Do You Play Favorites?

Everyone has his or her own favorites, right?

I like going to an all-you-can-eat restaurant for dinner. How many of you like

going to all-you-can-eat restaurants?

Why do you like going to all-you-can-eat restaurants? Because you get more for your money?

Choices. In fact, even talking about going to all-you-can-eat makes me hungry.

How many are hungry right now? Well, you'll have to tarry with me one hour.

Well, maybe not quite that long. But it's not so much that we can stuff ourselves

to the point of bursting at a reasonable price, although that's a nice benefit

of all-you-can-eat places.

What I really like about going to buffet for dinner is that everyone can go

up and choose exactly what they want.

If they want all meat, they can have all meat. If they want mashed potatoes

with their tuna, they could have mashed potatoes with their tuna.

No one's limited by the meals on the menu.

Each person can eat as much as they like of their favorite things, right?

For me, I like to go to either Dragon Buffet or Pizza Ranch.

Well, I don't even call it Pizza Ranch anymore. I call it Chicken Ranch because

that's what you go to Pizza Ranch for is the chicken.

Yet there are many nice buffets where you can choose your favorite thing to eat.

Everyone has his or her own favorites.

Every time I go to the Chinese restaurant, I have to start with hot and sour soup.

Then I'll have crab rangoon, General Tso's chicken, pepper steak,

cashew chicken, and sweet and sour pork. I like meat.

Of course, no Chinese meal would be complete without fortune cookies,

and I really like it because they bring us two fortune cookies,

and Nancy won't eat the cookie.

So she opens hers up, takes the fortune out, gives me the cookie,

which I am certainly fine with having the cookie versus the fortune.

And at a Chinese buffet you could eat as much

as you'd like it it's kind of here I get kind of

irritating and it is I get

irritated when I think about when our kids when our daughters were younger when

we lived in Peoria Illinois and we would go to the old country buffet after

church on Sunday and while there were all kinds of good things and tasty choices

do you know what our girls chose.

Macaroni and cheese from Old Town Buffet or Old Country Buffet.

They could have chosen anything they wanted, but they had macaroni and cheese.

We could have stayed home and made a 50-cent box of Kraft macaroni and cheese for lunch.

Having favorites can create problems, though. When it comes to eating,

having favorites can be hazardous to your waistline.

When we were in school, we all remember that there was at least one person who

was accused of being the teacher's favorite, the teacher's pet.

In fact, some of you may have been the teacher's pet.

I heard a laugh. I can guess who that might be.

Teacher's pet was the child who always volunteered to hand out papers for the

teacher or who got the best grades and was always trying to be a brown noser. You know what I mean?

Usually they seem to be doing whatever they could to get an edge up on the other students.

No doubt many of you have even worked with some of those.

It's amazing to me that even in the pastorate, there are those pastors who seem

to be in the ministry only to see how far they can advance.

There are those who brown-nose with the superintendents and bishops to place

themselves in a position to be in the front when it comes to choosing the next superintendent.

And even more, one of the pieces of advice that most new parents receive,

is to make sure that you don't play favorites when you have more than one kid.

It's very difficult not to laugh at one child's jokes more than you laugh at

the other child's jokes.

When Nancy was expecting our youngest daughter, Bethany, I remember talking with my dad about it.

I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to love this second child as much as I

loved Mallory, our first child.

He assured me that we love each child for different reasons,

but that the level of our love will always be equal to.

But he also cautioned me that we should be careful not to favor one child over the other.

I know a man who has two sons. It sounds like a joke.

Sounds like a TV sitcom. But I know a man who has two sons.

From the day each son was born, this man and his wife kept track of how much

they spent on each child,

both in money and in time, to make sure that they did not treat one child differently

than they treated the other.

I wouldn't be surprised if each set of parents here today have done something

similar at Christmas time.

We seem to keep a running tally to make sure that one child doesn't get more

presents than the other child does, or is that the costs of gifts are not heavily

favored for one over the other.

Playing favorites can cause problems, and playing favorites among your kids

can create real problems. Do you remember the story of Joseph?

He was the 11th son born to Jacob, and the scripture is clear that Joseph was his dad's favorite son.

So much so that everybody knew that he valued Joseph more.

Jacob gave him a special coat, a coat of many colors. You remember that story?

