Articles
Small And Great
When the apostle Paul was brought before King Agrippa to answer the charges brought against him, he told Agrippa and all who were within hearing that he had been sent by the Lord to teach “both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come— that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:22, 23). The Jews who had brought the charges were saying Paul was worthy of death (cf. Acts 25:24), and had been enraged upon hearing Paul tell them God had sent the message of salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 22:22). But the message Paul preached did not make any distinctions, as they thought it should. No longer would there be distinctions between Jew and Gentile, but also no distinctions between bond and free, male or female, small or great. The greatness of the gospel message is that all men “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
In our modern society, where class distinctions are getting emphasized more and more, rather than being eliminated, our society is often spoken of in terms of powerful and powerless, rich and poor, educated or uneducated [or under-educated], with further emphasis on the widening gap between these designated classes. In such a world, Christians should not be a part of the divisiveness of class warfare, but be the herald of truly good news, where class divisions are nonexistent and all are considered equal, regardless of the various class distinctions with which they have been burdened.
There surely is no better example of this nonexistent class distinction than in the life of Jesus! Here was the Son of God, who had humbled Himself and come down to earth in the form of lowly man (Phil. 2:5-8), was born in lowly circumstances (Luke 2:7), and lived a lowly life (Mark 6:3), but who showed Himself to have great power and wisdom by the things He did and said. Yet to whom did He go most often? The religious leaders knew: “tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 9:10, 11). It was He who fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of the One who was sent by God “to preach the gospel to the poor;…to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives…recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18).
Social status plays absolutely no part in our salvation, as far as making us more or less worthy of it; as Paul noted, the message was preached “both to small and great,” and those who preach it must not make distinctions of one's 'worthiness' of hearing the words of forgiveness and eternal life, for “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) and are in need of a Savior, no matter what their place in society. Power and riches are not the measure of worthiness, but rather hinder it sometimes — as the rich young ruler shows us (Matt. 19:16-21). [It is not always true, however; consider Job. 1:3, 8]. The point is, we do not know who will or will not respond positively to the message, so we must take it to all because all need it — not just the ones who look like us and live where we live.
The apostle Paul would also note, regarding the gospel call to salvation, “that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Cor. 1:26). The fact was [and still is], not many people who are of great power and prestige, and not many people born of families with widespread name recognition and fame will deign themselves needy regarding forgiveness or salvation or, even if they should, could not bring themselves to associate with the ones most often found in churches.
Knowing (1) we should not recognize any class distinctions when we preach and (2) not many wise, powerful, or highly-esteemed individuals will care to hear or respond to the message of forgiveness and salvation, would it not be best to take that message more often to those who will hear it and respond the very ones to whom Jesus went when He traveled around Israel teaching the message of the Kingdom? Well, yes, but who are those people in our country, state, town, or community?
In the United States, it should be obvious to any honest observer that we have certain classes of people who would be considered 'outcasts' and who are treated unequally and, quite often, with disdain or contempt. Blacks, Latinos, and many Arabic individuals are not treated the same as white Americans when any should walk into a store, restaurant, or — sadly — churches. I am afraid in many churches [not just within the walls of the building where the church meets, but wherever its members happen to be], individuals from those groups are not treated the same as one with the same skin color, especially if they dress in ways that do not conform to our standards.
Let's change the words of James to see how that would read:
“For if there should come into your assembly a [white man], and there should also come in a [black man, Latino woman, Arabic man] and you pay attention to the [white man] and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the [black man, Latino woman, Arabic man], ‘You stand there,’ or, ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” (Jas. 2:2-4; words changed are in brackets). Does the condemnation still fit? Absolutely! James' words that preceded and followed this are just as applicable today as they were then: “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality” (Jas. 2:1), and, “if you show partiality, you commit sin” (Jas. 2:9). There is simply no place for inequity and unequal treatment in the Lord's Kingdom and in the proclamation of the message of salvation.
Who should hear the gospel? Both small and great — and black and white and Latino and one of Arabic background. Who can be forgiven? All who are willing to submit to the will of the Lord, with no regard to ethnicity, country of origin, education level, the amount of power they wield, the value of their material wealth, or the color of their eyes. The only thing that matters is, are they willing to humble themselves and obey and follow the Lord? If they are willing, we should gladly welcome them!
Finally, consider that small deeds can bring great results. There is nothing too little to do for the Lord. — Steven Harper
