But from those who seemed to be something—whatever they were, it makes no difference to me; God shows personal favoritism to no man—for those who seemed to be something added nothing to me.
God shows personal favoritism to no man. This is a great reminder that grace is equally available to all. Accordingly, we should take care not to place too much weight on the value of any one person compared to the value of another.
We live in a day in which social media has made the quest for personal celebrity more tantalizing than ever. If only we can generate enough “likes” or get enough subscriptions or get re-tweeted enough times, we can be world-famous! Why does that matter? Because society tends to attribute greater weight to the opinions of famous people. If we become famous, then our opinions matter more!
Temporally, this seems great. Eternally, it turns out to be a big lie. We need to take care to measure things on the proper scales. The opinions of men vary and cause confusion. Braving grace requires hearing God’s voice and being confident in Him. The gospel of radical grace has detractors, some of whom have lots of credentials. They must know more than we do, right?
Paul came up against influential people who did everything in their power to silence the gospel. In today’s passage, we can see why he might have driven certain people crazy; he just didn’t care what they thought. Few things frustrate opinionated people more than being disregarded. But when it comes to braving grace, we must remember that God shows personal favoritism to no man. His radical grace is available to whosoever will and people of no reputation can and do have great eternal impact by keeping it real. They don’t get full of themselves because they know that it is all Jesus. They don’t get caught up in celebrity even if celebrity comes to them. They also don’t falter in the truth of grace simply because another person who seems to be someone challenges the gospel.
Embrace grace boldly. Don’t hesitate because of someone else’s opinion, even if they are perceived as being of a higher social rank. View everyone the same, because that is what God does. He shows personal favoritism to no man. The same grace is abundant toward every person, tribe, tongue and nation. Braving grace means keeping it real.
Braving Grace 