James Week 5 - Favoritism

Favoritism

James 2:1–13 ESV

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Intro

The Bible Knowledge Commentary A. Accept Others (2:1–13)

James became increasingly specific and direct in his admonitions and instructions. He was obviously displeased with the inconsistencies among the brethren. He attacked the attitudes these believers displayed toward others and then complained of their failures to act as they should. He first condemned the attitude of favoritism and gave suggestions on how to combat this obstacle to spiritual maturity. One must learn to accept others, whatever their status or class. He must show courtesy to all, compassion for all, and consistency to all. Equity, love, and fidelity are the vital ingredients

Vs. 1-4

James 2:1–4 ESV

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

James sets up this scenario of how we become partial, or showing favorites

You have a rich man, and a poor/shabby man

James points out that if you allow the rich man a higher standing than the poor man you are showing favoritism

He is showing that we are discriminating and assuming the point of judge with our wickedness for seeing people only as they are

Vs. 5-7

James 2:5–7 ESV

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

James now is telling us why we shouldn’t show favoritism

He makes this plea with four questions

Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith?

Are not the rich the ones who are oppressing you?

Are the rich not the ones dragging you into court?

Are they not the ones blaspheming God?

These four questions were ment to all be affirmed yes’s

Vs. 8-13

James 2:8–13 ESV

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James finishes up this by showing that we are called to love and not show favoritism

He points out that favoritism is sinful, and instead we are to love our neighbor

In vs. 10 James is proving the severity of showing favoritism towards people

Though it might seem trivial, breaking the law of God is sinful no matter what

So as James concludes we are meant to show mercy to all as mercy triumphs over judgment

Application

The sin of partiality is not just rich over poor. It can be partiality toward education or lack, ethnic similarities or differences, or even those who have experienced similar abuse or addictions versus those who have not. Partiality can even be playing favorites with those who are just more agreeable and enjoyable to be around.

QUESTIONS

1. What areas do you most commonly show favoritism in? (Race, socio-economic, political affiliation, ideologies, geographical location, religion, affluence, etc)

2. Do you know people that have more wealth and influence than you? Do you know people that you would consider poor? How do you treat these two groups of people? Do you treat them differently? Why?

3. When you show favoritism towards certain people, James implies in verse 7 that you are dishonoring Jesus and what he did for you. How is showing favoritism offensive to God?

4. Read 1 Corinthians 15:19.

1 Corinthians 15:19 ESV

If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

In this verse Paul says that we are to put our faith and trust in "Christ alone." When people struggle with showing favoritism, they are really putting their faith in other things instead of Christ. What are the other things you are putting your faith in when you show favoritism?

5. How do we show favoritism towards ourselves when it comes to our sins?

6. What are some "next steps" that we can take to break the cycle of favoritism?