Not Your Favourite Blog Post

reserved-parking-signLet me start by defining favouritism… 

“The practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another.” ` Oxford Dictionary

God does not favourite anyone. Other versions of the Bible say that He is not a respecter or persons. I used to joke and say that God does not respect people, but that was a play on words. That’s not the best translation for our day and culture. What it really means is that He does love anyone less or more than the other. He does not play favourites with Christians versus sinners.

I know this sounds pretty hard to believe because as His people we feel like we are “it”. The thing is, God loves everyone regardless of race, gender or social status! Sinner or saint, murderer or life giver, adulterer or loyal spouse, pro-choice or pro-life, thief or philanthropist! It’s hard to believe that He could love a mass murderer as much as the most upright citizen, but He does.

If God does not show favouritism, why does man?

If we are more eager to serve a leader in the church than we are a someone who we can receive no benefit from, we are showing favouritism and possibly have motives that are not pure.

“But the Bible says to honour your leaders!” someone exclaims.

Though I am not speaking of honour, we are to honour our leaders, but it doesn’t stop there.

Rom 12:10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves.

The root of favouritism is not love, but selfish motives. Jesus was always for the poor, weak and needy. He was a servant that never did anything to be noticed or for the benefit or His ministry. He was not moved by the promise or assumption of a more prominent position. Where the love of Christ dwells, favouritism does not exist.

If we truly love our neighbour, we will not treat them any different than those whom we expect to gain something from. If we would take time off work to help the pastor on a project, we must do the same for someone else who requires help. If we would go out of our way to ensure our leader has a place to sit at a function, we must also give up our chair for someone who we think doesn’t have it all together.

Mat 25:34-46 Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’
“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’
“Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’
“Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’
“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

These are hard verses to swallow, but Jesus is looking for the right response with the proper motives. How can we truly love if we avoid the “least of these”?

James 2:9 But if you show favouritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

We must understand that favouritism is a sin… AND if we show favouritism we are no better than a murderer!

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