That was pretty unique in those days because coats in that time were made of

fabric or skins, and they were usually two-toned, brown and not quite so brown.

There was dark brown, medium brown, tan, and cream, but you had a choice.

You could have two colors, brown and not so brown.

But Joseph was given a special coat dyed with multiple colors.

His brothers hated him for it, and not so much for the multiple-colored coat,

but for the fact that he was their father's favorites, and he acted like it.

And they actually ended up selling him into slavery over that favoritism.

Favoritism and the jealousy that it creates can cause an awful lot of pain.

Favoritism can enter our lives and our relationships with other people,

both outside the church and inside the church.

The passage of Scripture that we're going to examine this morning talks about

favoritism, particularly within the church.

But the truths that we will find impact every area of our lives.

So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to James 2, verses 1 through 13.

James 2:1–13

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes,

and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

Now, can you imagine that in this setting? What would we think.

If 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 against among yourselves and become judges with evil

thoughts? I'm going to pause here a minute.

One of the reasons that our church broke away from the Methodist Episcopal Church

and became the Free Methodist Church was because at that time,

in the pews in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

They rented the pews, okay? And on the sides of each row of pews—in fact,

you can still see it in some of the churches today—there would be a little metal

plaque on the side of that pew,

this pew rented by such and such a family.

And so the more well-to-do families would rent the front pews,

because they're the more expensive rental, They would rent the front pews,

and they would parade in front and sit down in front of those.

Those who could not afford to rent a pew stood on the sides or in the back and sat.

And so the Free Methodist Church, when it began, one of the freedoms that we

stood for is freedom to worship in whatever, and there were no pew rentals.

Anybody could come and worship and have a seat in the assembly.

So it goes on, listen, my dear brothers and sisters, has not God chosen and

those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit

the kingdom he promised those who love him.

But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you?

Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

The main thing that I want us to see this morning is this. In our relationships with people.

Both inside the church and outside. We must not allow our actions and attitudes

toward them to be determined by how we think their presence can benefit our

organization to us personally.

One morning, one pastor was wanting to preach on this type of thing.

So when the people arrived at church that morning, it was a large church,

there was this cardboard shipping box outside the church,

on the side of the church, and there was this haggard old man laying inside that cardboard,

box covered up with a blanket, had bearded face, gray bearded face,

and all of that, dirty, mangy-looking guy.

And as the service began, this gentleman crawled out of the box.

Walked into the church, and,

Walked up to the platform, took off the beard, and took off his outer cloak, and it was their pastor.

How many people greeted him in that box? None.

How many people invited him to come in and worship with them? None.

How many people offered to give him a cup of coffee and something to eat? none.

And his message was, you are choosing favorites among you.

I can't allow my feelings toward anyone and my desire to build a relationship

with someone to be determined by what I can get from them.

That's the issue that James is going to help us deal with this morning.

First of all, we are all equal in God's eyes.

The Bible refers to us as brothers and sisters. James was the pastor of a church,

the church in Jerusalem.

In fact, it was a very large church by what we have records of.

He was also the half-brother of Jesus.

If anyone had noteworthy saying of him, I am Jesus's half-brother.

James could have touted that to everybody, but he was a man who understood his humble place.

Either fact had the potential of causing him to think that he was more important

than the common person in the church, but he addressed the believers and the

readers as brothers and sisters, fellow followers of Jesus.

Paul wrote in Galatians 3, verses 26 to 29, he says, you are all sons of God

Galatians 3:26–29

through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ

have clothed yourself with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female for you are

all one in Christ Jesus if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's seed.

Heirs according to the promise. It's been said that death is the great equalizer.

We were all born the same way, and we will all die.

What happens in between those two events of our birth and our death will be

relatively insignificant in light of God's great plan for us and eternity.

God created each one of us, and one day each one of us is going to stand before

him to give account for how we use the life that God gave us.

In God's eyes, we are equals.

We stand before him with the same.

And number two, we all come to Jesus the same way. As sinners,

we all come to Jesus the same way.

Needing to become believers. We all come through the same door,

humbly admitting our sinfulness and placing our faith in Jesus Christ to pay

for that sin through his sacrificial death on the cross.

We all come to him in poverty of

spirit, needing God to forgive us and transform us into likeness of him.

Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 10, or 8 to 9, this is one of my favorite part.

Ephesians 2:8

It is by faith you have been saved, not by works, lest any man should boast.

