The term “pariah” has biblical origins and refers to an outcast or someone shunned by society. In the Bible, the word “pariah” is not used directly, but the concept is referenced through several stories and verses.
In the Old Testament, God set apart the Israelites as his chosen people. They were to be holy and separate from the pagan nations around them. However, when the Israelites turned away from God, they were exiled and considered outcasts by the other nations. The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations describe the Israelites as outcasts who faced punishment and exile for their disobedience to God.
One of the clearest examples of a biblical pariah is the leper. Leprosy was seen as a sign of uncleanliness and lepers were completely ostracized from society. Leviticus 13 details the laws regarding leprosy and isolating those with skin diseases: “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Leviticus 13:45-46)
In the New Testament, the tax collectors and Gentiles were viewed as pariahs by the Pharisees and religious elite. Tax collectors were seen as traitors complicit with the Roman occupation. Matthew was a tax collector before he was called to be a disciple of Jesus. His profession made him despised in Jewish society. In calling Matthew, Jesus showed that the gospel was for outcasts and sinners too.
The Gentiles were also excluded from the covenants with Israel. A clear distinction existed between Jew and Gentile. When a Canaanite woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter, He initially refused saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24) Jesus later healed her daughter after recognizing her faith. He showed that salvation would also come to the Gentiles who were far from God.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus reached out to the pariahs of society offering them grace, forgiveness, and a place in God’s kingdom. He treated them with compassion and dignity despite their shunned status. Jesus said “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32) He regularly ate with tax collectors and sinners to the outrage of the Pharisees who saw them as spiritual pariahs.
Jesus himself was despised and rejected by men. Isaiah 53 prophesied the Messiah would be “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.” Jesus embodied this. Though completely innocent, He was rejected by the religious leaders, betrayed, denied, and abandoned even by His closest followers. As Jesus went to the cross, He fully identified with outcasts bearing the world’s sin and shame.
Even after His resurrection, Jesus continued ministering to pariahs. Saul (later Paul) was a persecutor of the church. As an elite Pharisee, he condemned the new Christian sect and approved the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr. On the road to Damascus, the resurrected Jesus confronted Paul leading to his dramatic conversion from persecutor to preacher. The pariah became an apostle entrusted to carry the gospel across the Roman world.
The early church faced much persecution, but continued embracing outcasts. Philip preached to an Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 even though Jewish law excluded eunuchs from full participation in religious life. After Peter’s vision in Acts 10, the early church realized that the Good News of Jesus was for the Gentiles too. Salvation was not just for the Jews, but for all who would believe in Christ.
Throughout the New Testament, we see a pattern of Jesus and the early church welcoming pariahs and outcasts who were on the margins of society. The social boundaries that divided people were broken down in Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Though we are all equal in God’s eyes, many groups are still marginalized in society today through prejudice and discrimination. Racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, the economically disadvantaged, and those with disabilities and special needs may feel like pariahs. A biblical view compels us to treat all people as made in God’s image, worthy of dignity, respect, and full participation in the church.
As Christians, we are called to emulate Jesus’ ministry to outcasts. We should beware of favoritism or partiality that values some people over others. James 2 warns against showing favoritism towards the rich and mistreating the poor saying “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” (James 2:8-9)
Rather than maintaining sharp in-group and out-group distinctions, we are to generously love our neighbors as ourselves. We should give special concern for the vulnerable and mistreated in society. God cares deeply for those shunned and forgotten by others. As Proverbs 14:31 says “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”
The church is described as Christ’s body with many members. When one part suffers, the whole body suffers (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Similarly, we cannot ignore the suffering of pariah groups in society without wounding the greater social fabric that God intends to be whole and healthy. Bigotry and partiality damage our life together.
While Christians have at times marginalized others throughout history, the example of Jesus and values of Scripture lead in a different direction – one of reconciliation, inclusion, and beloved community. We all have sacred worth and dignity as God’s creations, despite human distinctions and divisions.
By building relationships and deepening social ties across groups, we reflect God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus prayed for His followers to be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:20-23). Though humanity is fallen, dividing walls can come down when we live in the unifying power of the Holy Spirit.
We must guard against self-righteous pride that looks down on others as beyond God’s grace. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. As Jesus told the Pharisees, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” All fall short before God’s holiness and all are offered new life in Christ. We should not prevent anyone from belonging to the household of God.
As individual Christians and collectively as the church, we are called to stand with and speak for the marginalized – the orphans, widows, immigrants, and oppressed. We cannot remain silent or passive in response to injustice, prejudice, and exclusion present in society. To do justice and love kindness reflects the very character of God (Micah 6:8).
Christ’s love compels us to cross borders and boundaries that divide. In dynamically engaging people different from ourselves, we grow in understanding beyond stereotypes and limited experiences. While social ostracism tears communities apart, sacrificial love builds up the body into wholeness.
The biblical message offers hope that human barriers and labels will not have the final say. Revelation 7 beautifully depicts people from every nation, tribe, people and language worshiping together around God’s throne. All pariahs find their sacred identity in Christ. As we build relationships across lines of race, class, politics and ethnicity, we give the world a foretaste of that coming unity and wholeness under God.