Treating all people equally this Christmas

I just read this story from a friend of mine (Tony) who currently pastors a church in the Quad Cities:

The church I pastored in Des Moines let the women's group handle [baby showers]. A couple of them decided that they would never have a shower for the child of an unwed mother. One of our young ladies, near the end of her pregnancy, was finally engaged, and the women refused to consider her for a shower.

About two weeks later, they came to me with the bright idea of using Christmas as a chance to restock the nursery with new baby toys, and they wanted to advertize it as a "Baby Shower in honor of the Baby Jesus." I told them no and forbade them from doing it. I told them that he was the child of an engaged but unwed mother who was not marrying the child's father. It took them about 20 minutes to finally get it, and they still wouldn't give this other gal a shower, so I unilaterally ended baby showers at the church until all babies were treated equally.

While I love Tony's response, stories like this make me sad. The Bible makes it clear that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)and yet we (as "Christ followers") won't follow Jesus' example and "die for" (i.e. help) others because we don't deem them worthy of aid. This should not be! What an embarassment to God that his children would behave like this!

So let me ask you:

Are you consistent in your treatment of people?

Do you inwardly judge people based on how they dress?

Do you think differently of someone after you've learned where they work?

Do you treat someone differently after hearing about mistakes they made in their past?

Are you treating all people fairly?

"My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others?" James 2:1 (NLT)