Who is your favorite child?
Has anyone ever asked you who your favorite child is? It’s hard to decide isn’t it! It’s not that you love one more than the other, they are individual people and therefore you love them differently than the other. Right? Ok, now what about your siblings? Do you have a favorite sibling? Maybe you only have one sibling like me. Oh I have a step-sister and twin step-brothers, who by now are regular siblings. We’ve been family for over 13 years…once you reach the decade mark, it’s automatic! If you are anything like me, my natural brother and I fought all the time. When we do find the time to get together from across the country, we still have our little arguments! It’s a part of the whole brother/sister gig!
Do you find that you favor a child or a sibling more so than the other? Are you harder on one child over the other? Perhaps you do the same thing with a brother or a sister? It is a natural thing to do. I know parents that love their children equally, but have a tendency to be closer to one rather than another for some reason. Today we are going to talk about favoritism, which is as a result, has a deeper problem within it. Judgmentalism. We are going to read Romans 2:1-11. If you would, flip there and we are going to pick up where Paul has just finished talking about God’s wrath against mankind. Romans 2:1-11. Please read along with me.
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
Casey Anthony. Orenthal James Simpson. Michael Jackson. Lindsay Lohan. What do all of these people have in common? Does anyone know? Yeah, they all were accused of wrongdoing in one fashion or another. Yet, most got off or got it easier than most thought they should. Do you have an opinion of whether or not they are guilty? Well, having an opinion based on facts is one thing. Saying they deserve to fry for what they perhaps did or did not do is Judgmentalism. We don’t know for sure Casey Anthony killed her little girl. We don’t know for sure that Michael Jackson was a child molester. Were you there to witness it? God was. Besides the person and the victim, the only other one who knows for sure is God. That is what Paul is saying here in the first few verses.
If we judge another, we are condemning ourselves right along with them. We are subject to the same judgment at the end of time that everyone else is.
The real issue is that God’s judgment against those who do wrong is based on Truth. But if we partake in the same rebellion against God that another does, do we think that we are going to get off scot free? In fact, no we will not. The only way we get off is by the blood of Christ…judging another is not part of that. That’s God’s job. Not ours.
There’s a story of a man who was a professed atheist through his younger years. When he was in his mid-twenties, he started raping women. He didn’t get caught, so he kept doing it. He thought he was invincible. Then one time came that during a rape he had killed the woman. Continuing on his rampage, he continued until one time he actually got caught. When he did, he went through trial and got life in prison. Having spent his entire adult life in prison, he refused to acknowledge God even then. One day, an evangelist came to the prison. Cherry picking random inmates, he did a service in the prison. The inmates were behind bars still, but the evangelist was there speaking to them. Blown away by the message the evangelist was preaching, the rapist/murderer right then and there gave his life to Jesus Christ. A few years later, he died. The families of the murdered women were confronted with the question of this man dying. They said that they were happy he was dead and frying in hell. The interviewer stated that this man had accepted Christ a few years prior to dying and they still proceeded to think he was in hell for what he did. They couldn’t wrap their mind around the fact that this man who was convicted of rape and murder could be accepted into Heaven by God.
Do you have problems with things like that? Let’s read verse 4 again. “4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” The same kindness, tolerance and patience that God showed us is equal to the same kindness, tolerance and patience that he shows everyone, regardless of what they have done. If we judge others for what they have done, we are unrepentant of the sins we have committed. We stand in the same judgment that we give them.
We can no longer submit ourselves to the judgmentalism and opinionatedness that we subject ourselves to. We cannot condemn someone else for what they’ve done without condemning ourselves too.
Paul states here that God will indeed give to us what we have done. If we have been eager to judge others and condemn them, wallow in our sins and love every minute of it, and are seeking to please ourselves over others, we are going to be judged by God.
However, if we are doing good, seeking glory and honor and Jesus, we will be rewarded with eternal life. Basically, it comes down to a matter of heart. Is your attitude and heart in the right place?
We can talk up our Christianity all we want, but Jesus doesn’t ask for words. He asks for actions. He doesn’t just want an arm or a leg. He asks for the heart. With the heart, goes the body.
Are you quick to judge others by the mistakes they have made? Do you have issues with people who have committed ‘big sins’? People who are rapists, child molesters, murderers, homosexuals…if they truly repent of their behavior and come Christ for forgiveness, they have the same salvation opportunity that we do.
The whole thing about this is favoritism. Do we favor a certain group of people over another because we think that they are either worthy or unworthy of God’s Love? If so, we shouldn’t be doing that…it’s God’s job, not ours. That is why we are talking about favoritism. The last line of verse 11 says it all. God shows no favoritism.
But you say, “Hey! Paul just said that for the Jew first then the Gentile.” It isn’t about a line of priority of judgment for Jews over Gentiles. If you read the book of Revelation, you’ll see that each group gets their judgment separately. The fact of the matter that we NEED to be looking at is that God judges everyone. No one is exempt from judgment. God shows no favoritism for you or the murderer in the prison, the homosexual, or the politician. My friends, we are all his children. Just like you cannot choose a favorite child over another, neither can God! God doesn’t want to have to choose one over the other, he wants us all!
As siblings in Christ, we do get jealous for our Father’s love. We think we’re more special than our brother or sister…or that they’re more special to God than we are. Not at all! God doesn’t choose! Neither should we!
