“Day ‘No’ To Discrimination, Favouritism And Partiality!”

“Say ‘No’ To Discrimination, Favouritism And Partiality!”(Jam.2:1-7).
The Preacher reminds us that God “has made everything beautiful in its time…”(Eccl.3:11).
A Mungaka lullaby acknowledges that even a slave is kingly in his own way: “…If I am the child of a king, the king would slaughter a goat. If I am the child of a slave, the slave would kill a fowl…”
The Christian hymn, “All things bright and beautiful…” once had a stanza that read: “The rich man in his castle, The poor man at his gate, God made them high and lowly, And ordered their state.”
If this was a stanza of a Christian hymn, it paints the picture of the depth of eclectic and selective reading of the Bible.
James decried favouritism and partiality in the early Church where seats were shown to people depending on how expensive or how inexpensive they dressed. James saw such favouritism and partiality as a contradiction to the Levictical injunction: “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favouritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly”(Lev.19:15).
It may be somewhat true that you are addressed the way you dress, but the truth is that “clothes don’t make the man.”
The story is told of a beautiful princess who had a bone to pick with every suitor who came to ask her hand in marriage. Then one day she fell in love with a suitor who came in very expensive attire. They got married and on their way home the husband was removing one by one the things and giving back to the owners. He had nothing. He was a pauper.
Nollywood keeps dishing out movies about princes/princesses and billionaires who disguise into poor nobodies, just so they can find true love for who they are and not for their wealth and statuses. “Clothes don’t make the man!”
God is an impartial God who shows no favouritism. He wants us who are called by his name to be impartial and show no favouritism. Whoever discriminates through partiality and favouritism “becomes a judge with evil thoughts!”
God has chosen those who are poor “in the eyes of the world,” but that does not mean he opposes the rich – except those that exploit and drag the poor to court, and slander the noble name of the LORD.
Say “No To Discrimination!”
Prayer: Holy Spirit endow me with the spirit that sees the image of God in everybody. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.