Thought for Today
Deuteronomy 16:19 You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality;
Psalm 82:2 "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality,
1 Timothy 5:21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels, I warn you to keep these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality.
dis·crim·i·nate: 1. a: to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of;
2. : to distinguish by discerning or exposing differences: to recognize or identify as separate and distinct
For many in my generation and succeeding generations, the word discriminate resonates with and is associated with the Civil Rights Movement. The word has very definite negative semantic value and we almost use as a mantra, “You must never discriminate!”
Yet, discriminating and discrimination seem an almost inherent feature of humankind. Our societies have identified an almost inexhaustible supply of various things by which we discriminate. Some are positive; some are negative; some are arbitrary; some are deliberate and specific.
Most of us would prefer eating ice cream as a dessert rather than sucking on a lemon. We discriminate on the basis of a perceived preference for sweet over sour. We discriminate when choosing desserts.
Regrettably, many of the world’s conflicts can be traced to discrimination. Tribal discrimination, ethnic discrimination, national discrimination all have been sources of wars and loss of life. Even a cursory reading of the Bible tells us this truth. Read in the Old Testament the background stories attributed to the neighboring countries of Israel and Judah. The Edomites, the Moabites and others are not given flattering origin stories. The book of Judges even gives us the story of intertribal conflict among the 12 tribes and of discrimination based on one tribal accent, “12:6 they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. Forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites fell at that time.” Forty-two thousand co-religionists killed because they spelled and pronounced a word using a different s than did the rest of the tribes! (actually because they did not join Gilead in a conflict with the Ammonites; the Ephraimites were identified by their accents.)
At its heart, discrimination is a primary element in making choices. God’s children are always called upon to make choices. Eve had to make a choice. So too did Adam. Joshua famously called upon the people of the Exodus to make a choice, “Joshua 24:15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve . . .”
Christians are called to make choices, to discriminate against certain thoughts, words and actions. Our choices, our rejection of evil must be based solely on the words and examples given us by Jesus. Our instructions from the Christ are simple: "Luke 10:27 You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself." “Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice, Jesus used inclusive words: neighbor; all nations. There is nothing in our instructions about discrimination on the basis of tribe, ethnicity, nationality, language, denomination or any of the metrics we use as excuses for most of our discriminating. Like the Israelites, we are called to serve God. We are called to love God with all we have and all we are. We are called to love our neighbors, to love all of God’s children.
Christians choose to express their love of God in many different faith traditions. There are variations in how we organize our worship services, how we understand the various elements of our worship. The only significance of those variations is in how they allow you individually to come closer to the One God we all worship. If we truly are one in the Spirit, They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.
Stay safe, choose to follow the Lord, trust God,
Pastor Ray