Playing Favourites

“My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 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,’ 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4 NIV)

How do you feel when someone else is given special treatment at your expense? Do you know anyone who “plays favourites”? Have you ever met someone who ignored you because you were different to them? Or, perhaps they were friendly for what they thought you could give them? Governments have attempted to deal with these kinds of attitudes through law making. Anti-discrimination legislation attempts to stop favouritism based on things like age, gender, race, religion etc. But it can’t address underlying thoughts and feelings. It can’t change people’s hearts.

So, how do you decide who to befriend and who to ignore? If we are honest, most of us make some kind of judgement based on how other people look. We might also choose our friends in terms of what they have to offer us. We may befriend the people that we think are “like us” and avoid the people who are “different”. But Jesus Christ models a different way of living and calls his followers to live like him.

One of the features of a true follower of Jesus is that they don’t show favouritism. What does this look like? James gives us an example of the opposite attitude. He describes a situation where a rich, well-dressed person gets special attention while a poor person is ignored or put down. He says that such treatment is a form of discrimination. It comes from “evil thoughts” which judge people’s worth on how they look or how wealthy they are.

In contrast, Jesus says that God sends his rain on the “just and the unjust”. He blesses us even when we don’t deserve it. He showed us his love while we were still sinners fighting against him (Romans 5:8). This is a reflection of God’s grace, his free and undeserved favour. It is wonderfully illustrated and featured in a recently released movie. “Amazing Grace” is the story of William Wilberforce and his campaign to abolish the British slave trade. It is also the story of his minister and mentor John Newton. Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace”, was for many years the captain of a slave trading ship. An encounter with Jesus Christ changed his life. The hymn expresses his experience of God’s grace which he found in Jesus. The movie shows the power of this grace to change the way that we view and treat other people.

Recommended Viewing: “Amazing Grace – the movie”, in cinemas now