Overcoming Prejudice - Free-Flowing Grace

In this short series on overcoming prejudice I have spent a lot of time looking at the example Jesus gave us. It should be clear, by the amount of time and effort Jesus spent bringing the unseen people of society into the sight of everyone, that prejudice is not part of the Kingdom. This means it should not be part of the Church if the Church is the representation of God's Kingdom on earth. But telling someone they should not be prejudice is the same as telling someone they have to love or they have to forgive. Laws and commands do not change hearts. 

There should be no prejudice in the Body of Christ. Everyone should love and respect their neighbour. We should honour everyone. But just because Father said it does not mean his children will do it. Perfect obedience is only born from perfect love, and we are still learning, growing and maturing. 

Then what do we do?

The beginning point is desire. I want to love. I want to obey. I want to respect. I want to honour. Even if I am falling short. Desire will give birth to honesty, where we can confess these failings. These honest confessions open us to where we are willing to hear the Spirit, accept his convictions and surrender what we are powerless to change. This is a life long process as the Spirit is changing us, conforming us, with our cooperation, to be like Jesus.

I am going to end this series with a portion of scripture my friends and I have been meditating on this week. It comes from Paul's final letter to Timothy. He writes to Timothy:

"Live your life empowered by God's free-flowing grace, which is your true strength, found in the anointing of Jesus and your union with him." 2 Timothy 2:1

Until we recognize that we can do nothing outside of Jesus we will continue to fall short of the fullness we have been called to in Jesus. It is by grace that we were rescued from our life of rebellion. It is by grace that we were adopted. It is by grace that we were invited to enter the Kingdom. It is by grace that we have been called to represent Jesus to the world. So why would we think we would have to find our own way to live it? Crazy thoughts.

Live your life empowered by God's free-flowing grace. Freely we have received so freely we give. Freely we have received grace so freely we give it out. No one has to live up to my expectations in order to be loved by me. No one has to conform to my standards to be honoured by me. No one needs to earn my respect to receive my respect.

I did not deserve Father's love. I did not merit Jesus' death on the cross. I did not earn the gift of Holy Spirit. These were all acts and gifts of mercy and grace, flowing from Father's heart of love. This is how I am empowered by God's free flowing grace to love, respect and honour every person of every gender, culture and colour. It is not about humanity. It is not about my opinion. It is not about feeling good. It is not about world peace. It is not about being well thought of. It is about my Father's heart, his will and his desire. The source of this grace is not found in me. It is God's free flowing grace.

How do I overcome? I understand Father's desire by Jesus' actions. I see how much he loves me and everyone else. I choose to accept his love. It is love that empowers me to obey him. And when I find something that is not aligned with him I surrender it to him. Spirit is then able to overwrite that thing with Father's heart and I find in this relationship that I am empowered by God's free flowing grace to live out his heart.

This is what it is suppose to look like, and if it doesn't, we have some growing up to do. 

Overcoming Prejudice - Authorities

Being a follower of Jesus has its challenges in this world but the biggest challenge is overcoming the limitations we place on ourselves by the systems of this world. We do not have strong enough teaching to help children of God to understand that we live by higher standards, more powerful principles than the pale comparisons in the world. Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God and the principles by which we live are founded there not here.

This is important to understand as I continue in my series concerning overcoming prejudice. We have been shaped by our society with ideas and attitudes that often rest below our conscience thinking but influence our actions. However when we bend our knee and recognize Jesus as our King, the Spirit births us into a new creation, and citizen of the Kingdom, governed by the rules of our King. There is a transformation that takes place and we are seeded with everything we need for godliness and living as his representatives in this world.

When this happens there is a rewiring that happens and the root of these ideas and attitudes from our society are cut off as the new seeds are planted. But we have lived with them so long that we live by habit and it is these habits that we need to surrender and have our thinking renewed. This is where we may discover the prejudices we didn't even know we were living with.

Jesus demonstrated his heart, Father's heart and the principles of the Kingdom by the way he treated people. We have account after account of how Jesus took the "unseen" people of the society of his day and brought them into the "seen". Jesus challenged what had become acceptable and taught by the rules of the day. At the same time, he continued to honour these rulers. 

Often times those who cry out against injustices and prejudices commit these same crimes against those they are protesting. The attitude of the Kingdom is clear as James wrote that we are to honour everyone. Authority may be wrong and we may have to protest to show it is wrong but we can still do it in a way that shows respect and honour.

