God does not show favoritism. (Rom. 2:11)
Expanded Passage: Romans 2:11
Discrimination usually carries a negative or unsavory connotation. The term carries the undesirable implication that an unjust or prejudicial distinction has been made regarding the treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of their ethnicity, sex, age, or disability. Examples could be cited of tasteless and harmful discrimination whether it’s based on the color of one’s skin or the use of a government program to help pay for groceries. Yet there is a positive side to what it means to discriminate. To discriminate also means to distinguish between or tell the difference. For example, not all coffee tastes the same. Connoisseurs of coffee can discriminate between an Ethiopian Hamasho with hints of apple blossom and fresh pecan and a Tanzanian Peaberry with its undertones of chocolate and grapefruit. Discrimination matters.
The Jews believed God’s judgment of them could be indiscriminate. They were, after all, his chosen ones! Their unique status gave them an automatic rubber stamp, a free pass in matters of divine judgment. They erred in assuming that their status as Jews granted them guaranteed immunity.
Is it possible to believe that one’s affiliation with a church or denomination alone or one’s generational participation in a heritage of faith alone forces God to rubber stamp his approval based solely on those criteria? Such factors do not coerce him. His judgment involves wise and just discrimination.
Consider God’s just discrimination on your life.
Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas with his wife, Sharon.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
