Gen FX — An Attitude of Superiority

A special Gen FX reflection on today’s EFKS message.

Weekly EFKS Theme:
Pride and Prejudice

📖 Bible Reading:
John 7:40–52
(EFKS Tusi Faitau Aso)

Dear Gen FX,

It is easy to recognise pride when someone boasts about themselves. It can be harder to recognise when pride appears in the way we think about other people.

Sometimes we decide that someone is less knowledgeable, less important or less worthy of being heard because of where they come from, what they do, or how we see their place in society.

John 7 shows us how dangerous that attitude can become.

THE READING, EXPLAINED

Jesus had been teaching publicly, and the people were divided over who He was.

Some believed He was the Prophet. Others said He was the Christ. But others rejected that possibility because they associated Jesus with Galilee. They questioned whether the Messiah could possibly come from there.

The religious leaders were even more dismissive.

When the temple guards returned without arresting Jesus because they had been struck by His words, the Pharisees questioned whether the guards had also been deceived. They pointed to their own authority and knowledge as evidence that Jesus should not be believed.

Then Nicodemus, who had previously spoken with Jesus, raised a simple question: does their law judge someone without first hearing him and learning what he has done?

Instead of seriously considering his point, they responded:

“Are you from Galilee too?” — John 7:52

Their response reveals the problem.

Rather than examining Jesus fairly, they allowed their assumptions about Galilee—and their confidence in their own position—to influence their judgment.

WHAT THIS THEME IS POINTING TO

An attitude of superiority begins when we start believing that our position makes us better than someone else.

It can come from education, family background, culture, wealth, age, experience, status or even religious knowledge.

In John 7, some of the religious leaders knew the Scriptures well. Knowledge itself was not the problem. The problem was that their confidence in what they knew made them unwilling to listen.

Prejudice had already shaped their conclusion.

That is an important warning for Christians.

Faith should not make us look down on people. The more we understand the grace of God, the less reason we have to consider ourselves superior to anyone else.

WHERE THIS MEETS REAL LIFE

Imagine judging a book entirely by its cover.

You might look at the title, design or author and decide immediately that there is nothing inside worth reading. But until you actually open the book, your judgment is based on an assumption rather than understanding.

We can do the same thing with people.

We may form opinions because of someone's family, school, job, neighbourhood, culture, appearance or past. Sometimes we can even dismiss what someone says because we have already decided what kind of person they are.

John 7 challenges us to examine those assumptions.

Humility is willing to listen before judging. It recognises that we do not know everything and that status does not determine a person's worth or whether they have something valuable to say.

ONE THING TO HOLD ONTO

Pride decides who is worth hearing; humility is willing to listen before judging.

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, remove pride and prejudice from our hearts. Teach us to see others with humility, listen carefully, and judge with wisdom and grace. Amen.

Signing off,
Alofa Tunoa

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Alofa Tunoa shares budget-friendly recipes, family meals, one-pan dinners, and Pacific Island inspired food rooted in Samoan culture and faith-filled home cooking.

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