Some of our weird, and out of date rules on who we should and should not associate with is keeping us from the reason God put those people in our lives in the first place. And he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. (Acts 10:28) I want to be honest with all of you– all of us, even the holiest of us almost always have a pre-disposition toward a people group, type of person, etc. Those predispositions often hinder our ability to be loving toward people God created and loves as much as He loves us. Let me give you an example: when you’re driving on the street with your windows rolled down blaring that bass while listening to the latest Passion CD in your car, and you’re stopped at a red light, you will almost immediately roll that window up when a person who is not dressed well comes up to the edge of the sidewalk next to your vehicle. Maybe you’re not as pretentious as that. Perhaps, instead, you speak with a different tone of voice when a person of a certain demographic walks into your business. Instead of saying, “excuse me?” you say, “WHAT!?” Maybe you didn’t do that as much as you have experienced it from others, but the discrimination is a familiar feeling we can all relate to. The 1st century Jews, despite what the Torah commanded on loving others, participated in a similar type of discrimination as evidenced by Peter’s conversation with Cornelius, a wealthy Greek. However, we find the important message that God teaches Peter from his inane and unloving act of discrimination– nobody and nothing God created and put in your life is common (un-special or dirty). Everything God put and created for your life deserves attention only you can give because God ordained that for your life. The next time you want to disassociate from a group of people or a situation because of what you assume about another person or thing, I would think twice. God puts these people in your life so that you can touch their lives like nobody else can. You are in a special place where only you can reach them.
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