A Gentle Answer: Our 'Secret Weapon' in an Age of Us Against Them

by Scott Sauls

Jesus didn’t share or abide by any of the socially exclusive ism’s to which we are often bound. What’s more, he would have been excluded by most such measures. Those of us who measure a person’s worth by dollars instead of dignity would do well to remember that Jesus couldn’t afford a place to live (Matt. 8:20). Those of us who measure a person’s potential by where she went to college should note that Jesus didn’t go to college or to school at all (John 7:15). Those of us who measure a person’s significance by their line of work ought to recall that Jesus worked with his hands (Mark 6:3). Those of us who measure a person’s beauty by his external appearance should observe that Jesus was average looking at best, if not outright unattractive (Isa. 53:2). Those of us who determine whether or not we want to befriend a person on the basis of his popularity or the types of associations that he keeps should remember that Jesus was a man of no reputation, even his own people did not receive him, and he was chiefly seen as a friend to sinners (John 1:11; Matt. 11:16–19). And those of us who measure a person’s desirability by his marital and familial status ought not forget that Jesus had no wife and no children.