Prejudice

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. John 1:45-46

Are you ever guilty of prejudice?

We probably react with indignation to that question – “Who, me? Not at all!” But we’re almost certainly fooling ourselves. If by prejudice we mean making up our minds about something, or someone, before we’ve really learned anything about them, then I’m afraid most if not all of us are guilty.

The trouble is that prejudice is often an unconscious thing – you might pass a complete stranger in the street, and something about the way they look, or the way they’re dressed, perhaps even the way they walk, causes you to look down on them, to pass some kind of judgment on them. You can’t quite put your finger on what it is, but – sorry, that’s that.

It’s sad, because if you had met that person under different circumstances – perhaps introduced by a friend – they might have become a friend as well.

Some forms of prejudice are glaringly obvious – race, skin colour, social class, religion, politics, personal appearance, you name it. But we still like to insist – “Oh no, not me!”

I think that perhaps Nathanael should be regarded as the patron saint of prejudiced people. We don’t meet him much in the Gospels, but here he is in John 1.

It’s right at the start of Jesus’ ministry, and he’s beginning to gain a reputation. The fishermen brothers Simon Peter and Andrew have discovered him and soon Philip follows suit. I imagine him, radiating excitement, bouncing up to his friend Nathanael: “Listen, we have found the man foretold by Moses and the prophets! – it’s Jesus, from Nazareth!”

At which Nathanael sniffs and replies: “Nazareth? That’s a bit of a dump, isn’t it? I’ve never heard of anything good coming from there…”

He had a point. In the whole Old Testament, when there are prophecies of the one who will be sent by God to be Israel’s king and saviour, Nazareth never so much as gets a mention. So what is there to get excited about, Philip?

But how wrong can you be…!

Yes, he had a point. But couldn’t he have said, “Nazareth? Are you serious? I really find that very surprising. But never mind – tell me more…” Would that have been so hard?

Sadly, it’s in the area of “religion” that prejudice often rears its most ugly head. As Christians we should certainly be people of strong convictions – what, otherwise, is the point of being Christians at all? But – be careful! For the stronger our convictions are the more likely we are to feel that we’ve got it all right and anybody who doesn’t agree with us is therefore wrong.

Listen to them? Why should we bother? See if there’s anything we can learn from them? No way! OK, we’ll be polite and courteous, of course; but don’t expect anything more than that.

(And beneath that layer of courtesy, could there be a tinge of smugness and complacency?)

Another way to ask the question about prejudice is “How open is my mind? Am I prepared to sit down and think – really think – about opinions I instinctively feel uncomfortable with?” Yes, I may still end up rejecting them; but at least I will have gained some idea what I’m rejecting, and why.

People who live with prejudices become increasingly crabbed and mean-spirited; a mind barred and bolted against other ideas is a recipe for pettiness. The poet William Blake wrote: “A man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind”. Ouch…! I don’t like the sound of that! How many slimy reptiles have I got crawling around in my mind?

I suspect there are two main reasons we allow our opinions to be dictated by prejudice.

The first is laziness. We just can’t be bothered to turn our minds from the trivial things that pre-occupy us in order to give ourselves a much-needed mental spring-clean. As someone once put it: “Don’t bother me with the facts – I’m perfectly happy with my prejudices”.

The second is fear. If I change my mind on something – why, I might have to change my way of life! I might have to wave goodbye to some of the things I’m cosy and comfortable with. Who wants to move out of their “comfort zone”?

Ah, but what liberation and refreshment is waiting for us if we do!

It wouldn’t be fair to leave Nathanael in his Mr Grumpy-don’t-talk-to-me-about-Nazareth mode, for that isn’t how the story ends…

“Come and see” said Philip. And, to do him credit, that’s exactly what he did. And what do we read next…? “Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!’”

If only we were all as quick and ready to discard our prejudices!

Father God, grant me a generous spirit, an open mind, and a deep love of Jesus. Amen.

An after-thought… Let me confess to a little prejudice of mine, and share the pleasure that ditching it has brought me.

Throughout many years I have hardly ever watched Songs of Praise on BBC television. Admittedly, my Sunday pattern – two services to lead, two sermons to preach – hasn’t exactly made it possible. But there was prejudice too. Songs of Praise, as far as I was concerned, was fusty and traditional – religiosity rather than true Christianity.

But just recently, with the coronavirus, Sundays have of course changed radically. After “meeting” with my fellow church members for our online service – well, there’s still a lot of Sunday left! So why not spend half-an-hour with Songs of Praise?

We’re glad we did. No, not everything is quite to our taste. But never mind! Some great singing! Songs and hymns old and new! Traditional church music and rock bands! And stories – stories of lives changed and things achieved in Jesus’ name.

Sunday lunch these days goes down with a nice helping of humble pie. If you haven’t tried it, may I suggest you give it a try?