Our natural tendency is to avoid people in need. Whether it’s someone asking for money or a friend in crisis, our automatic response is to get out of the way. And we have good reasons for it. But Jesus walks right into people’s pain and gets his hands dirty, much to the shock of the religious leaders.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 26, Section.2). Ethnic diversity. Racial reconciliation. Social injustice. Gender equity. Rights for the disabled. It may sound like the political agenda of the left, but these phrases describe important themes from the Bible. The New Testament places race, class, and gender in the context of the good news about Jesus Christ.