Avoiding Favoritism

This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology. And we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network. It's about to start in just a few seconds.

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Here's our hosts, Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy. All right, Man Talk listening audience, we want to know, do you show partiality? That's what we want to know. We want to know, are you having favors with people? Because see, when it comes down to it, we have to ask ourselves the question, do we consciously favor someone who we think, Roy, who can give us certain things and put us in a better position materially, or sociology, or some type of interaction with the people who we rub elbows with? See, these are the things that sometimes we're consciously or unconsciously doing, but we want to talk to you about these things today. Yes, we do. We want to talk about what scripture has to say about those things too, Will. We know that what the Bible says about favoritism and that we're not supposed to do that.

And in fact, in James 2, 1, it says, my brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism, must not show favoritism. And see, and the thing about it is, is if we believe that we're going to practice it. See, but again, if we're not reading the word of God and, and you know, I wrote down a little thing here, what we have to do in reference to the word of God, we have to love the word. We have to look at the word. We have to learn the word, and then we live the word. And I think when we do this, it will leave no room for us to invite other things into our life, because that's what we do, Roy. When, when we're not filling our lives with the word, with the word, we're filling our lives with other things. And so these other things, that's right, unholy. And so these, these unholy things, when they start coming in, of course, you know, they can be the root of bitterness.

Oh goodness. And all sorts of other sins, right? Exactly. And James 2, 8, 9, it says, if you really keep the royal law found in scripture, love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

Yeah, see, and God doesn't show partiality. You know, way, way back in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy, way back in Deuteronomy chapter one and verse 17, you know, that was a law that God had given to Moses to give to the people. And basically it was the law that's saying, you don't show partiality and judgment. So if two people have a disagreement back in the Old Testament, they try to work it out amongst themselves. But what the law was saying that if you showed partiality to one, because they could possibly do things for you or put you in a better light or position than, than another person, then what you're doing is you're allowing yourself to fall within the realm of being open up to disagreement, which ultimately will lead to judgment. So judge amongst yourself is what the, what basically the law that Moses was given to the people and, and don't show partiality, but if you can't, he went on to say in that same verse, if you can't then come to me, if it's a matter that's bigger than both of you and you can't decide, bring it before me.

And, you know, we'll go ahead and judge according to the law of God. So even all the way back then, the Lord was saying, don't show partiality, you know, just because of who a person is or what they're able to do for you, but we do it. And when the collateral damage doing that, that will like a person, if they've got any emotional intelligence at all, they'll recognize that.

And most people are pretty sensitive to that when they're shunned because of their income or they're shunned because of their physical parents or because of their positions in life, whatever it happens to be. I mean, that's, that's, that's very hurtful as well, right? Yeah. And the thing about it is, is if we're looking at others' interests more than ourselves, as we talked about last week.

Would we do that? Yeah. Yeah.

And that's the thing. That's the thing because we're not, we're not, we're seeing our difficulties. We're seeing what we need to get out of something rather than saying, what can I give to another person to get them out of the situation that they're currently in.

Or enhance their life or whatever. First Timothy 5 21, I solemnly command you in the presence of God in Christ, Jesus, and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone. And seeing during that verse, Roy, he was actually talking to the, he was talking to the elders because prior to that particular, those particular verses, he was saying that, you know, the, these things the elders are responsible for.

And as a result of that, pastor Timothy, when you go in there, don't show favoritism to one elder over another. But see the Corinthians were doing the same thing. Corinthians was saying, we're of Apollos. No, we're of Paul. No, we're of Jesus. No, we're of Barnabas. So they, they were showing partiality in the sense that we're following Paul, somebody else following Apollo, somebody else following Jesus, somebody else following Barnabas. And so they were all in an uproar. And finally, God rest through Paul to say in 1 Corinthians.