Challenging our Prejudice

INTRO - I have very strong opinions about some things.

I judge people by my own standards.

For example, in my opinion I think church music should be loud, because the Bible says make a loud noise, but not so loud it causes ear damage. BTW, when the Bible said loud, there were no amplification systems.

That sort of prejudice might cause some upset in churches, and certainly needs attention, in my opinion :-)

Prejudice, however, can lead to some serious sins like racism.

When I was a boy, I was brainwashed by television, the media, and even other people.

I can still recall the racist cartoons that portrayed my African American brothers and sisters in very negative ways.

I have images of Chinese people that are very demeaning of a beautiful people and culture.

However, I can’t blame other people for my prejudices.

What God asks of all of us is self-examination and refuting any part of us or disputing anyone who is adversarial to the commands of God.

I want us to approach today’s text, and the theme of this years Camp Meeting, “Come and See” expecting God to change us through the preaching of the Word.

TRANS - Let’s take a look at our text:

John 1:46 AV

And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

I’ll start by saying I don’t know anybody without any opinions on anything and that makes all of us prejudice to some extent.

The person who claims no prejudice is ignorant or too prideful to accept that they are.

What I want us to takeaway from this message is the willingness to challenge our prejudice.

Prejudice: Problem or Possibility

I’m prejudice, that is, I like one English translation better than others. I like the CSB because I think it reads well.

When studying this text, I first read the CSB because that’s my preferred translation.

Then, I read the text in other translations to make sure I have the meaning.

Let me share something I found by studying the different translations.

John 1:46

CSB “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.0% difference

AV Come and see, 52% difference

ESV “Come and see,” 38% difference

NASB95 “Come and see,” 43% difference

NIV84 “Come and see,” 24% difference

In all of these translations, while they very on how they say it, they all say “Come and see.”

I discovered that the primary part of this text was the same!

A preacher can’t stop there. Next comes context, word studies, history, and such.

I discovered more at that point.

In particular, my understand of “see” changed a little.

Now, you and I hear “see,” its not “looking,” but “learning” that this text is communicating.

Likewise, I want you to come and “learn” from our text just as these men went to “learn” from Jesus.

Prejudice goes one way or the other. It favors or discriminates.

I like the CSB, maybe you like the KJV, or one in your mother tongue.

I once gave a teenage Chinese exchange student a copy of the Gospel of John and it was not the CSB nor the KJV. He spoke Chinese and I gave him the book in Chinese.

Point is, our prejudices are not God’s preferences.

What reaches one person, how Jesus teaches one person, is not always the way I’d teach or am taught.

Matter of fact, every language outside of the original manuscripts are somebody's preferred Bible!

Prejudices are preconceived judgements or opinions.

You know the Pharisees were like that with Jesus?

They just knew he couldn’t be the Messiah and we’re willing to die .

Hear again this text:

“Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”

Nathanael was from the small town Cana in Galilee and here speaks against another Galilean town of Nazareth.

Why might Nathanael say such a thing?

Few possible reasons for this.

Insignificance

Nazareth has no mention in the OT or in Josephus’ writing.

Nazareth was less than 2000 people.

Inconspicuousness

Not even the people imagined the Messiah coming from Galilee, much less Nazareth.

Irritation

Some think the small cities of Nazareth and Cana didn’t get along.

Do you know differences among irritation, aggravation, and frustration?

A boy asks his father to explain the differences among irritation, aggravation, and frustration.

His father picks up the phone and dials a number at random. When the phone is answered, he asks, "Can I speak to Alf, please?" "No! There's no one called Alf here," says the person who answered the phone. His father hangs up. "That's irritation," he says.

He picks up the phone again, dials the same number, and asks for Alf a second time.

”No-there's no one here called Alf. Go away. If you call again I shall telephone the police," the person says. His father hangs up and says, "That's aggravation."