Can you imagine what heaven would be like if we got there on our own efforts?

I remember a skit when I was pastoring in Michigan.

I remember a skit that Youth for Christ or Teens for Christ did at one of the events there.

One person was waiting in a chair.

He had a suitcase full of possessions, things that he had earned and saved,

trophies and commendations from his hard work and his performance,

even a Sunday school perfect attendance pin and a Bible quizzing ribbon for

memorizing the most scriptures.

He was sitting there in a chair waiting for the pearly gates to be opened and him to be welcomed in.

The other one was waiting there with nothing in his hands.

As time passed, people came and were called into heaven, even though they carried nothing with them.

Finally, the person boasting all of their good works was frustrated that God

didn't recognize what they had done.

Again, it's not by works lest anyone should boast. Nothing in my hands I bring,

simply to the cross I cling.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No man comes to the Father except by me.

Before coming to Jesus, we all had the same destination.

Jesus came and rescued us, not because of anything that we had special about

us, but because of his great love for us.

Good works doesn't save us, but on the other hand, when we are saved,

we are saved to do good works as well. It's not our salvation.

It's our transformation. So we all come to Jesus the same way.

The third reason for not showing favoritism is that giving glory to a person

steals glory from Jesus. Have you ever noticed that?

One red ring of James 2, verse 1 goes like this. Brothers, you believe that

James 2:1

all glory belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do not combine this faith of yours with flattery of human greatness.

Jesus deserves all the glory and all the praise for who he is and what he has done.

When we give glory to men for their accomplishments, we steal glory away from God.

We can't worship people and God at the same time. Either you're going to serve

heaven or you're going to serve hell.

The first of the Ten Commandments says this. What? Can somebody say it? First commandment?

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

You may have noticed that we seldom, not that we'd never, but we seldom have

special music or performances in our worship services.

And I must tell you, this is on purpose.

Let me ask you, why do you want to have special music or performances in a church?

Do you want to know the reasons that I've heard over the years as pastor for

why people want to have special music in church.

Pastor, we need to have so-and-so sing or play because everyone loves to hear her.

Pastor, you need to have my daughter or my grandson sing, both of these,

because I just love to listen to him or her.

Pastor, it would really help my granddaughter's confidence and self-esteem if

you let her get up on stage and sing or read Scripture.

Pastor, he wants to get up on stage in church and sing so everyone can hear him and see him.

Pastor, if you ask so-and-so to sing a special number and song,

they'd have a reason to come back to church.

Pastor, I worship best when I'm on stage performing.

And those reasons that have just been expressed to me over the years,

to whom is the glory given?

And is Jesus receiving the glory or is it the person standing up on stage or

the proud mother sitting in the pew? I am so thankful for our worship team.

They come here and they minister to us, but they also minister with us.

They are singing and praising God and asking you to join in them, with them in worship.

Friends, do you realize that in the first century church, there was no special

music? for this very reason. All music sung were Jewish songs and choruses that

were sung by the community of believers together.

One's individual relationship with Christ also had everything to do with his

community relationship with those within the body of believers.

Even from the foundation of the Free Methodist Church, songs were to be sung

congregationally, and it wasn't until far into our years as a denomination that

special music even came about.

In fact, special music was an invention of the Latter-day Church with special

cantors or paid singers so that the priests and the church and state leaders,

rulers, could control what went on in the church.

They paid special singers and musicians to do the music.

So let me assure you, I'm not necessarily opposed to solos or special music

or even plays or anything like that, when the message of the music is incorporated

into the whole flow and text of the morning's worship.

It's just that the concept and practice of some of these things denotes a performance

that highlights the performer instead of congregational worship of Christ.

We are here to worship Jesus and to praise his name.

Fourth, we should not show favoritism because God himself shows no favoritism.

In Jesus' time on earth, he spent more time with prostitutes,

tax collectors, poor people, and sinners than he did with the religious and the well-to-do.

Some might even look at Jesus' life and be tempted to think that he practiced affirmative action.

I remember in one church that I was in, the first senior pastorate position

that I was in, the church grew from about 110 to 180, something like that.

And my conference superintendent called me one day and he said,

I got a letter from somebody in your church, somebody on your board.

I said, okay. I said, what is it?

And he said, well, the person was complaining that you spent more time with

the people who were on the fringe of the church than you did with the people

on the board who were the ones that controlled the church.

