The watching world of today has lumped “Christians” into a group of people who are white supremacists, discriminatory, and racist. However, according to God‘s word, these attributes represent a total antithetical way of living life for the person truly following Christ.
There is no doubt, that as Christ followers, ridding ourselves of these unconscious bias issues of discrimination is part of our sanctification; however, the teachings of God’s word drive us in the direction of “No favoritism”. All people, including those who are not Christ followers, are prone to evil, wicked ways, and ungodly flesh driven treatment of those people we don’t relate to. We are called to a higher standard; a standard, that was modeled by Jesus Christ. There was no one that was outside of the love, compassion, and grace He extended.
James 2:1 [AMP] MY BRETHREN, pay no servile regard to people [show no prejudice, no partiality]. Do not [attempt to] hold and practice the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ [the Lord] of glory [together with snobbery]!
I love how the Amplified shows that spirit of this first verse is to not serve people with ‘Snobbery’. This is exactly how it comes across too. What is sad is that I have even seen this show up in churches toward internal staff…There is literally no place for it in the execution of pastoring, growing, guiding, and guarding the church.
James 2:2 - 4[AMP] For if a person comes into your congregation whose hands are adorned with gold rings and who is wearing splendid apparel, and also a poor [man] in shabby clothes comes in, And you pay special attention to the one who wears the splendid clothes and say to him, Sit here in this preferable seat! while you tell the poor [man], Stand there! or, Sit there on the floor at my feet! Are you not discriminating among your own and becoming critics and judges with wrong motives?
I am pretty confident that this learning can be applied in many contexts. God’s Word absolutely calls us to be discriminatory in regard to false teachers, the factious, and those who would set out to harm the church. What I believe James is talking about here is discrimination on the basis of status, circumstance, race, creed, or disability. These things are clearly part of the cultural discussion today. The things I fight with internally (in my mind) are knee jerk reactions to attitudes, entitlement, and ungratefulness I find in people I meet. This is not Christlike. God is the ultimate judge of one’s heart and I am not God. I am called to love as He loves. God still loves the arrogant, the prideful (like I can be), the selfish, and the intolerant. What God abhors is sin and that sin is what will receive His wrath on that dreadful day. God is infinitely ‘Just’…I am not.