Let’s Be No Respecters!
At the family center where I volunteer, a fine-looking young man (obviously homeless) told me he was going for a job interview and asked for help to get some clothes for the interview. While I went to get our manager, the young man went shopping — brought back a suit, shirt, tie and shoes. He wanted to look his best. Our manager blessed him with all that he brought to the counter.
That’s what I call being a NO respecter of persons. The Apostle Peter said these words in Acts 10:34 “I perceive that God is NO RESPECTER of persons”. RESPECTER is someone whose attitude is influenced by consideration of another’s rank, power, ethnicity, religion, culture, social class, wealth, etc. A “No RESPECTER” is someone who treats everyone with dignity regardless of their status or wealth.
Good news! God is NO RESPECTER of us. We ALL have access to God’s mercies and blessings. He loves every one of us. That’s why He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, so that we would believe and live in the royal family FOREVER! The prerequisite is acknowledging Him as our Father, and we are His beloved children who love and respect our “Dad”.
How does God feel about whether we are RESPECTER of persons? It’s easy to love, respect and honor the clean, nicely dressed, well-mannered people that look like us, smell like us and behave like us, but is that God’s example to us?
God is NO RESPECTER of persons. Those “persons” include the homeless people begging on street corners, or the disrespectful sales clerk, that angry politician who used disparaging words, that neighbor who ran over our rose bush, or the person who doesn’t have the same color of skin as we do.
The question is “Are we respecter of persons? Where there is respecter of persons – there are always divisions, resentments, and hostilities. Where there is NO respecter of persons and impartial treatment of all, we find mercy, love, unity and, above all, PEACE!
“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” That little song was written by George Frederick Root in 1864, in the middle of the Civil War where there were many political and cultural differences.
That song says “WE are ALL God’s children.” The common denominator we have is God and His love for humanity. We are all precious in God’s sight and He encourages us to see His children as He sees and loves them. Little children have no prejudices. They just love. And so should we!
In Matthew 18:4-5, Jesus invited us to come to Him “like little children” and said “whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Maybe it’s time for a check-up from the neck-up. Are we a NO respecter of persons or are we partial to some and not others? If we are respecter of persons, we disregard the less fortunate because they don’t measure up to our standards.
Or are we NO respecters because we are kind, tenderhearted and show no partiality because we love regardless of background, race, class or financial status?
The “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” TEST – will we pass it OR flunk it?