file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940306.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD Sunday, March 6, 1994
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Read: James 2:1-13
A PREJUDICED USHER
If you show partiality, you commit sin.
--James 2:9
In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his
student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered
converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of
Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was
dividing the people of India.
So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church
and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he
entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a
seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people.
Gandhi left the church and never returned. "If Christians have
caste differences also," he said, "I might as well remain a
Hindu." That usher's prejudice not only betrayed Jesus but also
turned a person away from trusting Him as Savior.
The "prejudiced user" described in today's Bible passage welcomed
a wealthy visitor but insulted a poor one. Perhaps he felt he
was doing his job and only carrying out the wishes of the members
in the church. But he displayed bad manners, and he was guilty
of a sin as serious as murder and adultery (James 2:9-11).
When people visit your church, do you warmly welcome them
regardless of their race of social status?
Author: Haddon W. Robinson
God's love that drew salvation's plan
Embraces every class of man;
It breaks the toughest racial wall
Because it offers Christ to all.
--DJD
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
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Prejudice distorts what it sees, deceives when it talks, and
destroys when it acts.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Deuteronomy 20-22
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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of Radio Bible Class,
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