In first century Palestine, the chasm between Jew and Gentile was deep and wide. A Jew could not eat with a Gentile, and certainly would never stay at the house of one. A Jewish physician was not permitted to care for a Gentile patient, even if the situation was life-threatening. In short, Jews had nothing to do with Gentiles … unless, of course, that Jew was Jesus! Jesus broke all the rules when it came to Gentiles—and he broke the rules because he was trying to break down the walls.

But even during the early church, a remnant of that wall still existed. A perfect example is the story of Peter in the 10th chapter of Acts. Peter is on a rooftop, praying and meditating, when he sees the vision of a sheet descending from the heavens, filled with food, and a voice commanding him, “Get up and eat.” At first, Peter refuses, because the sheet contained enough unkosher food to uncurl the payos of a Hasidic Rabbi. “By no means, Lord!” Peter cries out. “For I have never eaten anything profane or unclean.”

But the Almighty isn’t kidding about this. God three-peats the vision, leaving poor Peter in a bit of a quandary. Does the Lord really want him to start eating ham? Apparently so—because the voice is very clear on the matter: “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.”

Now, one way to read this story is to view it simply as a modification of the ancient dietary laws—almost as if God is saying, “In days of old, you were taught to eat certain things and avoid others, but I have decided to expand the menu.”

However, if you ask me, the story actually goes deeper than just giving Peter permission to start packing his lunchbox with pigs-in-the-blanket. At the heart of this story is a question, which, frankly, I think we are still wrestling with today. Namely, is it ever appropriate to label people? Clean vs. unclean; liberal vs. conservative; management vs. labor; us vs. them.

Let’s face it; too often the practice of pigeonholing people is used as a clever exit strategy. In other words, if I can categorize you, then I am relieved of the responsibility of actually getting to know you. I can make a snap judgment—based on how you look, or what you do for a living, or where you’re from, or whom you voted for in the last election—and armed with all of those assumptions, I can safely turn and walk away.

Jesus took an entirely different approach. He was all about helping people feel included, not excluded. “What God has made clean, you must not call profane.” Indeed, Jesus seemed to want us to view others the same way we view ourselves. Blemished, perhaps. Unfinished, certainly. But still redeemed and restored through the grace of God.

Throughout our lives we will come across countless people, and we will always have a choice. Label them or love them? We know what Jesus’ choice was—just look at what he did with us!