Articles
Showing Favoritism
Showing Favoritism
As Tommy Smothers would say; ‘Mom always liked you best’. Perhaps this line was first used by Esau? In very few cases is such favoritism warranted [as it is in my case!?] We have seen this tear up the families of these patriarchs time and again. We read how it tore apart the family of Isaac (fortunately, in the end it seems to somewhat have been repaired). We will now read of its ugly consequences in the family of Jacob. We, as people, are just slow to learn!
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms” (Genesis 37:3-4).
We each are individuals before God, and as such, each of us is unique and special in ourselves. God sees us individually and knows us individually. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). The faith that we have, it is OUR faith. As Robert Turner once said: “God has no grandchildren”. You are a child of God for yourself – or you are not. God dealt with Esau as Esau, and with Jacob as Jacob!
Yet, what we see in the Old Testament families, also happens in God’s present family, the church. We have different abilities but are one body. We have different roles and functions, but we are one body. The difficulty is how to recognize such abilities, roles, and functions without showing favoritism.
Men give such deference to their family, their friends, the rich, etc. Yet, as God’s people, we are all brothers. We are all sinners that have been saved by the mercy of God. We are one body made up of many different members/parts. We EACH have a place.
So, the question: how are you relating to EACH of the individuals you must encounter in life? Your individual children? The individual members of the congregation?
Hugh DeLong
