Hey John,
I hope this is a significant question: I’ve been thinking on this lately. . . “God is no respecter of persons.” Does this also imply—by default—that Jesus has the same feelings; therefore Jesus is no respecter of persons either?
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Of course, B—! Would Jesus, the perfect reflection of the Father, think other than what his Father thinks?
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And. . . . if we are to be “Christ-like,” are we also to not be respecters of persons?
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Of course, B—! I am surprised that you ask. Are we, his ambassadors on earth, to think and act different from what he thinks?
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Now, that begs the question: What does it mean in our daily social lives?. . . In walking as servants of Christ, are we to respect what people believe, or be NO respecter of persons at all?
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Ah! I see. You just do not understand what “respecter of person” means.
“Respect of persons” does NOT mean that we have no respect for people. Peter told the saints to “honor all men”. Also, if we are wise, we will certainly have more respect for the judgment and counsel of the wise than for the foolish. Discerning who is an elder, and whose example to follow, is not being a “respecter of persons”; it is wisdom.
“Respect of persons” means simply that we are not to quench the Spirit in order to show respect to a person because of their social status, their political clout, their title, their wealth, instead of simply and even-handedly loving righteousness and hating wickedness. Usually, when we are guilty of being a “respecter of persons” (most often, to gain some personal advantage, social or otherwise), we have sinned and displease God.
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I have often wondered. . . If I am zealous for the TRUTH, how can I adopt a “polite” attitude toward people of all faiths, when I actually HATE those ways? Am I supposed to respect their ways? Would Jesus show “respect” for other religions? (I think not.)
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You obviously have not yet learned how to hate as God hates, which also mean that you cannot yet love as God loves. There is one kind of love which God has for all people (“For God so loved the world…”). In this regard, the Father is good to both the wicked and the righteous, Jesus said. There is another kind of love that God reserves only for His children, compared to which love, the feeling God has for the rest of the people on earth is sheer hatred (“God is angry with the wicked every day” – Ps. 7:11; and “…the covetous, whom the Lord abhors” – Ps. 10:3). A godly man is like God. He has a love for mankind, to be sure; at the same time, he abhors whom God abhors, and he hates them with God’s kind of hatred.
God is courteous and good to billions who despise Him, every day. But He hates them for their wickedness, and excludes them from His family and the fellowship of light that they enjoy. When you try to include the wicked in the fellowship of light that He gives to no one but His children, you have “cast your pearls before swine”, and you will feel the displeasure of your heavenly Father for your foolishness.
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How are we to treat people who believe a thousand different things?
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I hope you have some idea now.
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Yes, I can respect PEOPLE, but I find I have a hard time saying I respect their RELIGION, because I just do not and cannot respect their religious doctrines, although I can respect the person for the sincerity of their faith.
Is that wrong?
BC
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What do you think? 
Pastor John
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I understood ALL that you explained. I knew that I was not to compromise the truth or quench the Spirit for the sake of someone in a higher social status. I know better than to cast my pearls before swine, or attempt to share holy fellowship with a sinner. However, that’s not what I was talking about. Let me be more specific. . . .
When I am in a conversation with a sinner and/or someone who believes different from me, is it appropriate for me to say to them that I respect them (the person) and their right to believe what they want, but be clear that I have no respect for their religion. . . or is that simply rude?
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Yes, it is rude, and yes, it’s OK….unless the Spirit stops you and shows you another way.
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You see, I love them too much (as a person) to show them “respect” or “honor,” by pretending as if I agree with their doctrine, as if it were equally as valid as the truth of Jesus is to me. That is one of the things that people do nowadays. . . they try to make you sound like a close-minded bigot if your confess the truth, which exposes their darkness, and then they expect you to compromise and accept that their belief is equally valid. I cannot respect that attitude or that mindset, because I HATE it… as God “hates” it. It is wicked (e.g., Wicca) and it is killing their soul, so I cannot stand by and NOT testify of Christ, out of “respect” for their beliefs. I have, in the past, been less bold, and too courteous, and people have gotten the idea that I agree with or accept their religion, while they pretend to “tolerate” my beliefs as equal to theirs.
That’s why I am asking, “At what point do we let someone know that their religion is false and testify of Jesus and the holy Ghost?” Is is uncourteous to do that? I feel that when I avoid doing that, I am acting with respect of persons, and withholding the truth of Jesus from them, and that displeases God.
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In that case, I don’t know that it is “respect of persons” that is the issue. It sounds as if you are dealing with plain ol’ everyday fear of man. Fear of being socially inappropriate is also a form of the “fear of man”. Jesus, if you remember, was sometimes (not always) very rude, but that is how the Father wanted him to respond in those particular cases. He was, in every case, listening to his Father to see what was appropriate; he was not looking around to see what was acceptable to men.
My advice? Stop trying to figure it it, and go by your feelings from the Spirit. There are no rules to follow.
Let me know if I have misunderstood again, and we’ll start over.
Pastor John
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Now, that settles it. Thank-you. I think you are probably right….it was a little “fear of man” in me that proposed the question in the first place; fear of appearing a certain way to men and women who don’t know God, and being misunderstood. It is always best to stay full of the Spirit and be led by the Spirit in those types of situations—even if it means “appearing” rude or “intolerant.”
I truly want to be more like the Master, and do the right thing in God’s sight.
Thanks for your discernment, John.
Much love,
Brad