Racial Prejudice

In my opinion one of the worst sins we can commit is the sin of being racially prejudiced. The reason I believe it is such a terrible sin is that it goes against one of the fundamental realities. It is very clear from the Bible in the book of Genesis that all people are made in the image of God. We are all equal in His sight, and we should be equal in our sight. When we show racial prejudice, we are really rejecting God's wisdom in His creation.

The Israelites were prejudice against other groups of people. They felt like they would be unclean if they had relations with them. The truth was that the Israelites were just as sinful or even more sinful than other peoples, especially in the times of the judges. (Judges 19:12) A Levite would not stop in Jebus, a foreign town where there were no Israelites, but insisted on going on to Gibeah for the night because of his prejudice. Then, in Gibeah the people of the town committed a horrible sin against his concubine. We can learn a lot from this account.  

Being prejudiced is when we "prejudge" someone we don't know because of their outward appearance or their race. This is the opposite of what God does, and what we should do. God looks on the heart of each person to make a determination of their character. Of course, God is the only One who can do this perfectly, but we can see a person's heart when we get to know them and see their actions and hear their words. Before we get to know a person, we need to treat him or her as a person made in God's image and give them grace.

If we are fearful of other races, or if we do not trust them just based on their outward appearance or their nationality, we will miss being able to benefit from knowing them, and we will not be a good witness to them of the love of Christ. We must put away that prejudice, and realize that all people are sinners. People like us sin just as much or more than other people, so we must not jump to conclusions, but be open to every person and love them like God does.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Judges 20-21 and Ruth 1.