Exodus 23:8
“And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.”
When God gave the requirements for a judge, impartiality should be one of the greatest attributes that a judge exhibits. The judge literally holds a person’s future in their hands. If a judge displays partiality, he could ruin a good person’s life or let a guilty individual go free because of his partiality. In the case of capital punishment, a judge holds a person’s life in his hands. It is vital that a judge shows impartiality when considering each case.
However, it is just as important for a Christian to be impartial as it is a judge. Though a Christian may not rule in a person’s life, they do influence their spiritual future, and it would be devastating to allow partiality to become a part of a Christian’s daily life. The most impartial being is God. When God offered salvation, He offered it to the world. When God gives judgments for sin, He always deals with the act and never the individual’s person. There are several things in this chapter that you should consider that will help keep you from being impartial towards others.
First, don’t allow money to influence your judgment. Verse 6 says, “Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.” Money is the great influencer. A Christian must never allow money to influence their treatment of others. Pastors and leaders must be especially careful of this. Just because someone has money does not mean that they should get away with things for which a poorer person would be punished. If a person tries to use their wealth to influence, that alone should be a warning sign that they want to use their finances to get away with doing wrong. Be careful as a Christian to keep the ground level in judgment with the poor and wealthy. Evil follows a biased judgment based on money. If someone tries to use their money to influence, you would be wise to distance yourself from that individual.
Second, don’t allow personal gain to influence your judgment. The verse above warns about allowing gifts to pervert your judgment. It doesn’t make it right to let someone get by with wrong because you personally gain. In fact, if you allow personal gain to influence your judgment of people, you are as guilty as the perpetrator who did the wrong. Don’t be the type of pastor, leader or Christian who allows personal gain to influence who you spend more time with and who you promote to influential positions.
Third, don’t allow closeness to influence your judgment. Verse 9 says, “Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger…” God wanted the stranger to be treated the same way as the citizen. Likewise, you should never allow your closeness to an individual to influence your judgment of a situation. Nepotism always leads to injustice. Nobody deserves leadership who allows their family to get away with things that others could not. Leadership that bases decisions off how it influences family or close friendships is wrong. The relationship an individual has with you should never influence any decision you make.
My friend, Christians must be impartial for the sake of Christ. The best way to influence people for right is to be impartial. Always remember that partiality hurts people and our ability to help them. If your life exhibits impartiality all of the time, you will find you will be better able to influence more people for right.