I believe that many of us misread Jesus' encounters with the Pharisees and Sadducees. There certainly were times when Jesus called them out, giving them the label of "brood of vipers" and "white washed tombs" but Jesus did not show any prejudice with them. We see him going to their homes for supper. He met with them in secret. He have them opportunities to see the Kingdom of God demonstrated.

Jesus could have avoided them. He could have done the miracles when they weren't around so as to avoid provocation. But I don't believe Jesus was trying to provoke them. He wanted to include them, as much as they hated him. He wanted to give them opportunities to see and to understand. He didn't offer them insight and understanding because he hated them. He did it because he loved them and it broke his heart to see them missing the point.

At Simon's home Jesus took the time to help Simon understand the misalignment of his heart. In the synagogue, healing the man with the withered hand, Jesus wanted the Pharisees to understand the importance Father places on mercy over judgement and the need for compassion in relationships. Jesus took the time with Nicodemus. On many other occasions he patiently answered their many questions. He gave them miracles so they could see beyond his words. He became angry at the insincerity of their hearts.

If Jesus had been prejudice against these leaders and teachers he would have avoided them, remained silent, not visited them homes, not shared with them insights on the Kingdom. For certain the Pharisees did not belong to the "unseen" grouping of people. Their whole thing was to be seen but I point this out to you so that you can understand it is just as wrong to be prejudice against the authority as it is for them to be prejudice against one group of people. Hate does not destroy hate. We are told to overcome evil with good.

I am not saying that it is possible to bring equality to the world. That is not going to happen without Jesus. What I am advocating here is that it has to look different in the Body of Christ. The Church is the representation of the Kingdom in this world, governed by the principles of our King. We cannot be polluted by the wrong thinking and perspective of this world. We understand this as far as things like sexuality but we seem to fall short when it comes to the revelatory-knowledge of "Love and respect your neighbour as you love and respect yourself".

Jesus gave up his life to save us all. That is "all" not a chosen few. It is conditional on that whoever believes will be saved but everyone has the same opportunity to believe. Black and white, rich and poor, male and female, young and old, Jew and non-Jew. We can only function as one nation, united under our King, joined together by the Spirit, if love is our foundation. Jesus said, "Love each other in the same manner I have loved you", and then he went to the cross. He told us what love looked like and even told us that friends lay down their lives for each other. 

That is what it looks like in the Kingdom. That is what it needs to look like in the Church.  

Overcoming Prejudice - The Backstabbers

We all know the axiom "Keep your friends close and your enemy closer" but most of us keep our enemies far from us. No one would blame us for being biased about our enemies; it's normal. As I continue in this series on prejudice and the Kingdom of God , examining the example of Jesus, I want us to consider our bias against those who are plotting against us, the potential backstabbers, in the light of Jesus' example.

In this period of time in our history, as the West wrestles with it's systematic prejudice, it needs to be clear for the followers of Jesus, the citizens of the Kingdom, the only systematic anything in the Kingdom is systematic love. There is no room for a system of thinking and actions where we lift up one group of people above another. Jesus sees all of us in the same relationship as the children of Father.

In the Kingdom culture we are taught by the Spirit to apply love to everyone in the same measure and that measure is extravagant. Jesus taught us with his words to love our enemy and then he demonstrated what that looked like. We recognize this with the Cross and the prayer of forgiveness for his abusers but do we recognize it in his selection of Judas, the Zealot?

Zealots were haters. The object of their hate was Rome and her soldiers. Zealots were violent and plotted to overthrow by force Rome's dominance over Israel. Judas was a Zealot, in direct opposition to the message Jesus was presenting to Israel. Yet Jesus chose him. To my thinking, Jesus chose him understanding Judas had the potential to be the one to betray him.

This is a problem for any of us who subconsciously consider people a commodity. We evaluate, probably without realizing it, who can best contribute to our lives. We surround ourselves by friends who make us feel good about ourselves and soon kick to the curb anyone who becomes a non-believer in us. A little criticism can be absorbed but too much becomes something we want to avoid so we avoid the person.

Judas was not a great addition for Team Jesus. He was a thief and he held on to the belief that the objective was more important than the people. When Jesus failed to live up to his expectations and when he failed to provide maximum profit, Judas cut his losses and tried to cushion his future. Perhaps the disciples thought this was obvious, but Father holds no bias against anyone. He is the God of the "Whoever" and desires everyone to be saved from a disastrous end like Judas.

