LEADERSHIP | ETHICS
Stop Playing Favorites How to uproot biases in your ministry By KAYLA PIERCE
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t is alarmingly easy to play favorites in ministry. Every time we interact with people, there is an opportunity for bias to creep in. A bias is an inclination to favor or disfavor one person or group over another. Biases can reside in attitudes (resulting in pre udice) or in behaviors (resulting in discrimination). Not playing favorites is tricky because biases often arise subconsciously. Humans are bent toward bias. Our brains acquire and apply knowledge rapidly, performing up to 1,000 basic operations per second. In a complex world, we frequently use mental shortcuts. We pick up incorrect and overgeneralized assumptions about different social groups often from hearsay — and apply them to unique individuals. Such shortcuts become stereotypes. This is a moral and ethical problem. After all, the Bible teaches that showing favoritism
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displeases God. ames : says, If you show favoritism, you sin.” So, what can we do about biases in our lives and ministries?
Confront Personal Biases This is an uncomfortable topic. People often become defensive or dismissive at the first suggestion they have biases. However, we cannot address what we are unwilling to acknowledge. Christians aren’t immune from wrong attitudes. The apostle Peter walked with Jesus, received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and helped launch the Early Church. Yet even this hero of the faith struggled with biases. aul wrote in Galatians :11, hen Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.”
