You are prone to be prejudice. I am prone to be prejudice. People of all races are prone to be prejudice. In this hotly contested political season, racial and prejudice accusations are being thrown by people of all political parties. The sad but comical truth is that all people are prone to prejudice.
Prejudice can be defined as making a judgment beforehand without getting the facts. And aren't we all guilty of doing that frequently or almost daily. For example, you made a judgement about the slow driver in front of you on I-70 before you know the facts. You made a judgment about the person in front of you in the check out line in Price Chopper before you know the facts. You made a judgement about the overweight person before you know the facts. You made a judgement about the single mom before you know the facts. You made a judgement about the good-looking athlete before you know the facts.
Prejudice can lead to horrible attitudes and acts toward people. For example, as a young boy in the deep south I remember seeing the KKK burn a cross in my neighbor's yard just because of prejudice. I remember many people calling me "white trash" because of where I lived and who I spent time with each day.
Prejudice runs deep in my life and in your life; therefore, we have to walk in step with Christ and seek redemption in all areas of our lives. In Christ, we are a new person, the old attitudes and thoughts are gone. One exercise that helps me overcome prejudice is to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ (Second Corinthians 10:4-5). Another exercise that helps me is to go gather facts before I make a judgement.
There is no doubt that God does not want us showing favoritism or prejudice to others (James 2:1ff). Let us seek to be renewed in Christ each day and seek to be a good imitation of Christ each day.
What exercises do you practice to overcome prejudice? Let's play catch! It's your turn to throw!
I struggle with judgement, but in a round-about hypocritical way(even worse). It is an absolute pet peeve of mine when people are "judgemental". We all have our struggles and as you said, often times we do not know the facts before passing judgement...or we pass judgement on situations we have not been through or understand. Most times, there are many more details than what we think we know. Unfortunately, I find myself judging people for judging. If that's not hypocrisy at its best! When I begin to have these thoughts, and get angry at someone else for judging...I have to stop and remind myself that I am doing just that. I am just as guilty of in turn passing judgement. I don't know that there is an exact cure except just being mindful...mindful of our thoughts. I remind myself that I must answer to the one and only God, that I should be worried about myself and not wrapped up in what others are doing...Mindful that the only true "Judge" is God.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest thing we can do sometimes is just love on people...right where they are, in the situation they are in (whether we agree with them or not). Sometimes the best way to demonstrate God to someone is to just love on them in their current condition...taking them in with no judgements, and trust that God will take care of the rest. Of course honesty is important, but often times our opinions cloud our conveyance of Christ's love and the Word. Before Judging, show Love!
ReplyDeleteNatalie-
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. Sometimes we unknowingly are part of the prejudice that we do not like. I can tell you from my own experience, that my struggle is thinking people are prejudice against me. Being hispanic in a city like Blue Springs can be somewhat intimidating. Spanish was my first language and although English is my primary language now, I make alot of grammatical errors. I feel like people judge me for my race and it can make me very hesitant to befriend new people. I become prejudice against people whom I think are prejudice against me. Doesn't make sense saying it outloud but somehow I justify it.
So to answer Joey's question, what do I do to fight the urge to be prejudice? I think about the Genesis reading that we are learning about in LifeGroups in which we learn that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27) God doesn't see color and race like we do. He sees His likeness in us. Shouldn't we try to see the same?