Romans 2:11: For God does not show favoritism.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot
about something that has bothered me over the past several years, I think
because I particularly am (or more so have been) guilty of it. And for some
reason it has been on my mind recently a lot more, I think because I am
realizing how crazy I am and really was basically for all of my teen years.
It’s crazy to me think that I would
think of some people as more important than others. How we as people in general
think of actors and singers and musicians and athletes and the prince and
princess of England or wherever as more important than “regular” people. I have been obsessed with far too many people
and have dreamt to be able to just be able to meet them, to shake their hand. When
I was in my early and mid-teens, it was President Bush, Ace Young, and Rain
Wilson (Dwight Schrute from The Office [whose hand I did end up high-fiving!]),
to name but a few. Why have I valued
some celebrities more than the unknown people who are sacrificing their lives
for the betterment of their fellow humans? There are so many ways that I am a
product of my culture, just going along letting it shape me for good or bad,
rather than trying to be a part of shaping it for the good.
I understand when someone has
accomplished something honorable and they deserve to be recognized. But to then
value them as a person higher than others I think is where we go wrong. More
than just thinking that people in general should value all people the same, I
think Christians especially should be held to a higher standard, if we are to
have the mind of Christ and to see God’s children the way he sees them, as
completely loved and valued equally. God doesn’t make humans in a hierarchy of any
kind and I think we’ve done ourselves a great damaging service by doing so.
Just speaking specifically to
Christians, how many of us value a famous person of any kind more highly? And
we even value more highly the people who are supposed to teach us to value God
above all and to love others equally! We easily value being with various
pastors or Bible teachers or worship leaders more than we value being with God
himself.
In the past six months I’ve heard
Francis Chan talk about this twice, and I think it’s fully beginning to dawn on
me how much damage it has caused me and causes us as humans. At the end of the
day I think it is simple: Every person is unique and had unique gifts and
talents and passions. We were all created to glorify God in our own way, and
not one should be valued more than another. To put it more simply, God does not
show favoritism, so likewise we should not.
