Addressing Prejudice
We should never hesitate
to share our concerns regarding prejudice.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz:
We've seen in our last study, our last Principle,
that Peter had a problem.
He had a problem with prejudice--
even after he became a believer.
He believed it was wrong for him as a Jew,
a Jewish believer, to actually
go into the house of a Gentile.
And through the story of Cornelius in Caesarea,
we see how God used this man
and this trance that Peter had,
revealing that he should not call unclean
what God has called clean--
that Jesus Christ died for the whole world.
And Peter remembered something
I'm sure that Jesus said when he was
just still following Jesus before the crucifixion.
You remember He said: Other sheep I have
which are not of this fold;
them also I must bring.
And there Jesus was referring,
not just to Jews but to Gentiles.
And Peter had to learn that lesson.
And it took him a while to learn that lesson.
Now what happened is
that the moment he went back to Jerusalem
to share his experience
with the other religious leaders
and the other Christians,
and with the other apostles,
he had resistance
because they also were prejudiced.
And notice what happened:
The apostles and the brothers and sisters
who were throughout Judea
heard that the Gentiles
had also received the word of God.
[And] when Peter went up to Jerusalem,
the circumcision party criticized him,
saying, "You went to uncircumcised men
and ate with them."
In other words, there was this pocket of believers
who were so impacted by their Jewish faith
that they were among those
who very, very--with tremendous conviction,
believed that it was wrong
to even eat with a Gentile.
Even after they became believers.
And Peter was influenced as well.
But the fact is that Peter now had new insight.
He understood.
He shared the vision that he had with these men.
He shared his experience in Caesarea
and what happened.
He shared his own enlightenment--
how God had spoken to him through this vision
and then through this direct encounter
with Cornelius.
And then he shared these words
in Acts chapter 11, verse 15:
"As I began to speak [Peter said],
the Holy Spirit came down on them,
just as on us at the beginning. ...
He's talking to the other apostles.
And he's saying: Remember
what happened to us
on the day of Pentecost? Where the Holy Spirit
moved upon us and we actually
spoke in other languages.
He said: It happened in Caesarea
to a Gentile who put his faith in Christ.
And then he said:
...I remembered the word of the Lord,
how he said, 'John baptized with water,
but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'
If, then, God gave them the same gift
that he also gave to us
when we believed in Lord Jesus Christ,
how could I possibly hinder God?"
Now let me just insert here
a very interesting observation.
You see, when the message of salvation
first came, there in Jerusalem,
they had these very unusual experiences,
these unique experiences with the Holy Spirit.
When Philip went down to Samaria,
moving from Jerusalem--
very unusual experiences with the Holy Spirit.
We also know that here it happened
when the gospel came to Caesarea,
to a Gentile's home--
very unusual, unique experiences.
We also know later it happened in Antioch.
We also know, later in the book of Acts,
it happened in Ephesus.
You see, as you follow the unfolding story
throughout the book of Acts:
Going into these areas beyond Jerusalem
and Judea, to Samaria,
to the uttermost parts of the earth.
God repeated this unusual,
unique experience to verify
that the message was true.
Now God can do anything he wants
at any moment in history.
But the fact is, we see--particularly in
this unfolding story in the book of Acts--
how God used these unusual experiences
with the Holy Spirit to demonstrate
and verify that Jesus Christ was indeed
the Son of God.
So we see that happening here in this situation.
But notice, I call this next paragraph
"A Cautious Response."
Now remember, Peter is being criticized.
There were some that were
speaking right out and saying:
Peter, you can't do this.
They were of the circumcision party.
They were those who believed
and yet they were still wrapped up
in Jewish ritual.
But notice the general response:
When they heard this...
That is the people there in Jerusalem,
including the apostles.
...they became silent [hushed]. ...
Which means there was probably
some intense dialogue going on
and then silence.
...And [then] they glorified God, saying...
And I love this:
..."So then, God has given repentance
resulting in life even to the Gentiles."
Now I have to be honest that the "even"
is not in the Greek text,
but the whole concept is there.
