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Faith

Noticing other people

peter-and-corneliusPeter comes across as almost racist in Acts chapter 10, but it is likely that he had just never stopped to contemplate all of the people in the world who did not act and think like him. Most people live only in one society, where everyone shares fairly similar dreams, priorities and concerns. Typically people do not consciously develop any strong feelings of aversion to people from other social groups; they just never think of them at all.

Thus Peter had probably never considered whether, if Jesus came to save Jewish people, did he also come to save non-Jewish people? If there is a heaven, are only people of one ethnic origin able to get in, or is the offer available to people of all different races? And if the gospel, the good news of Jesus, is relevant to all people everywhere, what are the implications for how followers of Jesus should be relating to other people?

It is easy for us to interpret Acts chapter 10 as indicating that we are free to eat pork, and that the original Christians needed to be a bit less uptight about how they followed customary laws. But if the good news is still good news, all followers of Jesus in every age are called to break down the cultural barriers that separate us from others. There is no-one who can be treated as the enemy or beyond the reach of God’s kingdom.