Now consider Jesus' behaviour toward Judas. He did not exclude him from the others. He too was sent to his home town with the authority to heal the sick and cast out demons, preaching the Kingdom message. He too returned excited that demons had obeyed him. He journey with the Master every day, ate with him, heard the lessons, asked the questions.

Consider this: he was still in the upper room when Jesus washed his disciples feet with the purpose of demonstrating what sacrificial love for each other looks like. Judas had his feet washed by Jesus who he was already plotting against. Jesus knew this and still loved on Judas. He knelt in front of him, in the position of a servant, took his dirty feet into his yet-to-be-pierced hands, and tenderly washed the dirt away. I wonder what that felt like for Judas.

One of the worse things about prejudice is when we deny a person or a group of people the potential of victory in their lives because of some ugly thought in our head. Many people feel justified in their choice to not include everyone. They evaluate the potential based on their own prejudices, thoughts and unproven opinions. Jesus could have looked at Judas and rejected him because he was a Zealot, opposed to his message and brand. But then again he could have rejected Matthew for being a traitor to Israel. He could have rejected Peter for being a Galilean. He could have rejected Mary or Martha or Mary Magdalene because they were women. But he didn't because that is not Father's heart.

The Kingdom of God is a wonderfully radical place to those looking in but it is the norm, the reflection of our King's attributes to those who have been birthed by the Spirit into the Kingdom. This world may measure the worth of a person by their contributions but in the Kingdom the contributions are the fruit of the worth the King places on us. We are a peculiar people, unbiased in love and energy that we invest in all people. 

We recognize that the Kingdom is by invitation. Some will accept this invitation and some will reject it but that does not give us an excuse to be selective in the application of Father's love. We are empowered by the free flowing grace that is sourced in our relationship with our King. And it is our King who strengthens us in the grace to represent him in every person we are connected with, friend or potential backstabber. 

  

Overcoming Prejudice - Our Enemies

Continuing in our series on prejudice in relation to the Kingdom, today I am considering prejudice against our perceived enemy. This is a really big subject. We all will admit that it is wrong to have bias against an innocent person, or group of people, who have never done anything against us. Unfortunately, many of us will excuse any similar bias against people who have harmed us, who we consider to be our enemy.

The Kingdom of God is a very odd thing compared to this world. Our King very specifically told us that love is beyond anything perceived by our flesh. We have a limited definition what we perceive to be love and then project this on our King. But the foundation of the Kingdom is something otherworldly, beyond our imagination, and sometimes beyond our acceptability. It is a love that says there is nothing special about loving someone who loves you and there is something perfect about loving those who hate you.

The apostle Paul was so convinced of this incredible thing that he said that unless it is the motivation of everything we do, the things we do have no power and are useless, having no value. The power is found in the love that provokes us into action because that love is sourced from Father himself.

Jesus was interrupted one day by a servant who said that his master needed his help. It turned out that this man's boss was a Roman centurion, the enemy that currently occupied and dominated the land of the Jews. They were cruel, hateful and often sadistic in the way they treated the enemies of Rome and there was no doubt the Jews considered themselves enemies of Rome.

Understand this : when Jesus showed preference for the Jews it was because they were the focus of his mission, not because he lacked any love for the other nations. Scripture said that salvation would come to the world through the Jews and Jesus had come to fulfill these scriptures. Paul repeated this often : first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. But Jesus made it clear that salvation would be for everyone who believes.

Now Jesus is faced with this need from an enemy of Israel, a worshiper of multiple gods. We would have considered him justified if he had ignored this need. But he didn't. He responded to the one who considered his people to be the enemy. Note that Jesus came to demonstrate what life looks like as a citizen of the Kingdom. He came to reveal the heart of Father. He came so that we could see the Kingdom in his actions. He answered the prayer of his enemy.

Consider his own prayer as these same Roman soldiers drove the nails through his body and hung him on a tree in public disgrace : Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing. Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you. What's so special about loving those who can return that love. The real power is revealed in loving those who can't return that love because of the hatred or fear that blinds them.

It is easy to be prejudice against those who we perceive are hating on us, being biased against us, mistreating and denying us. It is easy to focus on our rights in this world. It is easy to decry the injustices and make demands on others. But as citizens of the Kingdom we have been called to something greater, something beyond ourselves, something rooted in our King, flowing through us by the Holy Spirit. You and I are not capable of this otherworldly love that would have us love our enemy, but we are capable because of Jesus who gives us the strength and power to live it. 