And I said, well, superintendent.

I find that as an accolade. He says, you do? I said, yeah. I said,

because isn't that what Jesus did?

And he said, that was exactly my thought. So we need to spend time with people who need Jesus.

We're not a hospice for saints. We are a hospital for sinners.

Our government has set up laws to prevent businesses from discriminating on

the basis of certain factors.

Companies are being forced to seek out employees based on physical,

emotional characteristics rather than on the basis of their qualification.

This is quite different than the reason why Jesus spent so much time with the

poor and not with the rich.

It's not that he sought the poor because they were poor.

It's just that the poor and the sinners were the ones who were most open to listening to him.

The ones who were proud and rich didn't listen to him because they had all the answers.

The ones who were poor and downhearted were the ones who humbly followed him.

I've told people I love to do funerals.

I've done 32 now since moving here to Richland Center.

I love to do funerals, not because it's a morbid situation, but people are vulnerable

here, the hope of Jesus Christ.

And we get an opportunity to share with people and help them along in their life struggles.

Jesus doesn't care what your background is, so long that you come willingly

to the altar and forsake your own background for him.

Acts 10, verse 34 says that God is no respecter of persons.

Acts 10:34

God does not play favorites, and since we are his children, we need to follow

that example and not play favorites.

Finally, the reason we do not show favoritism is that God commands it.

The dictionary defines favoritism as the showing of more kindness and indulgence

to some people or persons than to other. Prejudice is a close synonym.

It's treating one person as more important or valuable than another because

of some factor over which they may or may not have any control.

When you show favoritism to one person over another, you become a judge of their

significance and value based on what that person can do for you.

I'm going to show favor to you because you have something that I need or want.

Proverbs chapter 19 verses 6 and 7 says this, Many curry favor with a ruler,

Proverbs 19:6

and everyone is the friend of the man who gives gifts. A poor man is shunned by all his relatives.

How much more do his friends avoid him?

Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.

Even Jesus found this. When he was going around healing people and feeding them

and all that, they loved him.

But in the latter days of his ministry, when that stopped and it was pointed

toward the cross of people, people began to depart from him because he was not

feeding them and healing them. he was moving toward the cross.

Here's what Jesus said in Luke chapter 6, verses 27 through 35.

Luke 6:27–35

But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies.

Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you.

Pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn him the other also.

If someone takes your clothes, do not stop him from taking your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you,

what credit is that to you?

Now, when Jesus said this, this was in a time when the Romans were oppressing

the Jews, and the Jews hated the Romans.

And it was typical that the Roman oppressors, the soldiers would come and demand

that people give them their cloaks or give them the things like that,

or they would come up to one of the persons, they would slap them on the cheek as an insult.

And Jesus said, when your oppressors, when your Roman oppressors,

when those are in authority over you, that God has instituted this government,

when they come and rebuke you, don't turn them aside.

Give to them what they want. Why was he saying that?

Because in that manner, we minister and reach to them.

Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good

to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.

And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment?

What credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High,

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Our attitude toward people is supposed to be an attitude of unconditional love,

regardless of whether we think we are ever going to see any reward or fruit

in that person's life because of our actions.

The key to this whole passage, in my estimation, is found in verse 4.

Have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

James was talking to a people who seemed to want to hold lordship over others.

We celebrate the fact that the ground is level at the foot of the cross,

and no man has more standing than another when it comes to receiving the grace

and mercy that God has extended to us.

None of us deserve the grace and mercy, but God in his great love for us has provided his son for us.

Wealth and poverty are not reflected in how much a person has,

but in the attitude in which they live their lives for others.

We've all experienced people who are rich financially and want everyone to know it,

but I've also experienced many people in life who are rich by human standards

with much money and possessions who have exhibited a humble and gentle spirit,

one that Christ referred to as being poor in spirit,

rich in humility, and desire to glorify that God.

They've used the wealth, physical wealth, monetary wealth that God has given

them to bless others and to bless God.

And of these, Jesus said, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Would you bow with me? Heavenly Father, as we close the service,

we give you thanks and praise that you have given us so many lessons out of Scripture.

I mean, the scripture is your word that was inspired by your Holy Spirit,

written by human hands for the purpose of being our operator's manual,

a life manual for this life.

We thank you that it is appointed to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith.

Father, we thank you for all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.