All over the news yesterday was the story of how the National Basketball Association slapped Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling with a lifetime ban plus levied a $2.5 million fine for racist comments he made.
I am not trying to let this well known slum lord and bigot off the hook but have you ever made a racist comment and judged another based upon their ethnicity? A Washington Post article reported that recent studies into the nature of prejudice found that almost everyone harbors some cultural biases, and these attitudes affect even those who actively resist them.
A University of Kentucky psychologist says that much of our self-esteem comes from feeling better about ourselves than about others because of the group we belong to. Prejudice is not easy to overcome, even within the family of God. For years the church hour was shamefully known as the most segregated hour of the week.
The Apostle Paul’s words to the believers at
Colossae instruct us today, saying that our speech and behavior toward others should
reflect our oneness in Christ.
“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” Colossians 3:10 (NLT)
Paul also
wrote to the Galatian church saying, “There is no
longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in
Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 (NLT)
In the church, the body of Christ, no race,
nationality, or class is better than another. Through the cross, Christ has
made us one, and we are to treat each other with honesty, dignity, and love.
Your pastor and partner in
ministry,
Kyle
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