June 30
(Luke 14:1-14 NIV) "One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. {2} There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. {3} Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" {4} But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. {5} Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" {6} And they had nothing to say. {7} When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: {8} "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. {9} If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. {10} But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. {11} For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." {12} Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. {13} But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, {14} and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.""
(Romans 12:3,10,16 NIV) “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. Honor one another above yourselves. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”
When we hear the term “first class”, we usually think in positive terms. But the term becomes profane when it’s used to infer an “upper class” where some people have higher value than others. Jesus confronted this ungodly attitude more than once. “First Class Christianity” causes us to look at others with a magnifying glass, rather than at ourselves in the mirror. It ranks people based on social status, rather than on their value to God. “First Class Christianity” often mistakes position in the church for importance in the Kingdom. It cultivates pride rather than humility. It causes us to confuse fellowship with ministry. We hold conferences that attract other Christians and call it ministry, but it’s really just fellowship. The sinners, the poor, and the wretched are still on the outside looking in. In God’s Kingdom there is only one class of people: saved. Have you risen to that class yet? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day