Acts 10:19-48
Peter, a Jew, mingles with and preaches to Gentiles in Acts 10:24-48. Up until this point, Jews did not associate with "unclean" non-Jews or Gentiles. Peter tells the group, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or visit anyone of another nation. . ." But then Peter continues with these incredibly important words. "But God has shown me that I should not call any person uncommon or unclean" (vs. 28). Peter then reinforces this statement when he preaches to Cornelius' group saying, "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality" (vs. 34).
If God shows no partiality, then I/we shouldn't either. But that's a tall order because you know as well as I do, that we all have prejudices and hang ups--things like the clothes people wear, what job a person holds, where someone lives, economic status, hairstyle, tattoos, piercings, speech accents and, of course, race and ethnicity.
So what do we need to do to put our prejudices aside? What's it going to take for you and me to respond like Peter? Tami W.
I am just as guilty as the next guy about summing up a person just by their outward appearance, thinking because of the way they dress or their actions or attitude, they really aren't "worthy", I guess you could say. I believe the only way for myself to get past this is to truly understand and believe that they are not just "man" but a deeply loved and treasured child of His. God doesn't look at their outward appearance, but what is in their heart and the potential that they have to love Him unreservedly. I have to kick it up a notch and not just think with my human mind, but look at it through my Lord's eyes. A huge hurdle, but what an opportunity to grow in my walk.
This is the hardest thing for me in my life. I cannot get past my views and prejudices of other people. If they are not on the same social or financial status as me, then I believe the person to be inferior to me for some reason. Please pray for me to accept people for who they are, one of God's beloved children. But as Laurie said in the comment before mine, it is a huge hurdle, but an extremely beneficial opportunity to grow in my walk with God.
I'll be walking doing my lunch time at work and start judging a person's outward appearance. Right at that moment I ask the Lord for forgiveness and to help me see them through His eyes.
Not judging people by their appearance is an extremely hard thing for people to do. We are so used to it in everyday life for practical reasons. In interviewing for a job or giving an interview, a person's appearance tells a lot about them. It may not always be right, but it is a good indicator. For safety reasons, we look at people to determine if it is safe to ask a person for assistance or to be around them. We find that here on earth, things that we do, we can determine a lot about a person's capabilities or their general character by their appearance. Again, we may not always be correct but it is usually a good indicator. God can see what is in a person's heart. We cannot. When it come to practical and character assessment the first indicator we have is appearance. However we should not and cannot judge a person's spiritual condition by their appearance. God alone is the judge of that. We should approach everyone concerning this issue equally and not allow our earthly and everyday practicality get in the way.