Several years ago, two men walked into a Sydney pub.
One was wearing a suit and tie - clearly a corporate high-flier. The other, a tradie, was also wearing his work gear.
The manager asked the tradie to leave because his attire did not fit with the up-market requirements of the pub.
At the time it caused a degree of community outrage.
Some claimed that “the pub is where everyone is equal; where no one talks up or down to another man …”.
The same should be said of the Christian community.
Suppose two men walk into a church, writes the apostle James.
One of them clearly a wealthy man; the other a poor man. The wealthy man is offered a good seat, but to the poor man, it was said, “You stand over there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet” (James 2:2-3).
James is quick to response. “This is no way for followers of Jesus to behave”, he says.
They “must not show favouritism”.
It’s not just the pub, but importantly, it’s in the church, the Christian community “where everyone is equal”.
The word “favouritism” here means to “look only on the outside”.
In other words, to show favouritism is to make superficial judgements about a person based on outward appearances – eg status, wealth, nationality, colour of skin etc. Favouritism fails to look deeper.
But real faith - the type of faith God desires - looks beyond the outward appearance of a person.
Real faith finds value in what lies beneath.
It looks at what’s going on inside a person, in his or her heart. That’s what God sees.
So, to counter favouritism and unfairly treating people, we must ask ourselves: “Am I seeing people as God sees them - and loving them as God loves them?”.
~ Contributed by Pastor Chris Taylor of the Deniliquin Baptist Church, on behalf of the Combined Churches of Deniliquin.
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