Galatians 2:6. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.
Paul has come to the “ground zero” of Christianity, to the “mother ship,” Jerusalem. This is where it all began. The death of Jesus happened right up that hill. The empty tomb is just down the street. And look, is that Peter? The Rock? And look, there’s James and John, the Sons of Thunder. These men knew Jesus personally. They walked with him and talked with him. They watched his passion on the cross and touched his resurrected body.
I don’t know about you, but I would be starstruck if I walked into the Jerusalem Council and saw these “pillars” (v.9) of the church. But not Paul. He seems quite unimpressed, really—“What they were makes no difference to me.” Is Paul being arrogant? Is this indifference toward his fellow Apostles from a position of conceit? No, it is from a position of freedom in Christ—from a knowledge of God as the one with whom there is no partiality (Dt. 10:17).
We live in a culture that puts before us “influencers” who are meant to tell us how to live our best lives. Celebrities. Trends. Groupthink. None of us is immune. Not even the church. Tell me your church isn’t infected with partiality and I won’t believe you.
Why do we idolize people, even other Christians? Why do we skip the local church and watch our favorite celebrity pastor online instead? Why do we care what some social media influencer whom we’ve never met thinks over the opinions of our brothers and sisters in Christ who love us? Why do we only hang out with those who are like us at church? Why are we constantly trying to impress some while avoiding others? Why do we show partiality when God never does?
Because we are not living from our freedom in Christ, that’s why. We are in bondage to the sin of partiality. We have made gaining favor with people our top priority over simply living in the freedom of God’s favor toward us in Christ. Union with Christ removes all status and all partiality. It frees us up to love and respect all the saints equally with the love of Jesus. And it frees us from bending our lives to the “gospel of personality” instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You: Can you identify ways that you show partiality, even in church?
You in Christ: How does union with Christ free us from the sin of partiality?
Christ in you: How might you purposefully choose to reject partiality in your life this week? At home? At work? At church?
Pray: Father, I’m so glad that you never show partiality. If you did, I would be a second-class citizen of Heaven. Free me from this sin to be like you. Amen.
