1-9-18 - Look Before You Label

In our story this week, Nathanael has a snarky reaction when Philip tells him the big news about meeting Jesus: Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Nazareth was evidently considered a low-rent town in a backwater county – think, say, Secaucus, New Jersey. Whether or not its reputation was deserved, it was there. Nathanael was so sure he could discern who a man was by where he came from, he dismissed his friend’s claim out of hand. Later, other religious leaders question whether Jesus could possibly be a holy man, using similar reasoning, “Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” (John 7:52)

I don’t think it’s possible to be human and be free of prejudice. Sorting and categorizing the input we receive is essential to functioning in life. And if we’ve been taught that a certain kind of person is one way, or if most of our experiences have been that a certain kind of person is that way, or if most of what we see in the media depicts a certain kind of person that way – our default position will be to assume that that’s how “those people” are.

Sometimes we sort by race and ethnicity and nationality; sometimes by class and education and profession; sometimes by temperament. I have a prejudice against people whom I perceive to be angry. I shut down, and I judge. I have prejudices about weight, loud chewing, hunters, extremists… If I ever really stopped to think about it, I’d be astonished at how many biases I hold, many of them unconscious.

Prejudice may be part of the human condition, but acting on it does not have to be. With the gift of awareness, we can surface our gut reactions and examine whether they are based on something intrinsic to an actual person, or on a category they represent. Either way, if we’re conscious, we can take steps to remedy our bias.

For instance, take my negative reaction to people who often appear angry or combative. What I want to do is walk away from people like that, not engage. And what does that do? It further isolates them. What I might choose to do instead (oh Lord, this is work!) is:

1. Remember that person is created and beloved by God;
2. Pray for them to be blessed, and ask God to show me how God sees them;
3. Remember there’s a reason they got to be the way they are, and let my compassion kick in;
4. Actually engage them in conversation, with kindness and respect, even if I don’t feel it.
5. Open my heart and spirit to seeing something new in them.

All reconciliation begins with actually seeing another human being. In our world right now we are in the midst of a newly intensified conversation about "otherness"; now is a very good time to look within and learn to look out, beyond our assumptions, to the real people in front of us.

Philip says to Nathanael simply, “Come and see.” If we all did that with every person of whom we are suspicious or think negatively, I imagine world peace would be in our grasp within seconds. Imagine.

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