Common Courtesy

There's a sad little joke passed about between the clergy of certain dignified congregations. They say, "Some of us are paid for being good, the rest are good for nothing." The sick bit of humor betrays an ugly attitude toward the people of God.  This is what makes the church so unattractive to society's beautiful prople: rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses. In the body of Christ all are equal, but none are the same. The humblest barefoot bumpkin is as important, and carries as great a treasure as the slickest and the glibbest. The educated and privileged have nothing more than the unschooled and challenged. God gives the least of us things that the "best" of us cannot do without. If I turn from fellowship with one I consider crude, I turn from something God has for me. If I look down on any member of the church, I look down on myself. If I am repulsed by any, I am repulsed of myself.