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- Apr 25, 2006
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Are some more 'equal' than others?
'... believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism.' James 2:1
We're told here to see everyone as equal, and not have favourites. Does that mean we suddenly have to be 'best buds' with everyone? No, not at all. But what it does mean is that we shouldn't judge other people at all; that should be left to God. We should give everyone an equal chance, not excluding people just because they may not seem the same as us.
Sarah was 15 and living rough in Manchester. She came along to a youth mission one day, where local teenagers were getting fake tattoos painted on their arms. As she hung back, you could see she wanted one but didn't dare ask; she obviously expected to be told 'no'. One of the youth workers, Matt, called her over, and she joined a queue, and had a tattoo done. He'd never seen a smile so big as the one on her face.
It would have been easy to ignore her, but Jesus didn't want him to. Sarah got involved in a church afterwards, and started to learn more about Jesus. That's what it means to put the Bible into practice, and not show favouritism.
Jesus offers us unconditional love, so shouldn't we do the same? It's not always easy if people are different to us; but we owe it to them to love them anyway, the way Jesus loves us, and welcome them into the church family with open arms. It could change their lives and yours, too.
written by Bob Gass
'... believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism.' James 2:1
We're told here to see everyone as equal, and not have favourites. Does that mean we suddenly have to be 'best buds' with everyone? No, not at all. But what it does mean is that we shouldn't judge other people at all; that should be left to God. We should give everyone an equal chance, not excluding people just because they may not seem the same as us.
Sarah was 15 and living rough in Manchester. She came along to a youth mission one day, where local teenagers were getting fake tattoos painted on their arms. As she hung back, you could see she wanted one but didn't dare ask; she obviously expected to be told 'no'. One of the youth workers, Matt, called her over, and she joined a queue, and had a tattoo done. He'd never seen a smile so big as the one on her face.
It would have been easy to ignore her, but Jesus didn't want him to. Sarah got involved in a church afterwards, and started to learn more about Jesus. That's what it means to put the Bible into practice, and not show favouritism.
Jesus offers us unconditional love, so shouldn't we do the same? It's not always easy if people are different to us; but we owe it to them to love them anyway, the way Jesus loves us, and welcome them into the church family with open arms. It could change their lives and yours, too.
written by Bob Gass
