Nothing out of Favoritism

Nothing out of Favoritism
Words of Faith 6-9-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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1 Timothy 5
[21] I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.

So far, Paul has laid out some pretty powerful instructions for Timothy as a Pastor-- confront those who teach false doctrine, rebuke those who sin, treat others as family, screen carefully those who receive help from the church so the genuinely needy are helped, and provide for Pastors and leaders. Now Paul adds this charge: Do all these things without partiality-- nothing out of favoritism.
Partiality must have been a significant problem in the early church because Paul, the leader of the Gentile missions, writes about it, as does James, the leader of the Jewish church in Jerusalem. I am sure glad that the modern church has gotten over such problems!
So what is "partiality" (just in case we ever happen to see it)? It can come in a couple of forms.
First, partiality might be the special attention or honor given to certain people because of their prominence or wealth.
James wrote this: "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If 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," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (James 2:1 4). Any time a church is "ruled" by a few wealthy or prominent family names, a grave sin has occurred.
Another form of partiality occurs when we overlook the negative behavior of certain people that we would not tolerate in others. This can happen in the local church, denominational settings, or even in circles of ordained accountability. It may be a case where a person is regularly late, often loses their temper, or rarely fulfills commitments. But favoritism can escalate to a point where worse sins are overlooked, and accountability is lost. Regardless of the magnitude, a grave sin has occurred.
Frankly, this is an easy trap for Pastors and church leaders to fall into, and the reasons are pretty human. It may sound like this: "We have to realize that this person is part of a prominent family or a family that has served faithfully in the past (these are not always the same), and we don't want to offend the family." Or perhaps the offender has contributed resources or talent, so we would hate to lose them. Or they have served in prominent churches or are related to well-known leaders. We may want to give it another chance and hope for the best. Or we may simply fear that the offender's bad behavior would worsen if confronted, so we overlook the problem and hope it will go away. But down deep, we know better. Bad behavior never "just goes away," and things overlooked come back to haunt the church.
We play a dangerous game when we hold one standard for some... but not others. While we seek to be tolerant, meetings are disrupted, tempers flare out of control, gossip rages, tardiness becomes contagious, the church business becomes agonizing, and the progress of ministry is held hostage. The enemy wins due to inaction. As difficult as it may seem, confronting sin or disruptive behavior without partiality is always the least painful plan in the long run. You can't be partially impartial.
Now remember that Jesus directed us to first remove the log from our own eye before trying to remove the splinter from the eye of another (Matthew 7:5). The place to start is with self-examination. Have I sought out favoritism or partiality? Have I moved within the Body of Christ with an air of entitlement?

Lord, help me to see with Your eyes and lead with Your heart. Have I been partial to anyone in my church or in my circles of influence? Have I played favorites? Have I unwittingly allowed the disruption of Your ministry by tolerating destructive behavior to Your Body? Have I sought out favoritism or partiality? Have I counted myself as better than others? Please give me the grace to know the difference and the courage to act rightly. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.