Don’t
Play Favorites
My
brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show
favoritism. – James 2:1
The air was filled with
tension. Snippy comments broke the silence. One woman muttered obscenities
under her breath. Another woman yelled. I shrunk into myself, trying to be as
invisible as possible.
It all erupted later
that day. Two women left for another workplace. Another woman was promoted to
supervisor. Laughter filled the room.
The first supervisor
was likely a good person. Her great sin? Playing favorites among the small
staff. She created an environment where some always got the hard, sweaty jobs
and her favorites always got the good jobs. There was no sharing of duties.
There was no way to earn a better slot. And those who bore the weight of the
hard work were tired of the situation.
None of us would have
liked the situation either. No one wants to be used. It’s one thing to be a
servant of Jesus. It’s something else to be treated unfairly.
But don’t we do the
same thing sometimes? Don’t we assume others should be ready, willing and able
to do whatever it is we need them to do, whenever we need them to do it? Sure,
we do.
Consider my sweet
friend who was able to be a stay at home mom. She talks about those who insist
she’s got plenty of time to volunteer, to bake treats, to help out with their
kids. Certainly, she does her part. She chairs a committee at church. She helps
with the youth. But, as she explained one day, she didn’t choose to stay home
so she could constantly do for others. She chose to spend that time with her
children, to place her family first in this season of life. Others may get
upset with her but I admire her determination to keep that time sacred.
A man I know has had a
rough life, much of it because of poor choices. Several years ago he cleaned
himself up and has really turned his life around. He’s quick to help anyone. He
works whenever he has the opportunity. He volunteers at church. And, yet, there
are those who still look down on him. They think more highly of those who are
affluent than this man who has slowly rebuilt his life.
In this passage, James
addresses that very thing. Don’t push aside the poor and give the rich the
prime seats. Don’t think you’re better than someone else. Don’t look down on
people who are different than you.
In other words, don’t
play favorites. We will always have people in this life that we don’t really
like. That’s okay. We aren’t called to like them. We are called to love them
like Jesus loves them. We are called to be kind, gracious, good. Why is that so
difficult for us?
Years ago a young
receptionist at the company I worked for asked me why all my employees liked me
when I was so mean to them. She was mortified that she’d voiced her thoughts. I
just laughed. I explained that they liked me because I was fair. The written
rules were applied evenly to everyone. Each employee had the opportunity to
move up based on their efforts. And, I added, that’s really rare in the
workplace.
It’s also really rare
in life. We’re so busy trying to promote ourselves and those we like, that we
miss an opportunity to reach out to someone else. We’re so focused on our own
agenda that we miss the chance to learn and grow by knowing someone who maybe
doesn’t see things exactly like we do.
We’re all in this life
together. Let’s share it equally, with kindness and graciousness, surrounded by
laughter. Life is hard enough without the extra burden of favoritism.
