Tackling the Problem of Partiality

Welcome to Church Talk! In today’s episode, Pastor Priji talks about favouritism in the church environment. He talks about this challenge and the impact and effect of partiality on individuals and fellowship. He enlightens us on how to overcome this obstacle in our ministry. Tune in for a wise word & to align your service to God.

Transcript:

It is necessary for us to know how the church should function and those areas where the church needs an upgrade. Favouritism has been an issue in the church, we would expect the church to be free of all kinds of favouritism, we would expect to see It in the corporates, schools, in the political arena and more but the church is the last place we would expect to see favouritism. We can easily quote this problem in different places around us. The questions are not really whether it’s still prevalent in the church today. The question is how can we tackle it and overcome it.

The biggest challenge is if favouritism is being propagated by someone who is a leader in the church or in a position of power and this is a big problem. This was the same thing that happens in the first-century church and this happened in Acts 5 where certain people were favoured over others and the believers and widows had the guts to confront the apostles and the Apostles had to sort it out. The first-century church was driven by the Holy Spirit yet favouritism was there, how much more do we experience the same today in our church. If we do find favouritism in our churches, no need to freak out. In the book of James, Apostle James had the worry of one showing love for one person and then neglecting the other. We have to understand that God is not a God who shows favouritism and discrimination, he causes rain to fall upon both the wicked and the righteous alike and if this is how our father in heaven is then we ought to be the same. When we show favouritism then we are in fact doing it against Jesus. The way we address and cater for this issued and care for those who are just spectators to the drama happening in the church will go a long way in building a church that Jesus would love to be a member of.

Certain examples of discrimination that I have seen in the church are towards those who have little or no educational background. The Bible shows us God choosing the foolish ones of the world to put to shame the wise. When we understand how God functions we would never discriminate on the basis of one’s educational background another big issue is in the area of finances where those who bring more money into the church and offerings and donations who are given special treatment or given preference when it comes to special functions in the church. Another category is looking down on those who have backgrounds of sinfulness, here sometimes we have a natural way of looking down on them and treating them with fear and suspicion. Praying that as a people we will identify those areas and issues where there has been favouritism and be able to talk it out and bring it to a place of confrontation. As leaders, this can be talked out. The reasons for favouritism sometimes is that some people think they are better than others and that is why they look down on others and as Pastors, we are to identify these people and help give them a correct perspective of who they are and how to grow in humility. Sometimes it could be about their culture and where they have grown up and the way their cultures may have taught them. Such an example can be racism where they have been taught to stay away from a group of people. It is important to get to the root cause of this and deal with it.

Another category of those who sometimes discriminate is those with Past hurts or trauma towards a particular group of people an example is. Many of us when we hurt others it’s because we have been hurt. So if we can get back to the root hurts that we have been exposed too it will open up doors for healing and the way we perceive others becomes the way God perceives them. We need to talk about Christ centred relationships in the Church and we have to make sure our relationships are driven around the leading and characteristics of Jesus. The Holy spirits primary responsibility is to create in us an image of Jesus. We need to talk about developing Christ centred conversations and way of treating others. There are going to be cases of extreme favouritism. And in those cases, seeking external help or counsel is a brilliant strategy to break down every barrier and obstacle in the Church. Our Church has a practice of bringing in prophets to speak to the church. Like the church in Corinth, they had to bring in external help and that went a long way and it is a good practice to bring in people from outside our churches who can talk and when we do so, our churches would be purified, moulded and equipped to do relationships in a different manner. As the Pastor, people may see that you are one-sided but having an external person will make the church not see any bias as there is no side taken. As Pastors, if we are not disciplined and ferocious in the way we lead our churches, if there are people hurting others, we would be held responsible. If we are conscious about correcting and disciplining people, it will also serve as a warning to those who are watching and this needs to be done on a regular basis even at the cost of losing people who are well to do or influential. Those who submit to leadership will definitely see the favour of God and the reward of obedience and this will be an example to those who are serving in the church. Praying that we will give adequate value to disciplining people who are in the wrong. As a leader whatever the role or responsibility is given, we should communicate expectations and let our team know how things should be done. As a rule in our church is, because of cultural diversity we do not encourage communication in a formal or casual meeting in a vernacular language. On a regular basis, we should talk about expectations as leaders and not wait for problems to arise before we can teach on issues like relationships, unity, divisions or cliques and groups formed on the basis of language or age group. This needs to be exposed in teachings to the church from time to time ensuring that nobody is a victim of favouritism.

Doing this is a way of exposing issues that are there that we need to talk about more often. Sometimes it is said that the victims do not know that they are victimised but this cannot be so in the church of Christ so we need to love more and better. It is necessary to use our Wisdom to know when we are being favoured over another. Serving in the church is not a right but a privilege and sometimes God chooses the least qualified and God usually has His way of bringing people up that have been discarded. Let us get to the root causes of discrimination, Seek out external help, discipline as often as possible and communicate when necessary.