My dear friends, it is such Good News that God doesn’t show favoritism. God knows you, God loves you, and all he wants is a relationship with you…with everyone present here on the Earth. By judging others for what they have done, we push them further away from our Father…and by doing so, incur our Father’s wrath. He loves us all. My friends, God wants everyone…he shows no favoritism. We should do the same.
Do you find that you favor a child or a sibling more so than the other? Are you harder on one child over the other? Perhaps you do the same thing with a brother or a sister? It is a natural thing to do. I know parents that love their children equally, but have a tendency to be closer to one rather than another for some reason. Today we are going to talk about favoritism, which is as a result, has a deeper problem within it. Judgmentalism. We are going to read Romans 2:1-11. If you would, flip there and we are going to pick up where Paul has just finished talking about God’s wrath against mankind. Romans 2:1-11. Please read along with me.
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
Casey Anthony. Orenthal James Simpson. Michael Jackson. Lindsay Lohan. What do all of these people have in common? Does anyone know? Yeah, they all were accused of wrongdoing in one fashion or another. Yet, most got off or got it easier than most thought they should. Do you have an opinion of whether or not they are guilty? Well, having an opinion based on facts is one thing. Saying they deserve to fry for what they perhaps did or did not do is Judgmentalism. We don’t know for sure Casey Anthony killed her little girl. We don’t know for sure that Michael Jackson was a child molester. Were you there to witness it? God was. Besides the person and the victim, the only other one who knows for sure is God. That is what Paul is saying here in the first few verses.
If we judge another, we are condemning ourselves right along with them. We are subject to the same judgment at the end of time that everyone else is.
The real issue is that God’s judgment against those who do wrong is based on Truth. But if we partake in the same rebellion against God that another does, do we think that we are going to get off scot free? In fact, no we will not. The only way we get off is by the blood of Christ…judging another is not part of that. That’s God’s job. Not ours.
There’s a story of a man who was a professed atheist through his younger years. When he was in his mid-twenties, he started raping women. He didn’t get caught, so he kept doing it. He thought he was invincible. Then one time came that during a rape he had killed the woman. Continuing on his rampage, he continued until one time he actually got caught. When he did, he went through trial and got life in prison. Having spent his entire adult life in prison, he refused to acknowledge God even then. One day, an evangelist came to the prison. Cherry picking random inmates, he did a service in the prison. The inmates were behind bars still, but the evangelist was there speaking to them. Blown away by the message the evangelist was preaching, the rapist/murderer right then and there gave his life to Jesus Christ. A few years later, he died. The families of the murdered women were confronted with the question of this man dying. They said that they were happy he was dead and frying in hell. The interviewer stated that this man had accepted Christ a few years prior to dying and they still proceeded to think he was in hell for what he did. They couldn’t wrap their mind around the fact that this man who was convicted of rape and murder could be accepted into Heaven by God.
Do you have problems with things like that? Let’s read verse 4 again. “4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” The same kindness, tolerance and patience that God showed us is equal to the same kindness, tolerance and patience that he shows everyone, regardless of what they have done. If we judge others for what they have done, we are unrepentant of the sins we have committed. We stand in the same judgment that we give them.
We can no longer submit ourselves to the judgmentalism and opinionatedness that we subject ourselves to. We cannot condemn someone else for what they’ve done without condemning ourselves too.
Paul states here that God will indeed give to us what we have done. If we have been eager to judge others and condemn them, wallow in our sins and love every minute of it, and are seeking to please ourselves over others, we are going to be judged by God.
However, if we are doing good, seeking glory and honor and Jesus, we will be rewarded with eternal life. Basically, it comes down to a matter of heart. Is your attitude and heart in the right place?
We can talk up our Christianity all we want, but Jesus doesn’t ask for words. He asks for actions. He doesn’t just want an arm or a leg. He asks for the heart. With the heart, goes the body.
Are you quick to judge others by the mistakes they have made? Do you have issues with people who have committed ‘big sins’? People who are rapists, child molesters, murderers, homosexuals…if they truly repent of their behavior and come Christ for forgiveness, they have the same salvation opportunity that we do.
The whole thing about this is favoritism. Do we favor a certain group of people over another because we think that they are either worthy or unworthy of God’s Love? If so, we shouldn’t be doing that…it’s God’s job, not ours. That is why we are talking about favoritism. The last line of verse 11 says it all. God shows no favoritism.
But you say, “Hey! Paul just said that for the Jew first then the Gentile.” It isn’t about a line of priority of judgment for Jews over Gentiles. If you read the book of Revelation, you’ll see that each group gets their judgment separately. The fact of the matter that we NEED to be looking at is that God judges everyone. No one is exempt from judgment. God shows no favoritism for you or the murderer in the prison, the homosexual, or the politician. My friends, we are all his children. Just like you cannot choose a favorite child over another, neither can God! God doesn’t want to have to choose one over the other, he wants us all!
As siblings in Christ, we do get jealous for our Father’s love. We think we’re more special than our brother or sister…or that they’re more special to God than we are. Not at all! God doesn’t choose! Neither should we!
My dear friends, it is such Good News that God doesn’t show favoritism. God knows you, God loves you, and all he wants is a relationship with you…with everyone present here on the Earth. By judging others for what they have done, we push them further away from our Father…and by doing so, incur our Father’s wrath. He loves us all. My friends, God wants everyone…he shows no favoritism. We should do the same.
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