NO FAVORITES

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“For God does not show favoritism.”

Romans 2:11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

God doesn’t show favoritism which means none of His people have any advantage over another. No group is preferred by God over others. No one person is any more privileged than another.

We know this because God’s word tells us as we look at the single verse from Romans 2.

As for the context against which this truth is applied, Paul mentioned how the Jew and Gentile will equally experience God’s judgment for any sinful, wicked, evil behavior they choose to adopt. Turning away from God and living a life grounded in transgression will only lead a person to punishment exacted by God’s anger and wrath. It doesn’t matter who you are.

Now, we can go into the Bible and see instances where some naysayer might suggest that God does indeed show favoritism. The Israelites were His chosen people because they committed themselves to Him, unlike other nations who chose to worship other gods. But go back to the Old Testament and you’ll see over and over and over again how God brought His judgment on Israel, just as He did any and all nations if it was warranted.

Perhaps someone might also propose that God showed favoritism by choosing Jacob over his brother Esau to father the sons who would lead the twelve tribes of Israel. But we shouldn’t confuse favoritism with God using His will and wisdom in selecting the right people to carry out His purposes.

While the twins were still in Rebekah’s womb, God knew that Jacob would be the one with the gifts needed to lead His people. God equipped Jacob with what he would need to one day be Israel. It wasn’t that He didn’t care for Esau or that Esau was more qualified than his brother but God chose Jacob anyways. That’s what favoritism looks like and we know God doesn’t play favorites. God loves His people, all of them, and He blesses them with gifts to fulfill His purposes. Maybe that purpose isn’t what you would like it to be but it’s not our will that matters. Only God’s does.

You can look at other examples and see how God moves in unconventional ways, using those the world would see as least likely to be the most likely to carry out what He wants achieved.

Joseph, Jacob’s youngest son, gets sold into slavery out of the jealousy his brothers had for him. He goes on to elevate to a place of power in Egypt and eventually is used as an instrument to save the very brothers who wronged him after a sever famine struck Israel.

And when God needed to replace an apostate king, He chose a young shepherd boy named David and made the way for him to be the new king of Israel. No one would have picked David, especially since he was the youngest child in the line of his father Jesse but God doesn’t operate at the whim of the world. Rather, He dictates to the world, choosing who He wants to lead and then blessing that person with all they need to make sure the will of the Lord is carried out.

One more example of how God has no favorites, this time from the New Testament and Gospel of Mark, Chapter 10. Look at these verses as the brother James and John start to believe they may have gained a place of favoritism in the sight of their Lord:   

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want You to do for us whatever we ask.”

“What do you want me to do for you?” He asked.

They replied, “Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in your glory.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for Me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” Mark 10:35-40

There was twelve disciples, each hand selected by Jesus, but as we see, two thought they were worthy of a higher place of honor over their ten peers. The two “Sons of Thunder” as they are also referred to in the Gospels tried to convince Jesus to show them favoritism but Jesus made it clear that wasn’t possible. It wasn’t His place to grant that prestige to them. Only God could do that as He was the only One with the level of authority to make that call.

Jesus didn’t elevate Himself to the right hand of God where He would have the power to rule and reign over all creation with full authority. God was the One who appointed Him to that place.

As we go about our business day by day, let us always do so with a sense of humility toward a God who doesn’t show favoritism, a God who knows the plans He has for all people, people He has purposed to make sure His will and way is carried out.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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