CHAUVINISM - PREJUDICED DEVOTION TO ANY ATTITUDE OR CAUSE. 

There are many attitudes and causes to which we should be devoted. There are also many that we should not be devoted to at all. We can’t properly distinguish the two groups if we are prejudiced for or against something. I imagine that when some of our brethren first began using radio as a way of spreading the gospel message there were some who were prejudiced against it even though there was and is nothing scripturally wrong with it. In fact, anything we can do to spread the gospel farther, faster is something we should consider. We may determine that it isn’t the best way for our congregation to do it and that is fine, but we should consider all alternatives and then chose the best ones. 

But, Chauvinism is not prejudiced against something, rather it is for something. There are those who will be devoted to some cause and not be willing to consider any other even though the cause they are in favor of is no longer effective. Certainly, we must be devoted to the truth regardless of how effective we think it is, but methods and manners of getting the truth out there can change. The Jule Miller Filmstrips are a good example.  The teaching on them is good, and some think they are the best thing since sliced bread. Maybe when they first came out they were, but now with the people in them dressed in clothing that is out of date by 3 or 4 decades people won’t hear the message for laughing at the fashions. One congregation wanted to do a remake video with live sound and moving picture, and they were quickly turned down because someone was chauvinistic.  Sadder still are those who try to use the Bible to support their sinful chauvinism. There are men who want to treat their wives in anything but a Christian way, and then claim they are doing as the Bible teaches. These men will read every verse in the Bible about how wives are to behave and be in subjection to their husbands and so forth, but they never bother to read the verses that tell husbands how they should behave. (1 Cor 7:4) “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.” If a man thinks he can beat his wife, then he better allow her to do the same to him. (Eph 5:25) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” Can you imagine Christ running around on the church with other religions, or making cruel jokes about the church, or beating the church. These pictures are incomprehensible, yet the husband is to love his wife like Christ loves the church even to the point of giving himself for her. 

There are many other forms of chauvinism that we could talk about, but suffice it to say we shouldn’t be devoted to any cause before we have examined the evidence. Even our faith in Christ must be based on the evidence, as the Bereans’ faith was. (Acts 17:11) “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Don’t be a chauvinist. 

I am never so glad that God is not under man’s law as when I read the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew chapter 20. Jesus begins by telling us that he is using this earthly example to describe the way things are in the kingdom of heaven. Then he describes a man who owns a vineyard going out to find people to work for him. This man represents God in the story. Early in the morning he finds some workers and makes an agreement with them that if they will work they will receive a ‘denarius’ (the King James says penny) which was the average pay for a days work. The men agree and go to work. Later in the morning he goes to find more workers and they agree to work for “whatsoever is right.” He did this again at noon, 3 in the afternoon, and 5 in the evening. Then when it got dark they came to get their paycheck so to speak. 

This is where it starts to get really interesting because we would expect that if he was going to pay a day’s wage to the first group, then naturally he would pay less to those who worked less. But Jesus surprises us by telling that the man gave the ones who had worked the least a day’s wage. Well, then he is surely going to give the others who have worked longer more, right? Wrong! He gives them the same amount and they get mad. Be honest you probably would too. But was he “unfair”? Didn’t they get what they had agreed to receive? And wasn’t it his right to be generous and kind to the others who would not have had enough to feed their families if he had not? Would they have been mad if after being paid they had seen the same man give a beggar a denarius? Probably not. So, why were they so angry about this situation? They apparently thought that he was paying the others a higher hourly wage than they were getting. Then he asks the great question, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” Remember that this is a description of how things work in God’s kingdom.

If someone asked this question today the answer would have to be a resounding, “NO!” Let’s look at some of the laws this man in Jesus’ story broke. The ACLU and workers’ unions would have been all over this guy. There is no indication that he did the proper paper work on these workers, some of them might have been illegal. He also didn’t make sure that he was getting an equal cross-section of the population (i.e. - women, minorities, handicapped, etc.). The real problem though is the pay. Can you imagine what would happen if Wal-mart or any business hired 10 people who worked from 8 AM - 5 PM and 10 more people that worked from 4 PM - 5 PM and then gave them the same pay? The people who only worked an hour would be ecstatic, but there would be 10 others who would quickly be involved in a lawsuit, and they would surely win. No, it is not lawful to do what you will with your own in our country, there are thousands of regulations.

But these laws and regulations are exactly the reason that we should be grateful that God is above man’s law. Let’s look at the spiritual teaching in this parable for a minute. God goes out into the world to find people who will work in his vineyard, some come in the morning (at a young age) and work all day long (their whole lives). Others may come at later times (twenties, forties, sixties, even eighties) and only serve a short time. When the accounts are settled on judgment day, however, only the faithfulness of the service and not the length of the service will count. We must be faithful until the close of day to receive the reward. How sad if one who came early and worked most of the time were to quit and leave before receiving the reward.

Wouldn’t it be sad if we couldn’t receive a home in heaven because we didn’t come early enough, as some teach. What hope would there be for some one 50 years old who had never been taught the gospel? What could we tell them? “You can’t go to heaven, but maybe God will let you look in for a while at the gate.” How horrible that would be. Praise be to God that He accepts us at whatever age we learn and obey in faith.  This is not an excuse to “sow our wild oats” and think that we will get right with God later. There may not be a later. There are many benefits that come from serving God from the early morning hours, that may be lost if we don’t come until late in life. How many have come to Jesus late in life and regret that their health has been wasted by their sinful living, or that they raised worldly wicked children that they can not reach now. Those regrets may haunt them to the grave, but Heaven can still be their eternal home. 

God is just and He is fair and it is lawful for Him to do what He wants to with what is His. The labor laws don’t apply to Him, and no one will be able to sue or appeal to the government to overrule His decisions. Acts 10:34-35 says,  "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: {35} But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."