It cuts against some of my deeply held individualist values. “Everyone is supposed to be treated the same,” I insist. In fact, we are confident our preference that everyone be treated the same is in the Bible somewhere. We are confident James was prohibiting favoritism and not just favoritism for evil purposes (Jas 2:1-9). Actually, we find all kinds of examples in the Bible of God treating someone as special because of connections. Rahab is spared the fate of everyone else in Jericho because a spy calls up Joshua on the phone (so to speak).
