Prejudice should be abnormal

Col. 3:9-11 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new [man] who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave [nor] free, but Christ [is] all and in all.[NKJV]

This is one of the texts that demonstrates that intercultural fellowship is not a peripheral or optional pursuit for a believer or for a local church. The abolition of cultural and socio-economic walls is part and parcel of Jesus’ greatness. The supremacy of Christ in one of his follower-apprentices, and throughout communities giving Him allegiance, brings about a new creation that reflects His very image. In that new humanity, divisions are destroyed even between the most antagonistic elements of society.

It is not coincidental that the Apostle Paul cites the most rancorous divisions of his day: The clashing cultures of Hebraic and Hellenistic (Jew and Greek), the irreconciliable religions of Monotheistic-Judaism versus Pantheistic Greek mythology (“circumcised nor uncircumcised”), and the socio-economic resentment of the lower, underprivileged class against the upper middle to elite class (“slave…free). And for good measure Paul mentions those on the periphery of nationalities who carried little weight (“barbarians”) and the “Scythians,” pastoral peoples who dwelt in the hinterlands of the north. If you identify the most adversarial groups in any society, you have a more current sense of the strength of what Scripture is declaring here. In America it is the black resentment of the whites, the Native American bitterness toward those with opportunity. Those are the kinds of enmities that Jesus desires to melt away by His reconciling love. This is the powerful “good news” in the ears of peoples that have been at war for as long as they can remember. And such is the kingdom of God coming to earth as it is already decreed in heaven.

The unity envisioned is not based merely on negotiation or compromise over sensitive issues. This is not a peace plan based on tolerance. The image created by the apostles’ words is that of people who formerly and traditionally have hated each other coming together in the acknowledgment that they all must bow the knee to Christ the king, for “Christ is all and in all.” This is a mutual recognition that Christ is so great that all other matters must take second place, that all other rights must be surrendered to the supreme One. Interdependent surrender to Christ is the true basis for lasting reconciliation, the kind that manifests the gospel in power. Christ is all. Not only that, Christ is in all. He is allowed into every area of life both personal, ecclesiastical, and societal. He is allowed into those inner places of the heart where we harbor cultural pride and racism. Christ enters every relationship and transforms every attitude.

Looking at the paragraph in which this statement is found, it becomes apparent that laying aside all prejudice and racism is, in the view of Scripture, on the same level as telling the truth, being kind, and showing mercy. Scripture expects that normal living for the believer is characterized by reaching across society’s divisions and engaging and even embracing those we are expected to dislike. Imagine a world characterized by this new humanity. Imagine the compelling nature of the community of the Jesus-followers.