Ah, favoritism, you fickle
beast. We are apparently discussing you today. You rear your ugly
head all over the place each and every day in every single person's
life. Food, drinks, clothes, shoes, shows, cities, houses, music,
parks, movies- but those aren't the problem here, are they? Oh no,
favoriting people is the problem. Let's take a look at what James has
to say about that:
"My dear brothers and
sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus
Christ if you favor some people over others?" (James 2:1)
Yesterday, James called us
to be careful about being corrupted and changed by the world. He said
that true religion was serving the orphans and widows, but also not
allowing ourselves to be polluted by the world. This sentence is like
an elaboration on that verse. Playing favorites is a worldly problem.
Jesus didn't play favorites when he died on the cross for our sins.
He died for us all. So why should we play favorites here with those
in our lives?
James goes on to give an
example of playing favorites:
" For example, suppose
someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and
expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in
dirty clothes. 3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the
rich person, but you say to the poor one, 'You can stand over there,
or else sit on the floor'—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination
show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
5 Listen to me, dear
brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to
be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom
he promised to those who love him? 6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t
it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they
the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name you bear?"
(James 2:2-7)
Haven't we all done this
same thing at some point in our lives? I'm positive that I have. As a
mom, there are days when one kid is my favorite over the others. I'm
sure that I shouldn't be admitting that because it breaks the entire
mom code (because each precious gem is special in their own way, yes,
yes, I know). But the thing is, I am a lover of peace always. So the
kid who is being peaceful and getting along with everyone, the one
that is helping the others and saying sweet things, that's the one
that's getting the favorite position for the day. Even as I write
this I can feel one particular child dropping down the list as he
instigates a fight mere moments after waking up. Over a remote. Sigh.
I know it's terrible. Clearly James says I shouldn't be this way.
Thankfully, Jesus already knows I'm a work-in-progress and is
extremely forgiving. I am oh so thankful for this great news. Because
I clearly need his forgiveness and understanding every single moment
of my day. It's my prayer that I can remember this and extend the
same to my gems.
Moving on from my word vomit
of imperfect parenting...I actually prefer The Message variation of
this next verse:
"You do well when you
complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: 'Love others as you love
yourself.'" (James 2:8 MSG)
The New Living Translation
actually says to "love your neighbor as yourself," but that
always feels so limiting to me. I know that the word "neighbor"
in the Bible refers to others, but this feels more concrete, more all
encompassing. It's just so clear in this translation that James wants
us to obey the rule that Jesus gave us in Matthew to love others-
every single other person- as much as we love our own selves. This is
such a tough call to action, isn't it? How can we possibly love
everyone the way we love ourselves? Well, I hate to say it but we
can't. It's absolutely an impossible call to action. Impossible
without Jesus, that is. We need Him in our lives to be able to even
attempt to love others the way we love ourselves. Jesus is love and
we need that perfect love from him to distribute to others.
James goes on with more
examples of his point here:
"But if you play up to
these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand
convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things,
specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring
others. The same God who said, 'Don’t commit adultery,' also said,
'Don’t murder.' If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and
murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder?
No, you’re a murderer, period.
12-13 Talk and act like a
person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if
you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly.
Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time." (James 2:9-13
MSG)
Let's read verses 12-13 one
more time because they pack a powerful punch. They are the entire
essence of the Golden Rule. "Treat others how you want to be
treated." But they are also more than that. Treat others with
mercy and kindness, not because they deserve it- not a single one of
us actually does- but because you love Jesus and Jesus would want it
that way. Period.
Those words speak loudly to
my faithful side. I am actually extremely faithful to those closest
to me. I want to do what will make them happy. I love them fiercely
and am protective of them. So knowing that Jesus wants me to do this
and I am failing at it? That's tough for me. Again, I find myself so
thankful that he forgives me for my failure over and over again. I
can do this one better. I know I can.
What about you? Are you a
natural people lover? Do you struggle with loving others? It's my
prayer today that we can love others as we love ourselves, just as
Jesus said (and as James is reminding us now).
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