this is from albert’s blog over at sixminutesofbanter.com

in my daily readings i find myself landing in james. when i got to chapter two i almost wrote it off as a place i spend a lot of time when i teach, so i assume i have gotten all there is to be had out of the little section. but when i went through it the other day, i decided to go on a mission, a mission to find something new that God was speaking and apply that new finding in my life.

simple right?

i wish! i think i read through that one chapter about 4 times before i even realized what was under my nose.

before we can even begin to think about the “faith and deeds” section, or even before we can get to the mercy section, there is a little section right at the beginning that many skip past.

the idea of favoritism. i know this may not be a new thing for the majority of you reading this, but remember the mission: to find something new, and apply it.

now i have read through this chapter quite a few times by this point, but, i was reminiscing on my past experiences, and realized something. there is a brief paragraph at the beginning that tackles something quite huge in our lives today, and has plagued the church for centuries. favoritism. we all show favoritism, whether consciously or sub consciously.

the text says not to treat anyone any differently based on what they wear. now, we may be ever so gracious to those who look “down and out” in our church or our community, but what about those who look “scary.” what about the skaters, the goths, the emo kids, the preppy kids, or how about teens in general?

last week i was sharing an issue with a large, decision making body of adults in my church, i was sharing, really pleading with them to help in my search for more youth workers. and the number one factor that was a hinderance in their eyes, was that teens were “scary.”

wow.

at first i didn’t know what to say (but of course, as most of you know, i began to talk anyway). when i decided on my response, i had already been rambling for a few moments, and decided to real myself back in.

i stopped, paused, and said “that’s too easy!”

[i then proceeded to speak quite passionately about, well im not sure, it was long, and passionate, but mostly long… here’s what i wish i would’ve said…]

we can’t let ourselves of the hook that easy. we cannot choose to abandon a group of people in our community because their “scary!” what makes them scary? the way they talk? the way they dress? and how is that not in direct conflict with james chapter two verse 1-4?

that’s a tough one. we are all scared of someone or something, but even the act of being scared requires us to asses the situation, and judge. now im not saying by any stretch that we should blow off the man holding a gun to our heads, that would be quite a life ending action. but as soon as we look someone over, and based on that assessment alone, decide to not show them any attention, we have sinned.

and how are we supposed to ask God to accept us, to show us mercy, and to forgive us when we will not do the same to others? i believe i read that somewhere…

-A