Friday, Nov. 16

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Friday

This week we have been examining what James meant when he told the early Christians (and us) not to show favoritism, partiality, or discrimination in the way that you treat people.  

Scripture speaks of God's characteristic of impartiality many times in order to show us that because God has no partiality, anyone in any nation who fears Him and repents of their sin is accepted by Him.  Social status, educational ability, looks, wardrobe, financial bank account, all of that is insignificant non- consequential.

The Apostle Paul acknowledged that God was impartial with reference to social status and occupation. It was inconsequential to the Lord whether you were a slave or whether you happen to be the slave owner...whether you are the boss or the employee.  And in Ephesians 6 where the Apostle Paul writes to slaves, to employees, and masters, employers, he says your master is also in heaven and neither is there respect of persons with Him.  He doesn't have greater affection for, love for, blessing for a manager, a President, a vice-president, an executive, a boss then He does for the humblest of all slaves. That by the way is repeated in Colossians 3-4.  In the matter of salvation God is no respecter of persons, in the matter of judgment He is no respecter of persons, in the matter of social status and employment He is no respecter of persons.

God is also not partial when it comes to disciplining sin; God is not partial when it comes to correcting and disciplining His children.  He looks only at the sin and only at the heart and He holds nothing back because you're wealthy or successful and He adds nothing because you're poor and somewhat unsuccessful by worldly standards. That is a non-issue to Him. So whether you're talking about salvation, judgment, job status, or sin and discipline, the standard is always the same. God deals purely with the heart of the person.

James speaks to the very same issue. Only James focuses on the impartiality of God with reference to a person's social status, economic status.  And he is dealing with us in a very practical way in the life of the church. We don't like to admit it but in the church of Jesus Christ we tend to be very partial to certain people.  We are impressed with their bank account.  We are impressed with the car they drive. We can be impressed with their wardrobe, their jewelry.  We can be very impressed with the job they hold, the profession they're in.  We can be impressed with their reputation.  We can very impressed if they have a lot of degrees at the end of their name. 

God is not impressed with any of that!

It is utterly of no consequence to Him whatsoever in the matter of evaluating the worth of a soul.  It's inconsequential.  They're non-issues. God judges and God evaluates and God estimates your worth and my worth and the worth of everyone purely on the basis of the inner person.
To put it simply in Old Testament terminology, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. God is not interested in your bank account, your wardrobe, your jewelry as any kind of commendation of your character.

On the other hand, God is not disinterested in you because you are poor or because you don't look so good, or because you don't have so many clothes, or because you have a common job or you don't have any degrees or any reputation or any social standing.  He is not disinterested in you because of what you lack, nor is He interested in you because of what you possess.  And frankly, all of us who belong to God and say we are the children of God should certainly demonstrate this wonderful characteristic of our God.

JeffFrazier