"Then what's frustration?" asks his son. The father picks up the phone and dials the same number a third time. "Hello, this is Alf. Have I received any phone calls?" he asks casually.

Impediment

Unlike some early followers of Jesus, Nathanael probably never benefited from John the Baptist’s testimony.

POINT - Prejudice is not necessarily the problem. But, dishonesty about our prejudice is problematic.

The biblical lesson asks “Will you go with me to Jesus?” and “Will you honestly allow your view to be challenge?”

Can your view, opinion, or preferences be questioned? What can Jesus say to help you change your position on long held views?

Here we know that Nathanael is honest; but he is skeptical.

Recall what Jesus says about him

John 1:47 (CSB)

“Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Nathanael needs some proof or convincing before he will believe in Jesus. He is willing to have his prejudice questioned.

APP - When our preferences are preferred and hinder us, or worse someone else, hearing from Jesus, we prevent Kingdom growth.

TRANS - Let’s drill down on how we deal with our prejudice and how we might address it in others.

Prejudice: Perceiving and Passing Up

Phillip doesn’t debate the skeptic.

Phillip asks Nathanael to examine for himself.

Phillip might not know how to answer the skeptic, but Jesus does.

What is interesting is Jesus REALLY provides a very comprehensive answer.

John 1:48 (The Message)

“One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

This really stresses the importance of a firsthand encounter with Jesus.

Sometimes we gain an audience, sometimes we watch the Devil score. But we must try to bring our prejudices to Jesus and bring others to Jesus so He can open their eyes.

This past week I tried to get help from a doctors office with submitting a claim. I simply needed procedure code. I had BCBS with me in a chat willing to help me process the claim.

The reception person put me in touch with the office manger. I explained what I was doing only to be told, “Cash only or find another doctor,” exactly like that!

After a brief cooling down period, I saw how this office manager’s prejudice was hindering the doctor’s practice. Her prejudice hindered her hearing my simple question.

Sometimes communication breaks down. Like with the office manager in my story.

When prejudices, preferences or opinions we hold tightly, close the door to communication, we loose a chance to bring someone to Jesus.

Phillip didn’t argue with Nathanael, but wisely challenged him with “come and see.”

The implication is “let us go together and find out so that we really know.”

BAK - The phrase was well known. “Come and see” was used by Rabbis of Jesus’ time.

Every Jewish boy was raised wanting to hear the words “follow me” from a rabbi. The rest, went on to do some sort of vocation.

For these men to hear Jesus say “Follow me” was unheard of because they were beyond the years when Rabbis usually call their students.

What Nathaniel saw was so powerful, it caused him to change and give up every normal convention of Jewish life in the day.

What Phillip did with “come and see” opened the door for Nathaniel later hear Jesus say “follow me.”

See, we believe Phillip is the apostle Bartholomew

What Nathaniel learned caused him to give up his life to follow and learn much more than he first considered from Jesus.

That is the power of “come and see.”

APP - Recognizing prejudice in ourselves, or in others, provides us opportunity to open the door to Jesus.

That is the power of challenging prejudice in ourselves.

Conclusion

Prejudice: Problem or Possibility

We noted prejudice is a view we want to exercise in our our world.

We identified that prejudice is only a problem when we make it more important than the Bible or allowing it to prevent Kingdom growth.

Prejudice: Perceiving and Passing Up

We saw how Phillip challenged Nathanael to put his view to the test by offering to go with him to see, or learn from, Jesus.

We visited the power of putting prejudice aside for the better things Jesus provides as He causes us to examine our own hearts and gives us what we need to change.

APP - I’ll leave you with this. The next generation of the church will need to change, while the Bible does not change, how we do church must.

Church history teaches us how reaching each generation took something new, something different.

Churches that changed to reach people saw kingdom expansion. Others simply faded away.

As you hear from God through the preaching of the Word during Camp Meeting this year, why not begin this morning by asking God to challenge you to allow Him to make the changes in you and your church so that He can use us to build His Kingdom.

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