Acts 22:22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!”

Human beings can be amazing, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad. This is a bad way! The level of prejudice expressed here is pretty remarkable. The initial uproar had been about false accusations that Paul had brought a Gentile into the temple, and all it took was the mention of Gentiles by him to trigger murderous intent. They listened rather quietly while he gave his testimony that indicated that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Son of God, but the moment he mentioned Gentiles, they wanted to tear him apart. We have just seen the mirror of this, sadly enough, with Hamas terrorists murdering babies simply because they were racially Jewish. This is horribly ugly whatever labels are used. Similar things have happened in India, with mob action against Christians simply because they were Christian. The devil is all about division and hatred, because he and the angels that followed him were cast out of heaven because of his pride that lusted after the worship that is due only to God. (Isaiah 14:12-15) In contrast, Jesus famously prayed for unity. (John 17) We need to be very careful about knee-jerk reactions against anyone, but be humble before God and realize that we are dependent on His grace. All discrimination comes from a desire to feel superior, when on a cosmic scale only God is superior.

I have encountered discrimination in various directions all my life, growing up as a Caucasian in Japan, as a missionary kid in a military dependents school, and in various other ways. And I can’t say I haven’t practiced it a bit myself. That last fact makes me all the more aware that we are all flawed and in need of grace. I’ve had to come to the awareness that I’m not capable of generating such loving grace on my own, so there too I am dependent on God. That said, I have also experienced God’s supply in this area, forgiving people who have been despiteful against me. I recently saw a video testimony of a now Messianic Jew who had been virulently anti-Christian, and he said he could imagine Jesus saying, “I want that one!” God loves to flip people around, and I’ve got to remember that He is more than capable of turning an enemy into a brother.

Father, thank You for this awareness. Thank You for how You have used me to demonstrate Your love to people, including the neighbor who died a couple of days ago, as well as to his children. Thank You that the children seem to recognize that love. I don’t know whether that neighbor cried out to You while he had the opportunity, but I pray that this experience would draw his children to do so, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!