Favoritism

Message:  James 2 starts off by warning us not to show favoritism. The example used was treatment of a poor man versus treatment of a rich man. If we elevate the value of a rich man and devalue the poor man we are wrong because we are making judgements and assumptions about his value based on his possessions. Before we clear ourselves of guilt from this one I think it’s important to acknowledge that the poor man/rich man scenario was only an example. There are so many other possible ways to show favoritism or partiality. Maybe by fame or reputation. Maybe by skill or talent. Maybe my influence or education. In the example they were were talking about favoring one by giving him an honored seat, as opposed to the lack of favor to the one that was was asked to sit on the floor or act as a servant. We don’t all have the authority to give that kind of status in the church, but we all are a temple of our own so we do choose who receives the place of honor in our own lives. Which voices are we willing to listen to? Maybe to wealthy or famous people because “they made it” or educated people because we believe they are smarter? Maybe we only value the opinions of people who think the way we do. Who do we treat like a servant? Which voices in our lives do we silence and disregard? Who do we see as beneath us? My challenge to myself in this is to evaluate how much weight certain opinions have in my life and why. Some may be for the right reasons but we have to be willing to ask the why to make sure our trust is not blinded or misguided by anything apart from the wisdom of God.

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