My Favorite

What is your favorite song? 

It doesn’t have to be a religious song. 

Which is your favorite?

Why is it your favorite?

Have you ever stopped to think why your favorite is your favorite? The question applies to anything for which you have a favorite: song, meal, actor, hobby, season of the year, etc.

Your favorite (anything) is your favorite because you like it the most. (Go ahead and chuckle. It may not be deeply profound, but it is true.)

Having a favorite in any category is about personal taste and personal preference. It is all about the things that appeal to you most. A favorite often involves your senses. Yet, a favorite might be appealing to you on an emotional or intellectual level.

I have been told that a parent should never have a favorite child, but should love each child equally. Yet, there is something about that statement that doesn’t work in real life. The statement ends correctly by advising you to love each child equally. Yet, for each one of my five daughters there are specific areas in which each is favored. In that, I am simply acknowledging that there are common preferences and common interests that draw me to each one, but those preferences and interests may be different for each daughter. The key is to not allow those preferences and interests to govern my love for any one of them over the others.

With that thought in mind, turn your attention to the Lord’s church. I think we all know and understand that personal favoritism has no place in the body of Christ. Yet, God did not leave it up to our human reasoning.

Believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 

—James 2:1 (NIV)

Favoritism, partiality, prejudice: Whatever wording us used, an attitude of favoritism has no place in the body of Christ. There is no mystery as to how God views partiality.

If you show favoritism, you sin…. (v. 9)

We may have best friends. We may prefer one preacher over another, prefer one song leader over another, prefer one song over another. However, we must not allow our personal preferences to develop poor attitudes. We must not allow a preference of friends to generate a poor attitude toward other Christians. We must not allow our personal preferences to keep us from listening to the word of God regardless of who is preaching or teaching. Truth may be presented in a topical sermon or in a class in which passages of Scripture are examined carefully. We must not allow favoritism to form our attitude about the songs we sing in the assembly, or to affect how we think about prayers offered.

Favoritism is about your attitude. When favoritism is allowed to develop the way we value people we have sinned. When favoritism casts a dim shadow in our mind about the way things are organized or carried out by fellow Christians, we have sinned. If we find ourselves giving more thought to the pitch and tempo of the songs, the length of prayers, or mannerisms used by the preacher or teacher, instead of the content presented by each, we are listening to our fleshly preferences. Sin is near.

It is natural and proper to evaluate the way things are going in life, and that includes all things related to church life, even our weekly worship. However, we must evaluate with wisdom, with Bibles open, and not with attitudes of favoritism.

Mark Stinnett

March 3, 2024

I Can...and I Will!

I saw an ad for a soft drink; I think the company has a new campaign slogan: “Because I can.” I’m sure it will be successful because it taps into the general mindset of America. Among other things, “I am going to drink this soft drink...because I can.”

I suppose that’s fine for a marketing campaign, or as positive motivation for success or overcoming obstacles in one’s life. But do you think it is a healthy attitude for a Christian?

It is the kind of attitude that says, “I am doing or saying [something] because I can…”

• ...And you can’t tell me I can’t.
• ...And you can’t stop me.
• ...I have the right/freedom/liberty!
• ...I don’t need any help.
• ...I am self sufficient.

Someone might read this and take issue thinking there is a positive side to “I can.” It expresses a person’s will power in overcoming obstacles. Yes, I understand and can appreciate that.

However, you might have heard of the Old Testament prophet Balaam. He had an ‘I can’ attitude when he came up to an obstacle in the road. Oddly, the obstacle was an angel sent from God. Balaam was acting foolishly and had not listened to God. The point is that God can put an obstacle in our way for our own good.

In the New Testament there are several ‘I can’ passages. (The count varies by translation.) Many of the ‘I can’ passages are actually ‘I may.’ The ‘I may’ passages are more about permission or authority, while the ‘I can’ passages are about ability or strength.

I was a little surprised to find almost as many ‘I cannot’ passages as ‘I can’ passages. For example, Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own initiative” (John 5:30). He expressed His focus on God’s will.

Just before He was arrested and crucified, Jesus prayed to God and basically asked if there was another way. He said to God, “If this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42).

Perhaps the most well-known ‘I can’ verse for Christians is found in Philippians 4:13, which says:

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

To be clear, this verse has nothing to do with soft drink marketing, American liberties, Christian liberties or individual willpower.

Do you know why the Apostle Paul wrote it?

Prompted by the concern of the Christians in Philippi, he had just made a statement about his physical welfare. They had been generous in sending aid. He was happy that they were helping, not because he needed it, but “for the profit which increases to your account.” In other words, he knew that it pleased God and as a result was more for their benefit than his.

So, what did he say about himself?

He said that he had learned how to get along in poverty and in prosperity. He had learned the secret of going hungry and being full, of suffering need and having abundance.

What was his secret? What had he learned?
Answer: To Be Content; not ‘how’ to be content, but simply, to be content.

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” is about contentment, not success or willpower!

Paul’s laser-focused attention was on the will of God. 

What about you???

Have you adopted a popular attitude of our society or are you focused on the will of God?

Mark Stinnett

February 2, 2020