Brogan Rafferty, 16, in jail in Cleveland, Ohio, awaiting trial for assisting in at least one murder in a robbery scheme, wrote to his father in December (in a letter shared with the Plain Dealer newspaper) that he was certain God would not allow him to suffer a long prison sentence. That would mean, he wrote, that “all my meaningful family members would be dead” when he got out. “(N)o way God would do that to me.” [Washington Post-AP, 12-11-2011]
So many people, like this misguided young man, think that they are the exception to the rule. They believe that no matter what it is that they have done, regardless of the sinful nature, that God will somehow favor them in such a way as to lessen the consequences of their sin. And of course it’s always the plea of “God wouldn’t do that to me!”
We see such an attitude of personal favoritism all throughout the Bible. For example, in 1 Samuel 15 when King Saul spared Agag and the best of the herds and spoils despite being told to utterly destroy everything you almost get the sense that Saul thought himself God’s favorite and that God would never punish him severely. Guess Saul found out different when the kingdom was torn from him (1 Samuel 15:26).
Or what about the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17ff)? He asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus response was to keep the commandments. The young man said these I have done and so Jesus said go and sell all you have and give to the poor. Such a response disheartened the young man. I’m sure he thought the same thing Saul thought and the same thing the young man in prison thought, “No way God would expect me to do that!”
People have this same mindset about so many things. They want to serve God, yet when God tells them what it is He expects they go off on the ‘God wouldn’t ask that of me” rant. This especially in areas like marriage, divorce, and remarriage; baptism; use of mechanical instruments in worship; and the list could go on. In essence, people need to realize that God will always be a God of justice and that even though His grace and mercy have been extended we still have to sometimes face the consequences of our actions. Sure we can deny that God would ever ask me to do ____________, but denial is only temporary and in the judgment we will see the reality of the situation. The question is, will you come to your senses before its too late?
“Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34-35).
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