Yesterday, I was watching a video that forms part of the very popular Ted Talks series. You can watch it here. In it, American super model, Cameron Russell talks about how she has often been favoured, because she fits into the mould of what the West considers ‘beautiful’. She has smiled her way out of a parking ticket, or been allowed to keep clothes she had tried on, even though she didn’t have enough cash in her purse to buy them. It’s incredibly thought provoking and my mind went at a mile a minute trying to figure out what life must be like for her; feeling so much pressure to look a particular way to stay within this framework of beauty, because after all, it now pays the bills. What about someone that doesn’t fit into that mould? Is life more difficult, or just ordinary?
In a similar vein, and after reading part of Luke’s gospel, I realised that people can also be considered superior because of what they believe. In Luke chapter 6, the Pharisees, who stuck to Old Testament Law and added some more of their own laws for good measure, wanted to ‘get rid’ of Jesus because he was challenging their ideals, despite doing good.(Luke 6:11) They saw themselves as religiously superior and woe to the one who even suggested they were out of line! I think the Jews in general had this attitude towards the Gentiles. They weren’t exactly happy to share the ‘good news’ and even when Peter received news supernaturally to the contrary (Acts 10), the Jews were still suspicious. I don’t even need to list all of the other more heinous acts that have stemmed out of delusions of granduer, but atrocities of the Second World War and Apartheid in South Africa to name just 2, do immediately spring to mind. Much stemmed out of deceit and a powerful platform with which to deceive the masses, and then the bible was even used as a powerful weapon of that mass deception, misrepresenting the Word of God to meet their ends. Only a few were going to challenge it, even if it was misused and out of context.
I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism, but accepts those from every nation…
All these thoughts of ‘who and what is right’ and why some were disenfranchised and some were allowed to ‘get away with it’ has me thinking about the words of Peter in Acts 10 when he spoke to Cornelius. Peter was taken to see Cornelius after the latter had an angel visit him and told him to go and find Peter. Peter had a vision that told him the centurion was going to send some of his men to invite the Apostle over. The idea of their meeting was for the revelation that God had given Peter, that the gospel was for all people, both Jew and Gentile. The word Peter shared with the head of the Italian Regiment was simply this: God doesn’t favour any one person of the other. Be they Jew or non Jew. (Acts 10:35) He was speaking specifically about being received into God’s family. It’s true we are all different, and represent different countries and culture groups and socio-economic backgrounds and ‘God is not a respecter of persons’. He has no favourites. Praise God that He has not chosen a special group that can be saved, but that it is open to everyone and I believe He expects the same behaviour from us; to not judge, favour or discriminate.
May we have an attitude adjustment and be conscious of how we see, treat and speak of others. I can’t speak for you but I’d hate for someone to discriminate against me, for whatever reason. To say I don’t care, is simply not true.