Nathanael had a snarky reaction when Philip told 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?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Nazareth was evidently considered a low-rent town in a backwater county – think, say, Secaucus, New Jersey. Deserved or not, that was its reputation. Later, some religious leaders will 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) 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.
I don’t think it’s possible to be human and be free of prejudice. We navigate life by sorting and categorizing the input we receive. And if we’ve been taught that a certain kind of person is one way, or if most of our experiences of “that kind of person” have gone that way, or if most of what we see in the media depicts “that 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; 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, hunting, extremists… if I ever thought 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 awareness, we can surface our gut reactions and examine whether they are based on something intrinsic to that actual person, or to a category they represent. 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? Further isolates them. What I might choose to do instead (oh Lord, this is work!) is:
- Remember that person is created and beloved by God;
- Pray for them to be blessed, and ask God to show me how God sees them;
- Remember there’s a reason they got to be the way they are, and let my compassion kick in;
- Actually engage them in conversation, with kindness and respect, even if I don’t feel it.
- Open my heart and spirit to seeing something new in them. All reconciliation begins with actually seeing another human being.
We are in the midst of both a more divided and divisive time than many remember in this country, and a renewed engagement with race and racism. 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.
What Philip said to Nathanael was 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.
What Philip said to Nathanael was 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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