From Favoritism to Flourishing- Part 3 of 9: God's Standard: Jeremiah 9: 23-24

Now that we have seen that the world's standard of Favoritism for the strong, beautiful, and wise is to be replaced by God's standard, it is time to look at God's standard. This includes how He values a person and how we should mimic those standards when we value each other. In Jeremiah 9:23-24, it says:

23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
    or the strong man boast of his strength
    or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this:
    that he understands and knows me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

          Here, we see that we are not supposed to boast in our wisdom, strength, or riches- a viewpoint that is completely out of line with our culture and world. Instead, this passage says that we are supposed to boast in understanding and knowing God. But watch yourself! It would be easy to interpret this passage to say that we should value ourselves for being super spiritual and increase our value by adhering to spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading or prayer. However, have you applied the terms wisdom, strength, and power to where they exist in the spiritual realm? Spiritual Wisdom can come from spending a long time in the Bible; Spiritual Strength can be found through faith in God; Spiritual Riches can come by letting God rule more and more of your life. The passage says that we are not supposed to boast in any of these. Instead, we are to boast that we share a relationship with our father in heaven and that our God is kind, just, and righteous.
       This view of the self is very much in line with the gospel. This is because we are allowed to stop trying to use good works and spiritual acts to raise ourselves higher in God's eyes and instead approach God solely on the basis of His character and provision.
       This passage also means that we should not value others based on their external qualities or spiritual maturity, but should instead view them in their relationship to God. We see that all Christians have equal access to God's love and resources and mourn for those who have yet to find God. Instead of trying to earn our merit and hide our ugly parts, we see that our wisdom, strength, and riches add no value to us and thus stop trying to convince other people and God that we are wise, strong, or rich. Once we are able to look past these values and see that God wants us to find value in our relationship with Him, we will change in the way that we look at others and ourselves as well as our actions towards them.
     To underscore the fact that we should not replace Favoritism based on wisdom, strength, and riches with Favoritism based on Spiritual wisdom, strength, and riches, look at Luke 10:18-20:

18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

      This passage is after Jesus sends out his followers throughout Israel to perform miracles and preach the good news. Here, Jesus warns his disciples not to rejoice in their spiritual wisdom, strength, or riches, but instead that they should rejoice that their names are written in heaven. This means that we should not look down on young Christians or unbelievers who do not have the same spiritual wisdom, strength, or riches that we have. Instead, we are to rejoice in the faith of the young Christians, mourn at the the unbelief of the Non-Christians, and work for both of them to understand and know God. There is no ladder of value to climb in God's kingdom. Once we have come through the gates by accepting Jesus' payment for our sins, we all stand on equal footing. God does not favor one man over against another and we are called to behave in the same fashion. The pastor is as valuable in God's kingdom as the new believer. This is not to say that God doesn't love Non-Christians, but that they possess nothing of value in God's kingdom
       Now that we have seen how all Christians gain equal footing in God's kingdom, it's time to discover something radically new and breathtaking: whatever held us back from being valuable or lovable in the world's eyes is now going to be used by God for his glory, further shattering any notion of Favoritism from God's kingdom and taking us one step closer to a life that Flourishes.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow