A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day April 3, 2019
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
My wife and I were both raised in the South. We have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to race relations. Over the last 37 years of evangelistic ministry we have ministered in all-white churches, all-black churches, and everything in-between. We have ministered in numerous prisons where the prison population was largely black.
We now belong to a very multi-cultural church in South Georgia that is about 75% black, 20% white, and 5% international. I tell you that because I want you to know where we are coming from. We do not come to you with a bunch of theories, but we come to you with some real life practical experience in this arena.
Different cultures have a tendency to judge people by what they see rather than judging them by their hearts. That is particularly true of Christians. For example, some cultures worship God in a very vocal and expressive way while others are more quite and reserved. Those differences sometimes cause cultures to judge one another as being too emotional or not emotional enough. However, God says he looks on the hearts and not on outward appearances.
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
None of us are perfect in this!!! When we first started going to our present multi-cultural church I still had a slight tendency to look at things from an outward appearance. For example, one lady in our church is very demonstrative in her worship. She greatly stands out from all the rest. I found out later that she ran the streets and had multiple abortions before being saved and set free by Jesus. After her encounter with the Lord she said she just had to worship Him in a way that showed her gratitude and love.
I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. (Luke 7:47, NLT)
Another member of our church always comes to church with a skull cap on. I wondered at first why he would always dress that way. As I got to know him I found out that he was one of the sweetest guys I had ever met. He loved the Lord with all his heart. As we were talking one day he just asked me (without me saying a word) if I knew why he wore that skull cap. He then shared with me how he fell into a fire when he was a young boy and his head was badly scared from the accident and that was the reason he wore the skull cap. So much for outward appearances being any kind of true measure!!!
You do not really know someone (regardless of their color or culture) until you know their heart! Outward appearances are not the proper way to evaluate people. God told us to look at their heart. You cannot do that without knowing them and spending time with them.
It’s time for all of us to grow up and start looking at hearts rather than appearances. I think that is one of the main reasons God has my wife and I in the church we are in. It’s called OJT (On The Job Training).
