1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose 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," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
How applicable is this today. We live in a society where bigger is better and giant is best. People are judged by the clothes they wear, the car they drive, the house they live in, etc. We like to say that as Christians we are above this, but in all honesty most of us have experiences that tell us that is not true.
Let me ask a couple of questions:
1) How would folks react if someone walked into your church service with a torn pair of jeans and a messy, wrinkled t-shirt? Would they accept them and welcome them, or would they scoot away?
2) If the homeless shelter brought in a group of 15 men to your church service, would they be left alone or warmly greeted?
Now replace how the "church would react" with "how would you react"? How willing are we to step out of our comfort zone, to be the first to step out and offer a hand to those who need it the most? Remember who Jesus chose to hang out with, hint: it wasn't the Israeli Donald Trumps.
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