This 7m episode provides the listener the reading of the 2nd chapter of the Book of James where the word favoritism is addressed in the Bible. The Bible is clear that favoritism is not God’s will for our lives. First, favoritism is incongruent with God’s character: “God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11). All are equal before Him. Ephesians 6:9 says, “There is no favoritism with him.” Colossians 3:25 teaches God’s fairness in judgment: “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.”
This is where we as humans fail because to do not follow through on the teachings of the Word. We are prone to judge individuals by their past, and not their future states Wiersbe's commentary. We are also prone to judge a person by their appearance rather than what resides in their heart. We are quick on the draw when it comes to passing judgment.
For instance, as soon as one hears that I am an Elder, their first thought is to take flight, to exit as quickly as possible assuming my conversation will solely be focused on their faith and the church they belong to. First, get to know me before you judge me. I have neither heaven nor hell's key on my keychain, meaning I can't pray you in one or drop kick you into the other.
When we have visitors come into our churches, we tend to judge them on what we see outward rather than what they are inward. We favor them by their dress, color of skin, fashion, and other superficial characteristics which carry more weight than the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Oh, goodness and mercy, do not let us find out they have money! We nearly jump out of our pants or heels to cater to the rich because we hope to get something out of them, and we avoid the poor person because they might embarrass us. The doctrine of God's grace, if we really believe it, forces us to relate to people on the basis of God's plan and not on the basis of human merit or social status.
Educated, uneducated, poor, young or old, Christian love does not mean that we must like a person and agree with him or her because of who they are or what they represent. We are supposed to love everyone no matter the status or the color of their skin. Before we attack those who do not have orthodox doctrine, we must be sure that we practice the doctrines we defend. Our motive should be to glorify God to love one another no matter our status in life.
I love the way Pastor Dardy used to ask the church, "church do you love me, if you don't then you better not die!" God is love, and love is an action word that we can't afford to have absent from our hearts as we prepare to leave earth for hopefully our heavenly home.
Let's drop the favoritism and love our brothers and sisters as God loves us. Remember He loves us in spite of, not because of!
Blessings, Elder Barbara
Wiersbe/GQ