Any of us can say we believe but faith is shown in our actions. Faith is living according to every word that comes from the mouth of our King. Faith is trusting that there is purpose and truth in Jesus' instructions even if it is contrary to our own thinking. Jesus says that it is possible to obey him because love empowers us. We cannot obey him from willpower. We cannot obey him from repetition. Obedience is empowered by love. That is how things work in the Kingdom and that is how we overcome our prejudice toward our enemies.

Overcoming Prejudice - The Hated

I am continuing in my series concerning prejudice and the Kingdom of God. We are examining Father's heart in relationship to lifting up one group of people over another. I have been doing this by looking at Jesus' actions. My attitude in this is as Moses had requested of Yahweh, show me your ways that I may know you. By his actions Jesus demonstrated the Father's heart and the priorities of the Kingdom.

If you have confessed Jesus as Saviour and Lord then you have confessed him as King. You have, by invitation, become citizens of the Kingdom. This Kingdom and her people are reflections of our glorious King, although not all of us have been taught or are living by these greater standards. It is important for us to look to our King for the example he has set so we know how to live by this new nature. 

Jesus spent all his time overcoming the prejudices of his day. He demonstrated how important it is for Kingdom people to bring the "unseen" of this world into the "seen". The strong are to carry the weak. The privileged to lift up the disadvantaged. The acceptable to include the outcasts. And this not in a "looking down" attitude but a equalizing heart.

We have already looked at the touch of the leper, the choosing of Jesus' looked-down on friends and the "seeing" of women but one of the strangest encounters is that of Zacchaeus.

Jesus already demonstrated his view of the outcasts in this society when he chose Matthew, the tax collector, traitor to Israel, as his close companion and future leader. Jesus, God, has always been attracted to these unloved, rejected, hated, people of this society. This culture showed no value in these people which should warn us to be careful with the attitudes of our own culture.

We tend to place value on people similar to ourselves, who have something to offer, contributors, producers of something. We place value on a friendly and kind neighbour, on a caring and sacrificial nurse, on an understanding politician, on a powerful and rich person, on the successful people in our community. We de-value those who are different from us, who live contrary to acceptability, the welfare recipient, the single mom, the mentally ill, the complaining neighbour. As far as our society goes these are the non-contributors who are a drain on our society, so they have no value and are ill treated.

Here we have Zacchaeus, the chief of tax collectors, traitor to Israel, outcast, rejected, hated, whose heart is drawn to this man Jesus. He is curious. And short. The crowd is huge and no one is going to show kindness to the traitor. No one will make way so that he can see. So Zacchaeus climbs a tree so he can look and evaluate this man, Jesus.

I find it amazing, in that entire crowd Jesus singles out one man to honour, one man to bring into the light, one man to "see". He calls out to this man and invites himself to his house. That man had one desire, to be "seen". Jesus placed value on him and Zacchaeus' heart exploded in gratitude, generosity and repentance. What a friend we have in Jesus.

Of course the "seen" people of society did not agree. I am sure they had thoughts about this situation as Simon had about Mary : "If he knew what kind of man this is Jesus would have nothing to do with him." But Jesus did know. He knew and still he lift him up and showed him his value. The Kingdom's value system is far superior to this world's.

Prejudice exists well beyond skin colour, even though skin colour is the issue being addressed today. The real problem is with value. How do we measure a person? How do we determine value? The Kingdom values people simply because they are created by Father and are the objects of his love. Even if they reject him it does not change his love or his focus.

The Kingdom is about people, relationships, love and all its manifestations. It is about reconciliation and the relationship of creation and Creator. Those who accept the invitation of salvation are invited into the Kingdom and into the mission of our King. It is our purpose to live out the Royal Law, "Love and value your neighbourhood as you love and value yourself." Even if your neighbour is different from you, belongs to a different culture, hates you, considers you an enemy, is a non-contributer. Those things do not add or take away value. Value is determined by Father's love. There is no room for prejudice in love.

Overcoming Prejudice - Women

It is hard for many of us in the Western world to understand Kingdom mentality because we have never lived in a Kingdom. As the children of God we need to allow Spirit to create a mindset so that we move from a democratic thinking to a Kingdom thinking. This takes a lot of surrender and the acceptance that it is a steep learning curve that we will not always succeed in living. Mistakes will happen.

