The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 2002

The Newsletter Promoting Interdependence Among The Ohio Association ofRegula11' Baptist Churches Vol. 75 No. 1 February 2002 ear ow are you doing on this matter of ethnic diver ity? From a simple reading of Scripture we understand that God loves equally all people He has a heart for all of Adam' s kids, "For God so loved the world." Didn ' t He remind Jonah "And should I not pity Ni neveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between the ir right hand and their left?"( 4: 11 ). And doesn't Psalm 117 declare, "Prai se the Lord , all you Gentiles! Laud Him, a lJ you peoples! For Hi s merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord ! 'And note how the New Testament opens and closes. You barely get passed Matthew l when you bump into the "wi se men from the East" coming to worship the recently born Jewish king. They see,n to have more savvy about and more interest in the new King than the Jews themselves do . These men were Genti le astro logers who on the strength of a silent signal fro1n a heavenl y star made the long trek to find and do homage to the King of the Jews. Matthe\.\' presents then1 in a 1nost favorable light. Si1ni larly, as you enter the final scenes of the New 1'cstarnent you discover ua great rnultitude which no one could nun1bcr, of aJI nations. tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the l...an1b .saying. ·sal\.at1on bel ongs to our C,od who \ Its on the throne, and to the Lan1b!,., ( Il e, . 7 9- 1 I). 'I hcsc are true belie ers in hri~t who have laid down thei r Ii es during the T r1bulation era as the cur Lain falls on the church age. John p, esent:s then1 in a 1nost favo rable light. 'fhese t\'\ o ev. 1 'fcstan1cnt "bookends.,, as ,, el I as the < Id ']'csHl n1cnt I c fcr cnc.c~. give a clear hint ,is to ho\\ (Jod 1eel~ about aJI pcop ltis. I le lo\ es thcn1 and h,t~ lcttd out the v. elcon1e 1nat f<.>r all of th\:111 at the • n1c door of Hi hou e. However, the e hints are rnore descriptive than prescr1ptive. They tell what happened and what i yet to happen, but they are not quite direct instructions to us. We need exhortation imperatives, something a bit more direct and pointed. Our attitude and act ions need a traightforward word fron1 heaven to keep us resonating wi th God ' heart for ethnic di vers ity. James 2 is about as pointed as you can get when it comes to having a hea rt like God for all people. And it i instn1ctive that James wa the very fir t New Te lament book penned, thus ctting a tone fo r what was expected and what was to co111e in the remaining New Testament book . Jame allows us no roo111 for favoritisn1 or prej udice ba ed on externa l con idcration . Tune in as he describes the case of the prejudiced church usher "My brethren , do not hold the faith of our Lord Je u Chri t, the Lord of glory. with partiali ty. For if there should co1nc into your a sc1nbly a n1an ,vith gold ring~. in fine apparel, and there should also con1c in a poor n1an in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one \Vcaring the fine c lothe~ and 'ay to hin1, ' '{ou sit here 111 a good place,' and ~H)' to the poor n1an, ' You stand there,' or · it here at 1ny footstool,' have you not sho\.\ 1 11 partia lity an1ong yoursel\ c~. and bccon1c j udgc5 wi th evi l thought i.;? ... lf you rea lly fulfill the roya l Jav. according to the Scripture~. •You \ hall love your nei ghbor as your~e l L· }OU <lo we ll , but 1t you \ hO\\ part1altt). ) ou con1111it ~1 11 . and atc con\ 1ctcd b~ the ht\\> a\ tran i.;g1 c"-.,or-., ' •· (Jan1e-., 2 I 9. 111 part). o favoriti sn1 ba ,ed on l'\tc1 nals is allo\\-Cd in e,,, 1 es tan1 ent churrhcs. A 11 people "i liouId bL' n1ddL' to ft•L' I L'l}lltt ll ) \\ clc.:on1c and -., houl<l he.: tr L'atL·d \\ 1th an l!\ cnhand1:dne~~. Jall1L'" t onll ,ts ls tht· • • 1vers1 treatment of the ri ch ver u the poor, but hi ill u trat ion can be properly applied to any di tinction made between people based on ex ternal consideration . o indi vidual or group hou ld be 111ade to ·· it in the back of the bus" at church. Jame say that i in. What 's o wrong about preferential treal1nent? Jame tell u in no uncertain ter111 : Preferential treatrnent is illogica l you are di honoring the very people \v hon1 God Hi,n cl f honor . You have placed yourselve ' as a j udge of a per on' · ,vorth, a judgen1ent which onl y God Hi n1self i~ 111 a po ition to 1nake. (Janie 2:4-7) Preferential treatment i illegal ) ou n1u · t keep the \\'hole la\\' not ju ·ta part of it the part that you fee l good about. Part of the la\\ is "You ·hall lo\e )Our neigh– bor as yoursc l r." Ir you s h O\\ part ia Ill ). you end up breaking that part or the ht\\. and thus the\\ hole h1\\. ·rhc la\, i:-i 111-.c ,l chain~ if one link 1s broken, the\\ hole 1s broken (Jan1cs 2:8-1 1). Preferential trcatrncnt i · ignorcint - \\ hat goes around co1ne~ arnund I I'\ ou ~ . treat people un ra1rl) ,) ou ~hould t:\pC( l ll) be treated 111 the ~a n1c llhtttni..:r ....oLHtcr 01 later. I r 1 ou J udgc ot her~ h,ll "" I) lH. unn1crc1lttll) .. ou \\ill bc.1udgi..:d 111 the san1c ...,pirit. St) Jan1c:-i ~d)..., to hL' \\ 1 .... t' tn ) Ollf {rCHl111Clll of othCI''°\, lt L'Ottld L"1.Hlll' back to h"unl ) ou (.ld111 l'~ 2 12 I ~) l ct u..., not bl' p .1r.1I \ 1...:d b~ "tll'IL't,tl prl'~\lll l'" but 1,\thl'1 n1nbil1 /t'd h\ ~t· 11p tu1 e. 1 find 1t be.1utllul \\ hL'll I "L't' l'thn1L di\ l'r .... ll\ Ill Olli lt)Ld) L'U ll ~ IL'g... llltHl'\ \\ hl' ll . ~ ~ a cnng, egalHHl 111\ 1tc" .1 ltll..'.d bl.h:k p.1~tl>t 11.> pr l',tch tind h1 " l hu1r lt l "tng \\ hl'n ,l bttcJ-. dt',lLOll ',l' I \ L'", lll ll\llllllll tlll \\ hl'I\ ,1 bttL k ttd\ IL\ld.... thL' L hllll lll ',[I\~~ 11.ll , l ~ \\ hth.: fl ll'Jld ·~ f lllll l ,ti , ,llld \\ hL' ll 1'L'llf'll 1 attt·nd L hurch \\ L,ll tt1g thL· d1L'"" ol th"' 11 n.tl1011 ,d L llltul L' . I tl1111k ( ,ud du"''' hl\l