Beware of Partiality - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) July 16, 2024
When a parent is partial to one child over another, there is bound to be dysfunction, envy, and possibly hatred in a family. None of these are things that the Lord wants for His people. And this is why He sets a great example of being a just and fair Father - all who faithfully do as He teaches reap the rewards. He also shows love to sinners (Matthew 5:45). This is because He cares for everyone He created and yearns for them to experience His best.
The Lord has called His children to mimic His behavior. This is why we are told in Proverbs 28:21 - To show partiality is not good— yet a person will do wrong for a piece of bread. God desires fairness and justice among His people. Christians should treat both the rich and the poor equally. The Bible spells this out in James 2:3-4 - If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Here, the scripture teaches Christians not to discriminate against poorer believers because doing so puts them in the position of judge and we must never usurp God's authority as Judge over all. After all, Matthew 7:1 states, Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
This instruction goes beyond the four corners of the Body of Christ (the Church) and sets an expectation on how believers should deal with all people. When we treat the wealthy better than the poor, for instance, we also ignore God's teaching in 1 Samuel 16:7 where He said "...The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” We cannot allow our eyes to dictate how we treat others. Just because someone looks or smells nicer does not mean they deserve better treatment. Fortunately, Christ Himself taught all believers to treat others as they would like to be treated (Matthew 7:12). This instruction is part of the Royal Law and no Christian can afford to ignore it.
Just as we shouldn’t mistreat the poor to benefit the rich, we should also avoid discriminating against the wealthy. Micah 6:8 - He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (NASB). The Lord expects His people to treat others justly and those 'others' include the rich. Jesus displayed this when He chose to go to the house of a wealthy tax collector in Luke 19. The rich man, Zacchaeus, was considered a sinner by his townspeople because of his occupation. Yet, his wealth and the public criticism didn't stop Jesus from spending time with the man.
By the end of the encounter, Zacchaeus was so transformed that he promised to give half of his wealth to the poor. He also committed to repay four times the amount to anyone he had cheated. Imagine if Christ had not had compassion and chosen to teach Zacchaeus about God's word. What if the Savior chose to only share God's wisdom with the poor? A man like Zacchaeus would not have experienced the salvation he needed.
We must learn from this to treat everyone well, showing compassion and kindness without partiality. Besides, we never know which of our encounters can transform a Zacchaeus. This may seem hard to do, but we can trust God to help us because He knows humans tend to make the mistake of being unjust and partial. As long as we recognize that partiality is a problem and commit to erasing that aspect of personality, the Holy Spirit will gradually transform us.
As for Christians in positions of influence, may we never take a bribe or a 'gift' that will cause us to favor one interest over that of another. I pray that we will instead apply justice and godly wisdom as contained in His word as we deal with others. That way, we will not violate the Lord's instruction by being partial. By His grace and guidance, we will never use the position He has mercifully placed us in to be petty or deal wickedly with any group or individual. We will not discriminate but rather remember that every person was made in God's image and that He is working on them just as we are being built for His purpose. The Lord will help us all, IJMN, Amen.
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