We have all wondered if we were someones favorite at one time or another. I came from a large family; Mom, Dad, five boys and four girls, plus the assorted pets. Of the nine kids, I am the youngest and because you are the youngest, you automatically get the label "the favorite", which I might add was not always true in our situation. My brothers and sisters might not agree with that, but I will save that discussion for those private family moments at the holidays. Gee, my poor Dad and Mom couldn’t wait to get us out of the house so they could be alone again, so I am sure there wasn’t "a favorite."
We live in a world of favorites. Ask someone what their favorite ice cream is or there favorite color and they will waste no time answering your question. Even though that is a very simplistic approach to the larger issue I want to discuss, it can be applied to the way we treat people. Be honest, we
judge people on their appearance — how they look, how they dress. One of the most common ways that favoritism is shown is in the area of affluence. We
judge people by their wealth — whether they’re rich or poor — their economic
status. We judge people based on the color of their skin or their country of origin.
For those who are Christ followers there are problems in showing favoritism. Hey! Even Christians show favoritism, so don’t act so righteous in saying that you don’t show favoritism or discrimination. Favoritism is unchristian! It goes against everything that Jesus taught while he walked those Dusty roads of Galilee. If
there is one place in the world where there shouldn’t be any kind of
discrimination it ought to be the church. There is discrimination everywhere else in the world. But there ought to be one place no matter who
you are or what your background is that you’re welcome. Favoritism is unloving. In Galatians 5:14 the Bible says, "All the law is summed up in one sentence,
`Love your neighbor as yourself’." If I play favorites I’m being
unloving.
Bible says that how we relate to other people shows how much we really love
God. In I John 4:20,"If a man says he loves God and hates
his brother he’s lying. How can you love
God whom you haven’t seen if you don’t love your brother whom you have
seen?" How I relate to you proves how much I love God. Favoritism is unloving.
of us know how to love unconditionally. Most of us are like this poem:
Paul’s girl is rich and haughty
My girl is poor as clay
Paul’s girl is young and pretty
Mine looks like a bale of hay.
Paul’s girl is smart and clever
My girl is dumb but good
Would I trade my girl for Paul’s?
You bet your life I would!
This past Sunday we had a "plant" in our church service. "Amy" is young lady who wasn’t dressed as nice as most people would want. She was very stand off-ish and almost rude to other people. She took four donuts at our cafe instead of one and helped herself to some books that we had at our information center. We wanted to see how our people would respond to Amy and what kind of looks or greetings she would get. Toward the end of my sermon, I brought Amy out of the crowd to the front of the church to share what she had experienced. It was amazing! People had greeted her and been friendly, while others were very unsure of her and kept an eye on her. One thing happened that Amy was surprised about; Jennifer, a young lady in our church sat with Amy and began to explain all of the things that were going on in our service, all the while Amy was still playing the homeless and angry young woman.
Tomorrow, like Paul Harvey, I will share the rest of the story.