There is neither Greek nor Jew, bond nor free, man nor woman; for we are all one in Christ Jesus. – Galatians 3:28
GET IN THE ARK AND STAY!
It’s amazing how much dissension dwells in the body of Christ. As children of the Most High, we’ve been called to a love walk, and that love walk includes living in unison with fellow-believers. However, that is something you rarely see, especially when you take a closer look and see past all of the façades, all the masks, and all of the propagandas. What you will instead find is a lot of division, judgment, backbiting, useless arguing, and people who are stuck in the world of ‘religiousity’ aka tradition. Although this is the case, it is far better to be in the body of Christ than outside of it. I liken being in the Christian community (as it pertains to working with others) to being on Noah’s Ark; though it wasn’t the most pleasant accommodations, it was better to be in the Ark than outside of it. Just think about it, God commanded Noah to, “bring into the ark two of all living creatures”, and all of them (Noah, his family and the animals) stayed together on the Ark for approximately 370 days. I’m sure the smell alone was enough to turn your stomach; however, it was better to be on that Ark rather than any place else. So what does this have to do with the Scripture reference above? I am asking myself the very same thing, but I am trusting that God will make it all fit together once this entry is complete.
SAD BUT TRUE
A few months ago, I went to an Evangelism seminar and met a Christian woman who also happened to be a 1st lady at a nearby local church. After exchanging pleasantries, she shared an experience her husband encountered as he was ministering to a leader in the Islamic faith. The Islamist said to her husband that when sinners go to a Christian church to seek God, they are immediately judged by Christians and are somewhat shunned away. However, the Islamist continues, when sinners come to Islam, they (Islam) are accepted for who they are without judgment, and once they’re in, that’s when they (Islamists) began converting them into Islam. The Islamist concluded by saying, “You Christians keep doing what you’re doing, because you’re just sending them over to us and making our job easy.”
THE ENEMY FLAUNTING HIS STRONGHOLD THROUGH MASS MEDIA
Mass media has proven to be a powerful and effective tool for the enemy to wreak havoc and continue his plan to corrupt and destroy mankind. He’s infiltrated and utilized the power in mass media so much so to where he flaunts it in our (believers’) faces. Back in the days in Brooklyn, we used to call this “calling you out” basically meaning that your opponent or enemy is flaunting his or her upper hand and dare you to make a move. So is the same here. Never in a time before is there so much demonic / satanic / occultic movies and glamorization of sins such as pride, selfishness, revelry and sexual perversion. If you have cable and you’re one to flip through channels (I am the queen of flipping channels), you’re bound to bump into at least 2-3 channel networks that are devoted to same sex and bi-sexual audience. Also, there is a new program that will be airing soon titled ‘Satan’s School for Girls’. Oh, and yes, let’s not forget about the slew of reality shows that downgrade and devalues the true meaning of love. On the widescreen you have more horror flicks than ever before, instilling fear and desensitizing its viewers from countless acts of evil. You have movies such as Twilight, which targets teenagers and young adults, and makes evil look seductive and innocent. Let’s not forget about his (the enemy) usage of radio programs and podcasting, along with the Internet which can teach you everything from how to make a bomb to how to cast a spell.
SO WHERE ARE THE CHRISTIANS?
So while the enemy is wreaking all of this havoc and basically flaunting his stronghold on our communities in our face (calling us out), the believers are too busy fighting over who gets to carry the Pastor’s robe or whose name should be acknowledged in next week’s bulletin. While the devil is busy putting chains around our children’s necks and luring them into a lifestyle of degradation and perversion, the believers are too busy fighting each other on matters that doesn’t make a bit of difference in the grand scheme of things. The Bible tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). God has equipped us with great and mighty weapons; however, we’re so busy pointing our weapons at fellow-believers that the enemy doesn’t have to work hard at all. All he needs to do is sit back and watch us hurt one another, tear down one another, cripple one another, and destroy one another. He can strategically shoot one dart, and that one dart has the potential of affecting (or infecting) a multitude. SELAH
OUR CALL TO MINISTRY
At the very moment we accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives, we are instantly called to 2 ministries:
1) To love God above all as well as to love one another (ref. Matthew 22:37-40);
2) To spread the Gospel of Jesus (ref. Matthew 28:19-20).
These are two ministries that you don’t have to seek ‘confirmation’ on, but rather believe the Word of God and obey it. The first ministry, which I’ll call ‘the Love walk’, is where you find the biggest deficit amongst believers. Instead of finding love and acceptance, you’ll instead find backbiting, doubters, Pharisaic attitudes, traditionalists, gossipers, complainers, those who are control-driven, cliques, legalistic and pompous attitudes, separatists, intimidators, hypocrites, and a high degree of favoritism. Note one of these reflects the heart of Christ, but all too often, it does reflect the heart of believers. In previous entries, I’ve touched on most of these subjects (See Appendix below), but today, I want to touch on the last category which is ‘Favoritism’ aka ‘Respecter of Persons’.
