Show No Partiality!

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

In the late 18th century, Pew Fees were established in Christian churches in England and America. Families or individuals would pay a yearly fee to rent a specific pew. The idea was that it would help fund the church’s  operations. If you paid, you got a reserved seat, often marked with a nameplate. The best seats (close to the front or center) would usually cost more. As you can imagine, if you did not have money for these pews, you either had to stand or sit in the free section at the  back of the church,

By the turn of the 20th century, these Pew Fees were eliminated. But we must ask ourselves how this  ever happened in the first place. As Christians, we all belong to the family of God. At our local church, Grace Harvest, we are called to humbly serve one another and not think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We need to be on guard so someone 100 years from now doesn’t say what they were thinking at Grace Harvest when they….!

If the churches that instituted those pew fees had just read James, it is hard to believe they would have  instituted those fees.

“My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal                 favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in bright clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,  3 and you pay special attention to the one who is     wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You     stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” James 2:1-4

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark