Avoid the Poor?
NIV Luke 14:12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
Guilty: Yes, I am one of those who has not fulfilled Christ's command in this passage. I typically like to hang out with those that make me feel at ease. Do you know what I mean? There are just some folks who for whatever reason aren't the easiest for me to be around. Oh yeah, I might minister to them as a pastor...but hang with them as dinner guests...as friends? Nope. Not me.
Kind of working through this issue. Feeling convicted. I wonder where this is going to take me? Maybe nowhere? Maybe I'll simply settle down into the same old patterns of life. We'll see.
I'm glad that Jesus for my sake became poor that I might become rich in him. I just wish I could learn how to fulfill the royal law of love without favoritism.
NIV James 2:1-9 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 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," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Guilty: Yes, I am one of those who has not fulfilled Christ's command in this passage. I typically like to hang out with those that make me feel at ease. Do you know what I mean? There are just some folks who for whatever reason aren't the easiest for me to be around. Oh yeah, I might minister to them as a pastor...but hang with them as dinner guests...as friends? Nope. Not me.
Kind of working through this issue. Feeling convicted. I wonder where this is going to take me? Maybe nowhere? Maybe I'll simply settle down into the same old patterns of life. We'll see.
I'm glad that Jesus for my sake became poor that I might become rich in him. I just wish I could learn how to fulfill the royal law of love without favoritism.
NIV James 2:1-9 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 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," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
Labels: favoritism, poor
posted by James Hunt at
3:40 PM
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