Do You Discriminate?

 

Question: If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had eight kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she has syphilis - would you recommend she have an abortion? If you say yes, the sad news is you would have denied the world the great works of Ludwig van Beethoven. Question: It’s time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about three leading candidates. Candidate A – Associates with crooked politicians and consults with astrologists; He’s had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8-10 martinis a day. Candidate B – He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening. Candidate C – He is a decorated war hero. He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and has never cheated on his wife. Which of these candidates would be your choice? Well, Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt; Candidate B is Winston Churchill; Candidate C is Adolph Hitler. Pretty interesting isn’t it? Makes a person thing before judging someone.

One morning Henry was finishing some paperwork at the automobile dealership where he works. He noticed a man looking in the showroom window and asked a salesman if he wanted to wait on the man. Joe looked at the potential customer, roughly dressed, carrying a brown paper lunch bag and said, “I don’t think so. He probably came down to eat his lunch and look at the new cars.” Henry pushed his work aside and greeted the man “Good morning! Can I show you some of the new models?” The man answered, “I like the one near the door.” Henry showed it to him. The man sat in the driver’s seat, then said to Henry, “I like this one. If I buy it now, can I take it home today?” Henry said, “Yes, if we can get your credit approved that quickly.” The man responded, “Oh, I don’t want credit. I’ll pay cash,” whereupon he opened the brown paper bag displaying it full of cash. In amazement Henry said, “In that case it’s yours!” Joe saw the two men walking toward the cashier’s counter and asked, “Henry, what’s going on?” Henry replied, “We’re taking this man’s lunch to the cashier!”

[James 2:1-9] “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man in fine clothes… have you not discriminated?” One of the reasons we fail in our attempt to reach the world with the gospel is our tendency to decide who will and those who will not obey the Lord. How foolish we are to think that we know the hearts of others and what response they would have after hearing the truth. To illustrate the folly of such, consider the following question. In your opinion what person in the first century would have been the least likely to become a Christian? Using human judgement we would not miss the mark far by suggesting that Saul of Tarsus would be this person. The response of Ananias is typical of many Christians in our own time. When commanded to go and teach Saul, he said, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call upon your name” (Acts 9:13-14). What opportunity we almost lost. Suppose Saul (Paul) had not been converted? Suppose Ananias had been like many today and decided that “he would never obey the gospel!” Can we know the hearts of others? Only God, our Creator, has that power! Our responsibility as baptized believers of Christ is to sow the seed of the Gospel of Christ – the Good News – and leave the increase to God (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). God is GOOD!