A Kingdom takes on the character of the king. If he is a cruel king then the kingdom will be dominated by cruelty. If he is a kind king then the kingdom will be dominated by kindness. If he is a generous king then the kingdom will be dominated by generosity. So we can understand by these then that the Kingdom of God will reflect the attributes of our King.

We should note that there has been a lack of training in this understanding and revelation. We have many good people sitting in churches and living out there lives who have no concept that they are citizens of the Kingdom and that being such affects their entire thinking and approach to life. They have been recreated but are living according to the old habits because they do not understand the new habits of God's Kingdom.

I preface this blog entry with this explanation because if I do not then we will miss the significance of Jesus' actions. One of the various reasons Jesus came was to demonstrate the Kingdom. Sometimes we reduce this demonstration to the power that enabled miracles. But Jesus also demonstrated the mentality of the Kingdom, which is revelatory-knowledge of Father's heart.

One of the extraordinary things Jesus did was "see" women. This was a time when the Jews treated women very poorly. There is a whole list of things they did to put women down and treat them worse than cattle. The Pharisees were the worse examples of this culture of prejudice. 

How significant is this in understanding the Kingdom? Well, keeping in mind the treatment of women in Jewish culture, consider how many famous stories of Jesus were centered on a woman. Consider his acknowledgement and treatment of the women in his lives. Is it not significant that the recorders of the gospels left these encounters with women in the story of Jesus?

The Samaritan woman at the well was a dramatic encounter that probably is one of the first to come to mind but the one I want to highlight for you today is the woman who broke into Simon's home to wash Jesus' feet with her tears and hair. Simon was a Pharisee. But this woman had been so touched by Jesus that she needed to worship him regardless of the risk. To consider the significance of the moment we need a little background.

Women were not allowed to eat with Jewish men, especially when guests were over. On top of this, Pharisees, real women haters, would never acknowledge a woman, not even so much as a glance. Now realize what this woman of low repute, a prostitute, did. She broke into this Pharisees' home, entered into the dining area and began to touch Jesus. But how could Simon put a stop to this without acknowledging the presence of the woman? He tried to ignore her at the same time condemning Jesus in his thoughts.

There is a lot to this incident but considering all that I have mentioned maybe you can understand the significance of what Jesus said, "Look at this woman Simon".

WE know in reading the Scriptures that Jesus used this woman to teach Simon the proper response to sacrificial love and then he pierced this Pharisees' prejudice, lack of love, that encased this his heart and demanded him to look past his prejudice and see this woman : Simon, look at this woman". Jesus spent every day "seeing" the "unseen".

If you can get past the familiarity of this incident you will be awestruck by the actions of our King. There is no room for not "seeing" in the Kingdom. It is hard to believe that to this day women still have to fight to be seen. Nowhere is this more true than in some parts of the Church which is crazy. Instead of learning from our King and living the character of the Kingdom we have copied the behaviour of the Pharisees. Shame on us.

Now using this as our diving board, we jump into our current history.

The Church should not be in the background of this growing movement of "Black Lives Matter" because we should have been fighting for them to be seen from the beginning. That is our Father's heart, to fight for the "unseen". But it is more than that. If this is the character of the Kingdom, in the body that represents the Kingdom in this world they should never have been unseen. In our King, our Lord Christ Jesus, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. We can add, neither white nor black, settlers nor indigenous because in Jesus we are all one. 

Does this mean that some will get special attention over others? You bet. Jesus loved Simon but Simon did not need the attention this woman did. She was "unseen" and needed to be brought into the light. Simon was "seen", privileged, and needed to be humbled. It did not lessen his value in the eyes of Jesus.

Black lives matter. That is rightfully the anthem for today because black lives need the attention right now. We all have the same value to our King, he loves us all very much. But many of us are in a position of strength, privilege, in our society and we need to give over some of this strength, privilege, so a disadvantaged group can rise up to their designed place. After this anthem cry there will be another group and we will need to give our strength to that group but for today it is "black lives matter".

Just a footnote : We should all understand that the vast majority of our world lives in rebellion to God's Kingdom. The only way to truly change a heart and a broken mindset is through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. So, it is good to see these shifts in our society but the underlying problem remains as long as Jesus is rejected as King. 

