Why in the World? - Week 2
Why in The World
Week 2: Classless
INTRODUCTION
We’ve all been picked on for something we had no control over. It’s dehumanizing. In all likelihood, you’ve also picked on others. It’s such a strange thing. It’s such a human thing. The easiest way to feel superior is to find a person or group we feel is inferior and power up. And we’ve probably all been guilty of that outwardly or inwardly.
One of the reasons Jesus came into the world was to change all that.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What group of people did you hang out with in high school?
How did it benefit you?
How did it influence the way you treated others?
2. In what ways do adults label people?
How does this impulse to attach labels to other human beings shape our culture?
During the message, the pastor said, “The Christian community should be the most non-discriminatory, it-doesn’t-matter-to-us-who-you-are group of people on the planet.”
3. What are some of the obstacles to the church living up to that calling?
What is the cost of not living up to that calling?
Read Romans 5:7–8
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
4. How does this passage change the way you view your value as a human being?
How does it challenge the way you view others?
5. What person or group of people do you power up around, look down on, treat as less than, or maintain a bad attitude toward?
What causes you to respond to that person or group the way you do?
6. What is one thing you can do this week to begin to treat that person or group with dignity?
How can this group support you?
MOVING FORWARD
At the cross, you lost your right to discriminate against others. Everybody is somebody. Everybody is somebody God loves. Everybody is somebody for whom our Savior died. As a result, everybody has dignity and deserves to be treated with respect.
This week, read one of the Gospels and ask yourself this question: “Where do I catch Jesus elevating the dignity of individuals?”
CHANGING YOUR MIND
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
