DISCRIMINATION

In James 2 the church was being admonished for playing favorites.  It must have been frustrating for James to see the church adopt their old cultural values rather than the ones that represented no partiality. The early church had broken down racial, ethnic, social economic, and language barriers and therefore disturbing to James.  So the question that we have to respond to is this:  How do we respond to those in our society that represent lifestyles and beliefs that are contrary to our own?

The simple answer is the one that James gave.  "Love your neighbor as yourself".  How do we do that effectively?  I think there should be 4 basic rules of the road to impartiality.

1.  Biblical integrity.  Where God has made it clear in scripture that certain lifestyles and behaviors are sin there should be no compromise.

2. A Fallen world.  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  As long as we live on this earth we will be confronted with sinful behavior.  Let's remember that, "for God so loved the world that he gave his son".

3. Diversity.  We need to recognize that everybody is different.  God has uniquely created every individual.  And with that comes various scenarios, backgrounds, emotional hangups, and baggage that we don't fully understand.  Remember God looks at the heart and we look at the outer appearance.

4.  Redemption.  We were put on this planet to cultivate redemptive relationships.  If believers would be more concerned about the transformation of people's hearts by becoming salt and light in a dark world maybe we could gain ground on the sick culture we live in.