 

Overcoming Prejudice - Friends

In the previous posts we have already established that there is no room in the Kingdom of God for prejudice. Simple verses such as we find in Proverbs where Solomon wrote that the one thing the rich and the poor have in common is that God created them both. We also have James writing that a person has no faith if he favours one group of people over another. But the greatest condemnation of prejudice is Jesus' life.

It goes beyond the "whosoever believes" of our salvation. Jesus demonstrated Father's attitude toward the unseen people of the world. These are the people who are easily ignored, disfavoured, trodden upon. Jesus took great delight in putting the spotlight on these people because that is what Father does. He lowers what is getting too much attention and lifts up what is not getting enough so that there is equality. Just read 1 Corinthians 12.

In the previous posts titled "Touch" I pointed out Jesus' treatment of the leprous man and how he did not just speak the healing but purposefully touched him. Jesus knew he had authority over this disease but he did it to make a point in a culture that isolated this poor suffering man. Now consider those who he chose to hang out with him, who he called to leadership.

This Jewish culture had a lot of prejudices. It wasn't just with the Romans, Greeks, and Samaritans but people within their own group. Galileans were a rough, hardy, determined working class of people. They did not pursue the book learning and finer aspects of life but instead were the fishermen and farmers of the day. They were highly educated in their own right but not recognized by the rest of society. They put food on people's tables but were also the butt of jokes.

Consider that Jesus chose people like Peter, James and John from this looked-down upon people. In fact, these three became his inner circle. They were so prominent that the whole group of disciples were considered Galileans. That was meant to be a derogatory label. It is not exactly a move that someone would make when trying to establish their ministry. Today we would only choose the best looking, best educated, most talented, most widely accepted people to help us reach success. Jesus was making a point that everyone in the Kingdom is valued and that Father has purpose for each person no matter the opinions of culture. But it was not just Galileans he chose.

Tax collectors were considered traitors. They were local agents of the occupying force. They not only forcefully collected the tax of this occupying army but they also took extra for themselves. So here is Jesus throwing all convention to the wind, choosing Matthew to be one of his students and future pillar of the Church. Remember the Church is the manifestations of God's Kingdom on earth, and we are that Church. Can I belabour this for a minute more?

In most churches today they have a standard for leadership and acceptability. Leaders must be professionals, highly esteemed and educated. They must be beyond reproach. Depending on the culture of that church, leadership is chosen from an acceptable group within their church. There is a lot of prejudice involved and the denial of the anointing. Father does not choose according to human ability, race, creed, education, good looks or colour. Also consider for a moment that Matthew, traitor to his nation, was also highly favored by being chosen to write one of the four gospels. Jesus saw him as he sees everyone else, marked for redemption. Everyone has value. But Jesus is not done yet.

Consider Judas. He was a Zealot. The Zealots wanted to throw off the Romans by force. This is not an attitude that would line up well with the tenants of the Kingdom. Not only that but Judas had a tendency to steal, placing his own needs above those of the community he belonged to. Jesus knew him. Jesus knew his heart. But Jesus showed value for every person he met. He knew that Judas had the same potential for redemption, the same potential for love, the same potential for grace. Judas' failure is his own. People will fail us. That is no reflection on their people group but on them as an individual.

This could be one of the most challenging things about overcoming prejudices in our life. We cannot afford to look at people with the eyes of this world. To love, respect and honour everyone we need to see with Father's eyes. We need to see the unseen that lay within each person. We have this ability to see. Since we are a new creation we have been given the seeds in us to bear Father's image, to see like him, to think like him. As Scripture tells us, we have the mind of Christ.

The way we overcome is first to confess our desire to love and respect like our Father has loved and respected us. It is a life of surrender, where we surrender our old way of seeing, thinking, feeling and understanding. So when we know we are getting it wrong we confess it and then surrender it. This allows Spirit God to overwrite the old habits with Father's heart. If we try to deny the old habits nothing will change but when we bring the old into the light then everything shifts.

Does your selection of friends demonstrated the value Father places on all people? Maybe you need to have a conversation with Spirit God on this one.

 

Overcoming Prejudice - The Touch

Laws are not going to change hearts. The best way to overcome the prejudices our society has instilled in us from infancy is by developing a culture of honour. Not where we honour just those who we deem worthy but honouring everyone based on the fact that they are alive.

The Kingdom of God has just such a culture even if we have forgotten to teach it or expect it from each other. I am not sure how we have forgotten our Kingdom culture but I think we have. To see how we are falling short of the new life we have been birthed into all we have to do is look at Jesus to see what it is suppose to look like.

