We live in a day and age where most people want to categorize people with broad strokes and pigeonhole them into a few select compartments, whether legitimate or not. This allows the pigeon-holer, or “categorizer” (take note of this word for later!), to dictate the terms of how he will define people, and then, consequently, determine how he will think of and treat that person. A large majority of people in our culture view others through a fabricated, prejudicial, shallow litmus test—a pathetic, one-dimensional, opaque, imaginary silhouette. In the beginning, God made the first two people in His image (Gen 1:26). Today, many people are squeezing others into the mold of their own crafting, making their fellow man into a distorted image of their choice.
Black or White
How do you view people? What is the lens by which you judge and evaluate others? What is your paradigm for labeling fellow-image bearers? There are many reigning paradigms today by which we falsely categorize others, the most common of which is viewing people according to race or by the color of their skin. Biblically speaking, this is the most superficial way of categorizing people. There is nothing more shallow and demeaning than this devilish practice. Moses’ older sister Miriam did this (see Numbers 12). She didn’t like Moses’ wife because she was a black African woman. As a result of Miriam’s sinful bias, God became “angry” with her and instantly struck her with the plague, and she became white as snow from leprosy. In effect, God was saying, “OK, Miriam—you don’t like dark skin? Then I’ll make you as light as Snow White!”
Male or Female
Another dominant false paradigm used today to pigeonhole people is according to their gender. The party-line says, “male is bad…and oppressive.” Another lie. God made every male in His image. Jesus was born a male. Jesus will return as the glorious, resurrected, sinless God-Man to rule the earth and He will do so in a physical body as a man, and the whole world will bow the knee to Him in submission and adoration. God made the first two humans in His image and He made them male and female. Together male and female reflect the full image of God. One is neither better nor worse than the other.
Rich or Poor
A third dominant way the lost world characterizes people is by socio-economic status. The common mantra here is, “Rich people are the evil oppressors and everyone else is the oppressed.” This is classic class warfare: dividing all humanity into two false categories, the rich and the poor; the oppressed and the oppressors. This is also classic Marxism, the atheistic and communistic paradigm of viewing all of humanity in sheer economic terms.
Politics and Geography
Many others view all people according to political affiliation: “That person is a narrow-minded conservative Republican,” or “That person is a bleeding-heart, woke liberal Democrat.” Others view people by their age and generation, over-generalizing by saying things like, “Millennials all act and think this way.” Another, false, unhelpful categorization by which to falsely caricature image-bearers. Others falsely categorize people by geography: “The people in the South have good manners and are hospitable.” Another adage overstating reality. And finally, there are those who use all the above false paradigms collectively to judge their fellow man.
The Sin of Prejudice
If you are a Bible-believing Christian, then the above views should not be a part of your thinking or vocabulary with respect to how you think of and treat people. If any of these views are part of your current thinking, then commit today to purge it from your worldview. You will probably need to ask God to deliver you from such sinful, unloving, prejudicial thinking. It may be a long-standing, deeply ingrained sinful habit and mindset. You may have inherited it unwittingly from your family or community, so it may be generations in the making. The sin of prejudice is very common and is inherent in our sinful nature. This way of thinking is just one common way of judging others, and we know from the Bible, and Jesus (Matt 7:1) that superficially judging others comes naturally for us sinners (James 2:4; 4:11-12). We are experts at it.
Acting like Satan
If you are prone to categorizing people into humanly-preconceived compartments of identity, like the above categories, then you are acting like Satan. That’s what the Bible says. The Devil paints with a broad-sweeping, over-generalized, undiscriminating brush, falsely labeling people incessantly at every turn. This is what Satan does. This is who Satan is. One of his official names or titles is “the categorizer” or “the pigeon-holer.” To pigeonhole someone is to over-simplify and misrepresent their identity for the purpose of accounting them guilty of a false charge. This is the sin of bearing false witness (Ex 20:16). This nefarious practice is based on a false syllogistic procedure, such as saying, “Hitler was white. Hitler was male. Therefore, all white males are like Hitler.” It’s that simple…and twisted. Unfortunately, this fallacious method is highly influential and persuasive. It makes for good rhetoric.
As for Satan the archetypal “categorizer,” Revelation describes God’s greatest nemesis as “the great dragon…the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…the accuser of our brethren…he who accuses them before our God day and night” (12:9-10). Satan is the “accuser.” The word “accuser” is from the Greek word kategoras, from which we get our word, “category.” Satan spends all his time falsely accusing God’s people, trying to shove them into fabricated, mislabeled boxes titled, “unworthy sinner!” That’s what Satan does with your name as he goes before God behind your back slandering you, calling you a “SINNER!” because you are, demanding that God give you what all sinners deserve. Death! But he falsely categorizes you because he neglects to say that you are a “forgiven sinner,” purchased by the blood of Christ. So, Satan specializes in giving false labels to believers. He spends his time trying to put God’s goods in the trash bin; putting clean laundry in the hamper; calling pure diamonds “zirconium.”
God’s Categories
Instead of falsely categorizing people based on our prejudices like Satan does, we need to view people as God does. The apostle Paul helps us here. Before he was saved, he was like Satan, categorizing people illegitimately based on their ethnicity and social standing. As a legalistic Pharisee, he despised all Christians, Gentiles, and sinners. He even looked down his nose at women as inferior. But after being redeemed by the grace of God through Christ’s gospel, he became a new man on the inside. Old things passed away and all things became new (2 Cor 5:17)—even the way he perceived people. As a Christian, he now viewed people as God does. First, he understood that all people were sacred because they are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26). Second, he viewed all people as sinners from the womb (Rom 3:23) in need of salvation from God through Christ. As a result, Paul viewed every living person he met as being in only one of two categories: saved or not saved. Every individual either knows Christ or they don’t. Every person is either forgiven and born again or unforgiven and under God’s judgment. You are either a saint or you ain’t. There is no third category.
These are the only categories that really matter from an eternal, spiritual, and biblical perspective. Paul said as much in 2 Corinthians 5:16 when he wrote to the saints there, that since being saved, “from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh.” What he meant was that he does not view people in a superficial manner the way the world views people. Or as the NET Bible puts it, “from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view.” Or as the NIV interprets it: “from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.”
Conclusion: View All People from a Spiritual Perspective
In light of the above, as believers we should view every person we know or every person we meet as first and foremost from a spiritual perspective, viewing them as one who knows Christ personally and is in the family of God, or one who is in desperate need of His gospel and forgiveness. This is how we should view the cashier at Safeway as we buy our groceries, the barber or beautician who cuts our hair, and the mechanic who fixes our car. This should be the first thought about the waitress at the restaurant who asks you, “Can I take your order.” And it should be our first consideration about all our family members, our neighbors, and our colleagues at work. If we make a habit of thinking this way about people, then it will motivate us to be more prayerful for the lost and more courageous in sharing the saving the truth of the gospel they need.