RESPECTER OF PERSONS
“For there is no respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11
If you’ve ever been to a Christian church or hung around any believers, chances are you’ve heard this verse mentioned at one time or another, usually when one has been a victim or witness of favoritism. Quite simply, this is saying that God doesn’t show favorites from person to person. He’s not going to favor a person because this one has higher income than that one, or because her skin is fairer than that ones. No, this is not something you’ll find God doing but it is something you’ll find believers doing. James 2:1-4 gives a good example of this:
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If 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,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
God doesn’t show favoritism, so why do we? Why do we exalt one person or group over the other? You know, it’s kind of sad that the above Scripture was written more than two thousand years ago, yet the same problem still exists in our Christian churches today. We see partiality shown to people who are, by someone else’s standard, considered highly anointed or have a successful ministry. We see partiality given to those who are accepted by a larger audience, or who has more eloquence of speech, or has the finer material possessions, or who has the higher title, or who knows the most doctrine, or has the most amount of people in their entourage, or higher seniority, highest salary, and the list goes on. The same question still stands: if God doesn’t show respecter of persons, why do we?
FAVORITISM & SELFISH AGENDAS
The harsh reality is that favoritism is the by-product of self-centered motives. We may think that this person can help us get to the ‘next level’, or that I can gain popularity if I hang around him or her, or if I scratch his/her back, he/she will scratch my back, or this person can be the key to launching my ministry on a much broader scale, or this is my ticket to get into the ‘IN’ crowd, and the list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly believe in giving honor where honor is due; however as one who used to idolize people (thank God for deliverance), I know it’s an easy crossover from giving honor to showing favoritism. I also know what it is to be shown favoritism by another or a group and it is easy to go from humility to pride; from seeking the greater good to seeking my own good. The end result is always the same, there is nothing Christ-like in the underlines of favoritism, but it does, however, promote the enemy’s objectives. Favoritism can produce pride and a delusional yet strong sense of self-importance if the ‘favoritee’ (I know it’s not in the dictionary, just go with me on this) is not careful. It can also cause the ‘favoritee’ to turn a blind eye or show favor to the one who’s helped to put them on a platform of deception.
In the book of Romans, chapter 2 and verses 1-11, Paul gives a strong word to his readers:
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
Ouch! I’d be the first to tell you that I’ve judged others and have had others judge me, and in both cases, 9 times out of 10 the judgment made was wrong. Nevertheless, once I began to take my walk with the Lord more seriously, the desire to judge, criticize or be right ceased, and my inadvertently doing so happens fewer and farther in between. Though the case, I am still however very much judged. The interesting part is that the ones I am most judged and criticized by are those who are my fellow-servants in Christ. I’ve been discriminated against because I don’t look like, dress like, nor act like (I guess) the traditional female believer, let alone a minister of the Gospel of Christ. Going in a little deeper, I’ve had raised eyebrows because I’m a radical praiser with a big voice, but because it wasn’t approved by someone else’s standards, the judging eye thought my praise was for man rather than for God. I remember times when I’ve sat in church and watched church folk exchange pleasantries with the person sitting in front of me and the person sitting in back of me, but just so happen to skip right over me. I’ve experienced people having discussion right over me or walking past me as though I didn’t exist. I’ve been blatantly ridiculed, in a nice way of course, and secretly ridiculed. The reason I can attest to another’s secret is because, given the right set of circumstances, the secret truths within a person’s heart are brought to the surface and exposed. Jesus says “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks”; so with that said, when you’re in an unprovoked ‘all of a sudden’ type of conflict, you are actually experiencing something that was hidden from to surface. You’re just now experiencing something that was always there.
WHAT ARE YOUR ACTIONS REALLY SAYING?
One who shows favoritism is in essence saying to those whom she/he doesn’t favor, “You’re not valuable to me” or “You serve me no purpose” or “You don’t mean anything to me.” That sounds rather harsh and again, no one would dare to admit to that line of thinking, but the proof are in their actions. Now it’s becoming clearer to me as to why the Lord gave me the Scripture, “There is neither Greek nor Jew, bond nor free, man nor woman; for we are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Truthfully speaking, I didn’t really see the cohesiveness between what I was writing and the Scripture text until around the 4th paragraph. Thank God for His wisdom!
