The Great Equalizer

The human population provides many examples of disparity. You may have a comfortable house, but it probably wouldn’t compare to a place in Martha’s Vineyard. We’ve all known popular and likeable people, but they can’t match Sinatra’s level of celebrity and charisma. And although everyone has a circle of authority or influence, only the U.S. President is Commander in Chief. There are many who surpass us in physical material terms. Likewise, there are many who are not as well off. We ought to acknowledge how rich we truly are in our country and our circumstance of life. God has blessed us!

Despite all these differences, there still exists a great equalizer among mankind, one respect in which we are all the same. Each one of us has an immortal soul. At the beginning, God decided to create mankind in His own image and breathe into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7). The destiny of every human soul will be determined by God in the judgment. Paul wrote that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).

At that day, wealth will not make any difference. Jesus taught this lesson when He spoke of a rich man who focused on physical provisions. At his death, God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Lk. 12:20). The rich have no advantage in the judgment.

At that day, popularity will not make any difference. Jesus warned of this danger as well (Lk. 6:26; 16:15). Additionally, the teaching of the New Testament is that sound doctrine will often upset the masses who prefer to have their ears scratched (Jn. 3:19; Gal. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). What’s popular is often wicked, and those drawn in by it will certainly have no advantage in the judgment.

At that day, position will not make any difference. Jesus plainly stated that the powerful are only in their positions because of the will of God (Jn. 19:10-11). Those in authority always have an authority over them, the Most High God (Col. 4:1). When Paul had opportunity to preach before Governor Felix, he was fearful and rightly so (Acts 24:25). An emperor has no advantage over a beggar in the judgment.

The rich, the well-connected, and the powerful will all be equal in the judgment because each has a soul. God’s final ruling toward mankind will be based on spiritual factors, not physical ones. What matters is our obedience to the words which Jesus has spoken (Jn. 12:48). These are the words which come from the Father, the words of everlasting life (Jn. 12:49-50). Rather than making assumptions or comparing ourselves to others, may we focus on the great equalizer and what is most precious—souls and the judgment!