Jesus accomplished many things in the short three years of his ministry. He revealed the Father's heart to us. He set the example of what life walking in Spirit looks like. He paid the price for our redemption. He laid the seeds for the birth of the Church. And he demonstrated to us the Kingdom of God and what that culture looks like.

There were a lot of injustices in Jesus' day. The poor were mistreated. Women were little better than dogs. Children were tolerated. The sick and the physically challenged were isolated. Jesus overcame these and many more. Maybe we don't see it because we have normalized the stories but when you are willing to see it from the Kingdom's perspective it is quite breathtaking.

One encounter that has moved me the most over the years is the one with the leper who knew that he could be healed if Jesus was willing. There were different levels of faith expressed by people when they encountered Jesus. Some were the basic level of "If you can". Others expressed a higher level of "If you are willing". And still others spoke the greatest faith of "Just speak Lord". But it wasn't the level of my faith that caught my attention but rather Jesus' response.

Ever since becoming sick this leprous man would have to call out "unclean" anytime he was in public. Talk about anxiety provoking. He would not have known human touch since the day of his diagnoses. He would have been removed from family and forced to beg for a living in a culture that would have ignored his existence. Isolated in a crowded room.

This is why it is so moving to read Jesus' responses to his pleas for help. It is not so much the words of our gracious King who said to the man "Of course I am willing", but his generous gift of a human hand upon his diseased flesh. Jesus could have just spoke, he did not have to touch. But what was the greatest need here, the rescue from the disease or the acknowledgement of his need for contact? Jesus did both, touching the man while assuring him of the willingness of our compassionate Father.

In one simple heart-felt gesture Jesus let it be known that the culture of the Kingdom is far superior to the limited culture of a broken world. He demonstrated that ever person has value, is important and is deserving of compassion and grace, regardless of their condition. 

Israel had a culture of division and prejudices. Jesus seemed to take great delight in destroying these one by one. Jesus highlighted those who had become invisible in this pious culture. He brought such people out into the light and honoured them in the sight of those who considered him their enemy. He demonstrated the culture of the Kingdom in which we are sons and daughters. Today we look to our King to know how honour overcomes prejudice and lifts up those who have been trodden down.

Over the next few days I want to highlight these actions of our King. I want to discuss with you the example of our Lord so we can better grasp his Kingdom. I want to show you the many faces of what a culture of honour looks like. Come take this important walk with me. 

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter.

I have been reflecting on this statement a lot because it is daily presented to me and I hope continues to be presented to me.

I live in Canada where we like to think prejudice doesn't exist. It may not be as visible or dramatic as what we see in the States but it exists. I know because I grew up beside it in Nova Scotia. I grew up with friends who were black but it doesn't mean I understand what they went through. I saw it, felt it, but I did not experience it. I was never suspected of anything when I walked in a store or down the street. I may not have been rich but compared to my friends I live a privileged life because I wasn't black. It is exactly what they are trying to tell people today.

I also saw it in Europe when I lived there. My best friend was black. I could cross between countries there without even a glance but when we traveled together we were stopped every time. Prejudice and judgement are not unique to the US, although for the moment it is grabbing our attention.

This speaks to the horrible nature that is at the core of being human. We are filled with fear, hate, and prejudice. We are only lying to ourselves if we truly believe that we are free of these things. Just look at the response people have to the statement "Black Lives Matter". To say that "All Lives Matter" is ignoring the fact that our societies believe that some lives have greater value than others, and what is considered valuable depends on the country in which you live. Prejudice exists in every country even if it is a different group of people because of colour, race or religion. But this must not be true of the Church.

Although no follower of Jesus is perfect we must be aware of our sins to give them over to Jesus. To admit our prejudices and hatreds is the first step to have them healed and changed. Just because that is what we grew up with and what we were before Jesus does not mean that is who we are after our re-birth in Jesus. We are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. The Word is filled with what we are suppose to be growing into but there is one truth that should describe the atmosphere of the family of Yahweh:

There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

This is our family, under the head of Jesus, united by the Spirit, considering each other more important than ourself:

Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

There is no skin colour attached to this because the Kingdom of God is about the heart and our relationship with Jesus. We don't judge by sight but by the Spirit of God. If we are still judging people by skin colour then there is something wrong with us. Either we don't have a relationship with Jesus or we are failing to grow into maturity.