Can you believe it, they're saying,
that God has given grace to the Gentiles?
They haven't made the complete step
out of their prejudice.
They've got the facts.
They can't deny the reality of what happened.
But they're still saying: Wow, that God
has enough grace to reach out to Gentiles.
That's prejudice--that's lingering prejudice.
But they got over it.
And as the gospel continued
to penetrate their hearts and their lives.
And as God then called the apostle Paul
to be a great missionary to the Gentiles.
They began to understand.
And you see this unfolding story
throughout the book of Acts
as they moved from Jerusalem to Judea,
to Samaria, and then
to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Well it's obvious that it took time
for believing Jews to deal with this
deep-rooted prejudice.
In fact, the apostle Paul had to deal with it
when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians--
a church that was founded by Paul.
And he was there ministering for three years.
And then he wrote a letter back.
And notice what he had to say to these believers.
He says:
But now in Christ Jesus,
you who were far away...
Who's that?
The Gentiles. He says:
...you who are far away
[part of the Ephesian church]
have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who made
both groups one and tore down
the dividing wall of hostility. ...
You see, the Jews felt they were the ones
that were close, but God also brought those
who are far away.
So Paul continues:
...In his flesh, he made of no effect
the law consisting of commands
and expressed in regulations,
so that he might create in himself
one new man from the two,
[Jew and Gentile,] resulting in peace. ...
He did this so that he might reconcile
both to God [Jew and Gentile]
in one body through the cross by which
he put the hostility to death.
Prejudice lingers. And we see this.
And here Paul is having to deal with it.
So this leads to a very practical question:
What are some of the areas of prejudice
that are still embedded in the hearts
of many professing Christians?
Well first of all, it's a worldwide phenomena.
You'll find prejudice anywhere in the world.
You'll have hostility
between different ethnic groups.
You'll find prejudice and hostility
between groups of different color and creeds.
It's a universal sin.
And we see it even in our own country.
Lingering effects of prejudice--
as it relates to race,
as it relates to religion,
as it relates to many things.
And if we're not careful as Christians,
we can have elements of prejudice in our life.
And the Bible's very clear.
James calls it sin.
And we need to deal with that.
In my own experience, I grew up
in a religious group.
And from a very small child,
basically I was taught
that I was better than other people
because I was a part of this religious group.
Now, I came to understand
the concept of salvation and
that the gospel is for everybody.
And I would deny the fact that I was prejudiced.
And I didn't even realize that I was prejudice.
I had lingering aspects of prejudice.
Even though I went through and studied
at Moody Bible Institute.
And studied the Scriptures. It wasn't until
after I graduated that I was in a situation.
And I believe God in His sovereignty
allowed this as a crisis for me
to deal with my prejudice.
That down deep, I still felt
that I was better than other people
because of this religious group.
Even though I'd left this religious group, basically.
But it was down there.
And I didn't even recognize it.
And God allowed a series of things
to happen in my own life
where I had to reach up to touch bottom.
And I had to reach out
to other people to help me.
And in that process I realized:
God is dealing with an element
that's deeply embedded in my soul.
And if I'm going to be used of the Lord--
if He's going to use me,
I've got to deal with that prejudice.
And God helped me to see that.
It was really, if you want to summarize it,
it was pride.
Because pride and prejudice go together.
And so God dealt with that.
And it was painful but it taught me
a great lesson.
And one of the things it taught me is that
this sin can be a part of our lives
and we don't even recognize it.
Now the encouraging thing is,
it took Peter five years for him
to discover that he was prejudice.
And it took--it took that vision from heaven
and this experience with Cornelius
to reveal to him that he was prejudice.
But the interesting thing I've calculated,
I figured it took about five years for me
to understand that I had prejudice.
And at that point, I felt I was
in pretty good company.
As far as the apostle Peter is concerned.
But it does reveal to us that
that sin can be a part of our lives
and we really need to deal with it.
Or if we don't, God will help us
if we're going to be used of Him.
So here's the Principle:
We should never hesitate
to share our concerns regarding prejudice.