IN THE THICK OF THIN THINGS
Sometimes we can get so caught up on useless specifics and completely miss the Spirit of God. “I’m a Jew, so that makes me better than you” or “It’s a sin if women preach (I’ll write about that in another entry), or “I am from this denomination and our doctrine has proven to be the best” or “I’ve served on the board for 100 years and that makes me BIG and you small” or “You’re not as ‘churched’ as I am so shut up and sit there until I APPROVE of you” or “You don’t have what it takes to be in our clique” or “I will not let you take MY spot!” or “What credentials do you have that I must listen to and respect you?” or “I’ve been here the longest so if God wants to anoint and appoint someone, it will certainly be me!” Well, as I mentioned earlier, I’m sure not many people would dare to fess up to feeling this way at one time or another, however, the proof are in their actions.
In all of the manmade ‘distinguishing’, did we forget that Jesus went through the same judgment, scrutiny and ridicule by those who considered themselves more ‘righteous’ than He? Was He not rejected by those who felt they were holier than Jesus, and that they were more knowledgeable of God than He? The Gospels are filled with examples of Jesus being scrutinized and despised by those who felt they were ‘holier’ and more ‘righteous’ than Jesus – by their own standards, I might add. Our Lord was rejected because He wouldn’t conform to being what they thought were more fitting and ‘acceptable’. He was rejected by His own people because in their opinion, He couldn’t possibly be one to take serious, after all, He didn’t come from any kind of family that appeared to be ‘royal’. Matthew 13:52-58 depicts a very clear example of this,
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables that He departed from there. When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
If you were living during this time and were at the synagogue when this happened, what do you think your response would’ve been? Would you have agreed with the opposing party because Jesus came from commoners, just like you; thus He is not worthy of your respect and honor? Would you have remained quiet and passive, going along with the majority? Or would you have left when Jesus left and declared your belief in Him? Before you answer this with your saved, sanctified mind, let’s remember that very few knew that He was/is King. Additionally, He didn’t meet their standard of a King, let alone Messiah, yet He spoke as One with wisdom, power and authority. How could this be? Yet, we know that He was not liked by popular demand and there were several occasions when the very ones who counted themselves as ‘righteous’ were the very ones who were trying to kill Him. They held Him is teachings and actions under a microscope, always looking for something but finding nothing. With that being said, do you think you would’ve been part of the opposing party? Going in a little deeper, do you think you would’ve been one of the ones who yelled “Crucify Him”? Before I continue, I must ask you by which measure are you answering these questions: by what you hope you would do or by your current and past behaviors? In your self-assessment, let us also remember that Jesus was a very young man during His earthly ministry, starting at 30 and ending at 33 years of age. With that said, you who’ve been saved longer than He was on earth, do you think you would’ve listened to Him though He was much younger than you? Do you think you would’ve respected Him though His ministry was only 3 years old?
SO WHAT IS MY POINT?
Am I bashing Christians? Of course not! How can I do that when I myself am a saved, sanctified, Holy Ghost filled, tongue speaking, God praising, demon rebuking, Bible reading Christian. Just as I said earlier, I liken the Christian community as being on Noah’s ark: it may have some areas that smell really bad; however, it’s better to be on the ark than outside of it.
The point to all I’ve said goes back to the main Scripture God gave me before I began writing this entry (which I didn’t understand why in the beginning). With each ‘either or’ group, there was one group who deemed themselves as more valuable than the other: for Jew or Gentile, it was the Jews; from the free or bond, it was the free; and for the man or woman, it was the man. The end result, and perhaps heart breaking news to some, is that neither group was better than the other; for we are ALL ONE in the body of Christ. Let me make this a little more relevant to what we face today: this includes the ‘churched’ versus ‘unchurched’; the one with many letters after their name, and the one who has none; those who can quote most of the Bible versus those who can only quote one verse; and those whose been in church all of their lives versus those who just walked through the doors. In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16 (copied/pasted below), Jesus shows us how ‘Mr./Ms. New Christian has the same entitlements in God’s family as Mr./Ms. Christian Veterans. If God makes no distinction between the two, then why do we? Distinction is another way of saying different, and different ultimately causes division, and Paul warns us to stay away from those who cause division in Romans 16:17-18:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
MY BROTHER AND MY SISTERS
Let the peace of God rest in you and work through you; for useless arguing and division furthers the devil’s objective rather than God’s. These are the final days and the enemy is running rampant. I cannot serve God any good if my weapons are always pointed at my sister or brother in Christ. Does this negate the need for mentoring or the importance of godly counsel? Absolutely not! But it does call for loving, respecting and accepting one another without the judgment and ridicule. I close with an exhortation by Paul from Romans 15:5-7, which reads:
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
APPENDIX A
Referenced Bible Scriptures
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20:1-16.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’5So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. ”He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The Least of These – Matthew 25:34-46
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
APPENDIX B
Related eJournal Entries:
· Spirit of Intimidation: A Big Problem Least Dealt With
· Are You Willing to Pay the Price?
· No Weapons Formed Will Prosper
© 2009, Naima Williams. All rights reserved.
