God Is No Respecter of Persons
When we hear about
people afflicted with spiritual problems and addictions, we should feel sad
that these have gotten such control in a person’s life, and we should pray for
them and pity them, not feel an aversion toward them. We could have ended up
the same way, given their situation. Our attitude should be, “There, but for
the grace of God, go I.”
The Lord tells us that
our attitude and dealings with people who are ensnared in sin and addiction
should be loving and kind, as we do our best to give them the Gospel and the
truth, that they may be delivered: “The servant of the Lord must not strive
(be quarrelsome or contentious); but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach,
patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and
that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will.”1
Making a hasty judgment
of a situation or person or group of persons, based on something negative that
you hear about them, is not wise, and is usually incorrect. God has given us a
better way, and that is to love one another. In our dealings with others we
must be very careful to “judge not according to outward appearance, but to
judge righteous judgment.”2 If
we respond to the first negative word about a situation or people by rejecting
any possibility of there being any good in them, then we are certainly guilty
of answering or judging a matter before we hear it in its entirety, and it will
be a “folly and shame unto us.”3
We should not let the
sin negate our love for the sinner, for “love covers even the multitude of
sins.”4 We
should not see the sin as all-encompassing. As the Bible says, “There is none
righteous, no, not one,”5 and
we need to see beyond the sins that all of us have to the good that all of us
have. No one is all bad, and nothing is all negative, and we need to look for
the good and the possibilities in people and situations.
Think about how we would
go about leading people to the Lord. We try to lovingly woo them and look at
them with eyes of love and possibility rather than railing at them about their
sins that are separating them from God. We instead emphasize God’s loving hand
reaching out toward them to bridge that gap through His son, Jesus, who came
“not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”6
It’s important that we
make that distinction between the sin and the sinner. We are to love the sinner
even if we abhor their sin. And whether someone is black or white, Jew or
Gentile, Buddhist, Hindu, or whatever, that has nothing to do with it. It’s sin
that the Lord doesn’t like, not the race, color, or social status of the
sinner, or even what kind of sin it is!
This same principle
applies to criminals in the prisons where we minister. No matter how great
their crime, Jesus will forgive it if they will just come to Him. He offers His
love to “whosoever believeth in Him.” They just have to receive it.
When you start putting
more emphasis on damning the sin than loving the sinner, that’s not a good
sign. God does everything possible to love us into His kingdom first. What won
you to Jesus? Was it seeing your sins exposed one by one and being told you
were “a filthy rotten sinner”? Were you belittled and criticized and condemned
for all of the wrong you had done? Or were you told it didn’t matter what you
had done; there was a wonderful, loving Father who loved you so much that He
was willing to pay any price—the greatest price of all—to make a place by His
side for you in heaven, where you could be forever happy and at peace with Him.
“God commendeth (demonstrates) His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.”7
If people have to be
free of their sins before we can love them, who will there be to love?
If we start judging people on the basis of their sins, who is going to
stand? “If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand.”8 We’re all hopeless without God’s
love, and that’s the only thing that can save us.
God loves all people equally
I feel very sad when I
hear that some Christians look upon
others as not being as good as they are.—Or when we give the impression to our
children that we are better than others, instead of teaching them that God
created all of these different people and He loves them all, and we have
nothing to feel superior about.
God’s great love
and grace reaches out to all His creations the same, and He didn’t make some
that He loved less and others that He loved more. He didn’t label the
fair-skinned, blond-haired folks the most loved, and the yellow or brown or
black-skinned less. And if we show a prejudicial, belittling, demeaning spirit
toward others, it must hurt Him very much.
We are supposed to love
all people the same. It is our belief that Jesus died and gave His life for all
humankind. How could He give His life for the Jew and also for the Gentile and
love one of them any less than the other?—When He has shown the very greatest
love possible for both by dying for each one of them.
I love our Jewish
friends as much as I love our Christian friends. I may not agree with or like
the Jewish theology as much, but as people whom Jesus died for, I have as much
of a desire for them to know Him as I do for our Gentile friends. My heart goes
out to the Jews just as much, and even more so, because I know that it is
usually harder for them to believe because of the teaching they have received.
The fact of the matter
is that God loves all humankind equally, and gave His Son for each one.
When you’re a parent, as
your children come along you love each one to the fullest; you give each one
the same. You give them all they need in the way of housing, warmth, clothing
and attention. You put everything you can into each one according to their
particular needs. You give your life over again for each one. And regardless of
their differences, you love each one individually with as much love as you have
to give.
But if some of those
children happen to draw closer to you and go out of their way to please and
obey you, you will probably reward that child or those children with extra
appreciation and gratitude for doing things that they didn’t necessarily have
to do, for going the extra mile in showing their love and appreciation for what
you have done for them.
I have a feeling that
this is the way the Lord is with all of His dedicated children who try to live
for Him and sacrifice their lives for Him—He rewards them in a special way
because of their love for Him. But generally speaking, it’s not that He loves
them more, because basically there wasn’t anything more He could do than give
His life, which He did, for each one of us. What greater love is there than
that? But He gives special rewards to those who love Him.
But these special
blessings and rewards that He bestows upon His obedient children should be
distinguished from the love that God has for all His creations and the great
yearning He has that they would all come to repentance and all be able to enjoy
Him and His heavenly kingdom forever. Jesus died for them, and He wishes that
all—each one of them—would come to repentance. He is not willing that any
person should perish, no matter who they are or what their sins are.9
So how can we say, “This
person must be so evil and sinful, and it’s God’s judgment on him that he’s
suffering; therefore, he deserves to die in his sins. He’s too bad for God. God
must not love him. After all, how could God have sent Jesus to die for him when
he’s so bad?” That’s exactly who He died for!—Sinners. Including you and me.
Jesus came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance.10 Those
who are dying spiritually and even physically because of their sins are the
most likely to accept His forgiveness. So how can we not answer the call of a
lonely, sin-sick person, dying in their sin? Can we say that his or her sin is
too great? God didn’t. Can we say they are not deserving of God’s love and
forgiveness? God didn’t.
Jesus said, “As My
Father has sent Me, even so send I you.”11 His
Word says, “Christ left us an example, that we should follow His steps.”12
1 2 Timothy 2:24–26.
2 John 7:24.
3 Proverbs 18:13.
4 1 Peter 4:8.
5 Romans 3:10.
6 John 3:17.
7 Romans 5:8.
8 Psalm 130:3.
9 2 Peter 3:9.
10 Matthew 9:13.
11 John 20:21.
12 1 Peter 2:21.