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Purpose Statement: How society treats certain persons often determines their personalities and dispositions. Christians must love all persons.
We are commanded as Christians to love everyone and to treat all with the utmost kindness and respect. Society doesn't always do that however. We are well aware of the abuses some persons are subjected to. Christians must be sensitive to the feelings of those who are socially ostracized and love them. Jesus used a dinner invitation illustration to instruct us to care for the unfortunate or those whom society tends to overlook (Luke 14:12-14). Let me affirm the truth of three propositions:
a. Proposition #1: We have made personal appearance far too important. We revere the pretty people and honor them, as illustrated by Miss America contests. Sociological studies have shown how attractive people get the attention, jobs, and promotions and are generally enthusiastically received by society. By contrast persons deemed ugly or deformed or unpleasant to look at are shunned and rejected.
b. Proposition #2: Our reaction to a person's appearance can shape his or her personality. People are sensitive enough to the reaction of others to know when they are accepted or rejected. They are well aware they are either popular or disliked, or perhaps somewhere in between. This becomes a powerful influence on how they feel about themselves. We, in fact, have the power to shape the personalities of other people by our response to their appearance. Children sometimes pick on or humiliate classmates whose appearance is unattractive. This cruelty can be felt keenly. I remember a pathetic-looking little girl in about the second grade who no one would sit next to. There was one chair left and one student standing. The class chanted, "Ha, Ha, you have to sit next to ugly old Alice!"
c. Proposition #3: We can make other people into monsters or losers. Just as an abused dog can either turn mean or turn into a cowering wimp, persons can respond to rejection in different ways. Society can create a mean-spirited, bitter loner who takes a gun and kills others. Or society can cause a person to be depressed and even commit suicide. Christians have great opportunities to salvage lives. Who are you inviting to dinner?
We are commanded as Christians to love everyone and to treat all with the utmost kindness and respect. Society doesn't always do that however. We are well aware of the abuses some persons are subjected to. Christians must be sensitive to the feelings of those who are socially ostracized and love them. Jesus used a dinner invitation illustration to instruct us to care for the unfortunate or those whom society tends to overlook (Luke 14:12-14). Let me affirm the truth of three propositions:
a. Proposition #1: We have made personal appearance far too important. We revere the pretty people and honor them, as illustrated by Miss America contests. Sociological studies have shown how attractive people get the attention, jobs, and promotions and are generally enthusiastically received by society. By contrast persons deemed ugly or deformed or unpleasant to look at are shunned and rejected.
b. Proposition #2: Our reaction to a person's appearance can shape his or her personality. People are sensitive enough to the reaction of others to know when they are accepted or rejected. They are well aware they are either popular or disliked, or perhaps somewhere in between. This becomes a powerful influence on how they feel about themselves. We, in fact, have the power to shape the personalities of other people by our response to their appearance. Children sometimes pick on or humiliate classmates whose appearance is unattractive. This cruelty can be felt keenly. I remember a pathetic-looking little girl in about the second grade who no one would sit next to. There was one chair left and one student standing. The class chanted, "Ha, Ha, you have to sit next to ugly old Alice!"
c. Proposition #3: We can make other people into monsters or losers. Just as an abused dog can either turn mean or turn into a cowering wimp, persons can respond to rejection in different ways. Society can create a mean-spirited, bitter loner who takes a gun and kills others. Or society can cause a person to be depressed and even commit suicide. Christians have great opportunities to salvage lives. Who are you inviting to dinner?