We can understand what is taking place in the world because of the sin nature of humanity, but if it exists within the Church it is an illness that must be dealt with by love, teaching and prayer. We tell the world the answer to all these things is Jesus but they aren't going to believe us unless we are willing to allow our hatred and prejudices to be corrected and healed.

Remember:

Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. (1 John 3:15)

Prejudice, An Ugly Thing

One of the ugliest things we will ever encounter is prejudice. It is when a person or group of persons is treated poorly due to some difference. It can be nationality, colour of skin, language, height, weight, beliefs, politics or anything else. It doesn't take much, just a simple difference between one person and another. It is ugly because it is one person or group saying they are better than another, usually due to things that no one has any control over.

Can a person decide which country they will be born in, or what colour of skin they will have? Can a person decide what language they will be raised in or what height to which they will grow? Can a person decide if they will be born male or female? It is our God who determines and it is our God who loves and cherishes everyone.

This struck me this morning because of what I came across in my Bible reading. It is not an unfamiliar passage but it stands out every time I read it:

So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. (Genesis 43:32)

Joseph was second only to Pharaoh in Egypt and in fact, during the famine, whatever Joseph decided became law. He was a well respected and powerful man. Yet, the prejudice was so ingrained in the Egyptians that they could not bring themselves to eat at the same table as this powerful man.

The one thing that God is prejudiced against is sin. He can't have anything to do with it and it is the one thing that prevents him from a deep fellowship with us. Yet, when Jesus came, he was often found in the presence of some of the great sinners of his society. He hung out with the drunks, prostitutes and tax collectors. When challenged about this he simply stated:

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32)

Jesus came because the Father's will was that all of humanity would be saved. People call the US the great melting pot but it isn't true. The great melting pot should be the Church. As Paul stated:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Prejudice is ugly wherever it is found but it is even worse when found in the midst of brothers and sisters in Jesus. Jesus came for whoever would believe in him because the Father desires everyone to be saved. The love of Christ must compel us to love and cherish everyone through whatever prejudice may linger in us. Love is a decision not a feeling. The Father decided to love us even though we were his enemies and so Jesus died for us even though we were sinners. Prejudice and hatred do not belong in the Body of Christ, among brothers and sisters. Simply put, it is wrong.

Christ Is All, And Is In All

Looking at the history of the Church it is not hard to tell that transformation was not always understood. For far too long the Church was used by powerful men to get what they wanted. It was a tool used to hold power over the masses. Much of our history is a thing of shame. Remnants remained but the vast majority of people had no idea what it was to be alive in Jesus. This is seen in the dark parts of our history when men and women were judged because of their nationality or the colour of their skin.

I think one of the most beautiful, poetic and truly wonderful verses of the Bible is this:

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. (Colossians 3:11)

I think Jesus demonstrated this fact when he chose Matthew, the tax collector, and Judas, the Zealot, to be his disciples. When we are in Jesus, it does not matter our trade, nationality, skin colour, education, financial situation or position in society; we are all his disciples and all that matters to us is Jesus.

There are really only two groups on the face of this planet: those who are a new creation and those who are enslaved to their sin nature. That is all that we should see as a people alive in Jesus. We should know God's heart for those who are enslaved and we should share that heart. All of our focus and desire should be to see the enslaved set free because that is all our Father desires and it is the reason Jesus died. It is why you are where you are right and our desire should be to see everyone come to the same place of freedom.

We accept and believe with all our heart what John 3:16 says, that "whoever" believes will be saved. There is no prejudice in the Body of Christ. There is no judgement. There is no special or select group of people. Everyone has been called to repentance. Everyone has been called to Jesus. He was lifted up that all eyes would look upon him and be saved. Salvation is for everyone and to everyone we must bring it.

You don't need to go out of your country to find those who are enslaved; they exist on your street. In my province 0.3% of the population are born again Christians. There are a lot of people enslaved on my street, in my town and I have been given the responsibility to lift Jesus up to them. It doesn't matter the language they speak or the religion they belong to. It doesn't matter their age or sex. It doesn't matter if they are rich or poor. They need Jesus and I have to tell them about him.

What is your focus? Where is your heart? What is your mind set upon? Do you possess the mind of Christ? Do you share God's desire? Have you been transformed or conformed? Are you on a mission? Do you want to see the captives set free? Then go, make disciples of everyone.