A believer is holy, blameless, and above reproach (Col. 1:22). Why? Because of Jesus’ death on the cross. When He was on the cross, He despised the shame because of the joy that was before Him, and now is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:1-2). Every believer, including the former outcast, is a member of the church, His family, the holy temple (1 Pet. 2:9-10; Eph. 2:19).

The flights had gone seamlessly, connections were made without any hindrances, and the people in the host country kindly picked me up at the airport. After a meal and the initial impressions of a new culture, I was ready for bed. Knowing it might be difficult with jetlag, I still hoped to get some sleep to be adjusted for the week of teaching ahead.

The street dogs had other ideas. It was not just one of them barking and howling through the night; there must have been at least four of them. They barked and howled as they roamed the streets. Even with wax earplugs, I was lucky if I got two hours of sleep each night that whole week.

The Unclean in the Bible

This experience made me think about my understanding of what the Bible means when it speaks about dogs. It considers dogs to be unclean animals and a term of contempt (1 Sam. 17:43; Phil. 3:2; Isa. 66:3; 2 Pet. 2:22; Rev. 22:15).[1]

This then led me to think about how Jesus treated people who were considered to be unclean and seen with contempt. The Gentile woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit came to mind (Mark 7:24-30). When talking to her, Jesus uses the term dog which was how the Jews considered the Gentiles to be. Yet, he healed the daughter and cleansed her because of the woman’s faith in Him.

When Believers See Themselves as Unclean

Many of the women that I meet with have been, or are being treated as, filthy, unclean, and outcasts. Other people view them as dogs and treat them as such.

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