Thomas Jefferson is widely credited with being the main author of the American Declaration of Independence. Of note, in an extremely famous passage, he wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. It’s a great declaration of human rights but it causes a lot of head scratching when we remember that when he wrote this, he owned over six hundred slaves, none of whom enjoyed liberty or the pursuit of happiness. How does this massive contradiction come about? I wonder if it is simply that Mr Jefferson grew up in a world where slavery was so commonplace and accepted as part and parcel of life, that he could not see it as an issue?
Our reading today comes from the letter of James where the author is keen to encourage us to be “doers” of the word and not simply “hearers” of it. Yet he warns us to “keep ourselves from being polluted by the world”. Some Christians have taken that to mean that they must remain separate from the world to keep themselves holy and clean. Somehow, they believe that if they encounter others, they will also be contaminated, so they remain apart from the world. They withdraw from the world and only associate with those who are like them, avoiding anyone who is not like them. Their churches become the preserve of the exclusive. I think it means the opposite, that we are to go out into the world, as Jesus did, but not be changed by the ways of the world. We are to see the evils around us and not simply become blind to them because we are so used to them.
What are our cultural norms that we don’t even think about? How do we regard the poor? The mainstream media refer to “handouts” for the poor as though they don’t deserve anything. Meanwhile, the rich get “tax breaks” or “grants” suggesting that the money given to them is an entitlement. There is a commonly spoken view that the poor are poor because they are responsible for their situation and could choose not to be. Such language and attitudes permeate throughout our society and becomes our cultural norm. As Christians, we are encouraged to see how Jesus saw the poor and model our behaviour on His attitude as opposed to the world’s attitude. How do we regard Asylum Seekers? As a society, do we welcome others such as modelled by Jesus, or do we seek to detain them indefinitely? James’ warning is just as valid today. We must remain focussed on Jesus and see things as He does. We must be aware of those cultural norms that are different from life in the Kingdom of God and seek to challenge and change them, not be changed by them.