Middle School Sunday Series

Losers: How to learn from Bad Examples

You learned how Haman put action to his prejudice and tried to kill those he hated. In the Old Testament book of Esther you will find the story of Haman. The king of Babylon appointd Haman a role of honor in the king's court. All paid him honor--all but one Jew named Mordecai. Mordecai worshipped the true God alone. He did not bow down to anyone but God alone. This action enraged Haman. So Haman made plans to kill Mordecai and his people (Esther 3:5-6). God intervened in a unique manner to save the Jews and to honor Mordecai. You have to read the story yourself to see how it concludes. But the challenge is to put off prejudice rather than feed prejudice like Haman did.

You can put off prejudice in three ways: 1- You can forget the stereotypes, 2-Focus on the Inside, 3-Everyone deserves respect. The Bible says that you can discover how you are by the fruit of your actions.

Prejudice means "an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason (Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006)." I wonder if you have thought about how you treat people. Your actions will reveal how you treat people. For instance, I wonder how you interact with those from other cultures in public. What if you had to stand in line at the checkout in Hollister? I wonder if you would forget the stereotypes and warmly greet them or at least try to be friendly. You may think that people of other cultures only want to be with their own people. That perconceived reason may be prejudice. But you can forget the stereotypes and seek to encounter all people groups differently. You can put off prejudice by forgetting the stereotypes.

A second way to put off prejudice, you can focus on the inside of the person. I Samuel 16:7 says that God looks at the individual's thoughts and intentions, not on the outward appearance. Rather than focusing on the outward appearance (skin color, type of clothes, footwear, or sunglasses), you can choose to focus on what's inside a person. It is more important in God's sight to see the individual's heart and thoughts rather than mere outward appearance. So focus on what's inside an individual, not on what's outside.

The last way to put off prejudice is to respect others, everyone deserves respect. Jesus said it best, "The second and most important (commandment) is similar, 'Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself(Matthew 22:39).'" In fact the apostle Paul reaffirms in I Peter 2:17, "Show respect for everyone." Give respect to each person as a follower of Jesus. YOu can put off prejudice by showing respect for everyone.

Next week be ready for Game Day--we will try to do something different. So come and bring a friend.

Pastor D