Him, and not the crowd around you. Rid yourself of all forms of partiality, prejudice and hate and make God’s unconditional love your great quest.
Joel M. Killion, Founder, Inner Life Ministries, www.innerlifeministries.com
Ron Horner, Pastor, The LifeSpring Church, www.thelifespringchurch.com |
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