S ome 20 years AGO, when my wife and I were attending Biola, we lived in an apartment house in Holly wood. A Christian couple in the same building had been after us constantly to visit the Sunset and Vine head quarters of the National Broadcast ing Company where the fellow worked as an usher. (He has since become a doctor.) Those were the bright days for radio, when the fas cination of the microphone stars cap tivated the general public’s interest. It was one Saturday night when we went to the studio. I forget now what program was being aired, but our friend saw to it that we not only had front row seats, but also that we were taken on a “behind the scenes” tour of the facilities later. When the evening was over, we got into this couple’s new Studebaker. That was the year that they had come out with the car that looked the same no mat ter which way it was going. Do you remember? As we left the parking lot, there was the usual large crowd of people who had gathered around the artist’s entrance to the parking lot, held in check by an officer. These curious folks were hopefully waiting to see some of the stars who partici pated in the various network pro grams. As we drove out in the smart new convertible, the perplexed group couldn’t recognize any luminaries and one fellow shouted, “Hey, mister, are you a somebody or are you a no body?” You know, it seems that the world today hasn’t really changed much. People are still looking up to and worshipping others. It’s rather sad and pathetic when you stop to think of the type of person who has been made an idol. Have you ever heard a message on the sin of giving pref- 14
erence to one individual over anoth er? Did you know that the Bible condemns such an attitude ? The problem is that we have learned to condone such a practice without our consciences being bothered. We don’t really consider it a sin. For instance, at Christmas time, do you give every one the same gift, or do you have a tendency of giving better presents to those who have remembered you with nicer things ? While there’s nothing wrong with this, yet it re minds us of a practice which is very prevalent. The Word of God has some very explicit suggestions which all too fre quently are overlooked. If you have your Bible handy will you look with me at the second chapter of James where, right in the first verse, we find the Apostle talking about a prob lem which was very real in the church of that day, and which un fortunately is noted even today. Maybe you have heard of the man who constantly wore a long overcoat which was adorned in a most unusual manner. The front was all covered with various kinds of patches; dif ferent colors, sizes, and shapes. He would explain carefully that each one of those represented a different type of sin of his friends and neighbors. Ask him about anyone of the patches and he could readily go into a com plete discourse on the problems and iniquities of these different people. Interestingly enough, on the back of his coat he had just one small dull- colored patch and no others. Proudly he would explain, “That represents my own sin. The reason it’s so small is because I can’t see it and it never bothers me much.” If anything, the apocryphal story amply illustrates the fact that we
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