Equality
The world is very quick to judge people based on the way they look or on what they have. If you don’t wear a certain type of clothing or if you’re poor, you’re going to be looked down on. A lot of times, this attitude carries over to the church as well. It’s sad that churches get like this, because all it does is push away the people who need God the most.
This was a problem back in James’ day as well. James 1:1-4 criticizes people who would show special favor to the rich people who came to their churches while ignoring the poor members of the church. James criticizes them, saying that by showing favoritism like that, they were sinning. As Christians we need to love our neighbor as ourself, regardless of how much money they have or how they look. Otherwise, we’re no better than the rest of the world.
James wasn’t content though to just say that it was a sin. He went on to say in James 1:10 that if we obey the entire law, but break one bit, we’re guilty of breaking all the law. In the context of the chapter, he’s saying that by showing favoritism to them, we’re no better than they are. All of us, Christian or not, have sinned, and consequently, we’re no better people than they are in God’s eyes. Don’t look down on someone because you feel you are better than they, and don’t treat someone better than another because they look better or have more money than the other one does.
Looking back earlier in the New Testament, we can see that Jesus taught this as well. He ate with and taught people, regardless of whether or not they were godly or not. He taught the type of people that the religious leaders of the time looked down on. The tax collectors, harlots, and poor – all the groups of people that everybody hated He made His ministry. He didn’t show favoritism to anyone. The world was His ministry. We need to remember that, and do it ourselves.
Too often churches today tend to look down on people that don’t look nice or aren’t saved or are poor. We need to come alongside them, and lead them towards Christ. No, they’re not perfect, but are we? We need to hate the sin, but love the sinner. How can we expect them to stop sinning, or look better, or just be better all the way around if no one shows them how?
