The Person without an Advantage

There is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

2 Chronicles 19:7

Read 2 Chronicles 19. Focus on verses 4 through 11. Jehoshaphat appoints judges and tells them to consider carefully what they do. Their judgments are made under God's authority. That fact raises the standard of their conduct rather than placing their decisions beyond question. God has no injustice, favoritism, or bribery. The judges must let that truth shape how they hear a case. The person before them should not need influence, a gift, or a useful connection to receive a fair hearing. This instruction follows Jehu's rebuke of Jehoshaphat for helping Ahab. The king himself has needed correction. He does not establish justice as a man who has never been wrong. He returns to the work of governing under a Lord whose judgment is better than his own. Formal courts are not the only places where advantages influence a hearing. We decide whose explanation deserves patience in families, offices, and congregations. We may believe the familiar person immediately and require the outsider to establish every detail. We may accept confusion from someone important and call it irresponsibility in someone with less status. Sometimes favoritism hides inside efficiency. It is easier to respond to the person who knows the right vocabulary. It is more comfortable to help someone who thanks us warmly. Someone who is upset, less articulate, or unable to offer anything in return may receive the shortest hearing precisely when they need careful attention. Fairness does not mean every claim is true or every request must be granted. It means that the person's social value to us does not determine how seriously we examine the matter. We can reject an unsupported claim after hearing it fairly. We cannot justify a careless hearing by assuming the person was unlikely to matter. Picture someone approaching you without an advantage. They do not know your friends. They cannot help your work. They may never be able to repay your attention. Would the facts receive the same consideration? Jehoshaphat's charge directs our eyes beyond the advantages in the room to the God who sees the judgment. Reverence becomes practical in the pause before we decide whose account sounds credible. The person with the least influence should still find that truth, rather than connections, can affect the answer. Put It into Practice Review a decision involving two people's explanations. Apply the same questions and standard of evidence to each, especially where you already favor one person.

Who must work harder than others to persuade you that their concern deserves attention?

Just Lord, show me the advantages I reward without admitting it. Give me patience with people who cannot make themselves useful or impressive to me. Let the facts receive the hearing you require. Amen.