No respecter of persons

Among young and older women, of various languages ​​and cultures, we were one hundred in number for our trip to Israel this year. The first thing that God showed us in our first meeting on the first day we met there was exactly about our own differences. For us to exhale the perfume of the Lord Jesus in Israel, we needed first to do it among ourselves, overcoming those barriers that normally divide a group of people.

God is not a respecter of persons and those who belong to Him aren’t either. Sometimes we think that discrimination is found only among certain kinds of differences, but it goes much further, it can be found among Christians as well. If you don’t like to relate to certain types of people for whatever reason, it is very likely that you are discriminating.

I remember when I went to school and had to make some friends there. They were only friends within school, for because of my faith, I didn’t have the same way of thinking, or the same desires, and so I didn’t have much contact with them outside of school. Nevertheless, I never isolated myself from them, I just didn’t do the things they liked to do. When you isolate yourself, it’s as if you’re saying you’re too good to be around other people. That, my friend, is discrimination. We must learn to deal with people of all kinds, whoever they are. If they are older or younger, the same faith or not, have a position in the Church or not, are part of a group or not, or they are converted or not.

One thing that struck me in the streets of Jerusalem named ‘Via Dolorosa’, where many Arabs are merchants, was their respect for us as a group. We didn’t feel uncomfortable because we were women nor because of our faith. When one of us got sick, they quickly gave her a seat, water and juice to drink, and salt to help with the blood pressure. They were nice, something I did not expect from them, people who are often against Jews… I realized that I was the one discriminating.

Isn’t this what many religious people do? Discriminate against those who don’t have the same faith and end up driving people away from their faith. This is horrible and yet, sometimes we do it without realizing. It maybe an assistant or helper in the church who is very young and immature and you prefer to talk to another who’s more your ‘level’. Or that a pastor’s wife who’s not as experienced as the bishop’s wife, and you easily despise whatever she has to give you spiritually. Even in regards to appearance, people discriminate people’s looks! I know people who hate beautiful women, they quickly judge them as ‘clueless’, ‘airheads’, or ‘too-something bad’ just because these women like to wear makeup and look nice. How ridiculous!

Well, I learned my lesson with the enemies of Israel and you know what, they are only enemies of Israel because they don’t know the God of Israel. Just like my family and I have so many enemies out there who don’t know our God. And how do we deal with them? We pray and understand, that’s all.

PS. For more pictures of Israel, check my Facebook

Isaiah 14