Favoritism
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What is God’s greatest command?
What is God’s greatest command?
Love God, Love People
Love God, Love People
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
This is what Jesus commanded, and said it was the greatest. So how does this play out?
James discusses this in this next section of James chapter 2.
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?
How easy is it to judge someone? We do it all the time don’t we? We do it at school based on the people that they hang out with. We do it when we see people of a different wealth status than us. We see it all around us in the world we live in today.
Why do we do it? Because we want to up our social status. Everyone wants to be seen as great. Everyone wants to be seen as the best. When you post something on social media, how often are you refreshing your notifications to see that someone has liked, or how many people have liked it, or who has liked it.
The same is true in the church. To often we try to be close to the “important people” so that we can be seen as important as well. This then trickles down to how we act. We then start to show favorites of how we act towards those around us.
James (1) The Glorious Christ (2:1)
Believers must never mix faith with partiality. If they do, it is just another case of double-mindedness. When favoritism dominates, the obedience of faith is compromised and undermined.
James (1) The Glorious Christ (2:1)
All acts of favoritism toward the rich of this world contradict the divine glory that saves believers
Because what did Jesus say
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The same principle applies here
James concludes that section with this
have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
We are not called to judge. The same word that James uses here Krinos comes from the root word Krites which is what Jesus uses
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.
Jesus points out that the way we judge others, we too will be judged. In the way that we look at peoples sin and judge them, we too will be judged. In the way that we look at others and show favoritism, we have become and judge in our own mind, and have directly contradicted what Jesus commanded us.
James continues
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?
We constantly see God make the distinction that those who are rich in worlds eyes have missed it.
The rich young ruler (Matthew 19:16-22). When Jesus talks about the cost of following Him (Matthew 8:20). Just in the way that He pushed back against the pharisees and other religious leaders. He makes the point that being wealthy in the eyes of the world is not what He is after.
Now that is not to say that if you are rich, you are not going to heaven. That is not true. It is salvation that gets you into heaven, but what is your hear posture when you have wealth? What is amazing about those who are poor and what we get to see is that they above all demonstrate God’s gracious saving work.
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?
Again, we see how wealth can affect the heart.
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.
James goes right back to Jesus’s words.
Video here
Video here
It is easy to love those close to us. It is easy to love those who do us well. It is easy to love those with a high social status because it might gain us something. But we are called to love everyone.
“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
We are to love those who persecute us, we are to love those people that it is hard or awkward, or might cost us something to love.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
The Lord shows no partiality in the general grace that He gives. We also know that He came to die for everyone, like John 3:16 says. So then why do we judge those around us?
Lastly,
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Jesus talking in one of the parables about the final judgement, He points this out. That what we do to the least of these, we do to Him. That what we are doing to those around us, we are doing to Him.
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 ends with this, much like what Jesus said “in the same way that we judge, we will also be judged.” But he makes an important distinction here. That we often think we are killing it when it comes to doing what God has called us to do, but if we neglect something, we are at fault of it all.
We might be doing great in not telling lies, but how is your lust? We might be great at lust, but how is your gossip? We might be great at gossip, but how is your heart towards people?
When Jesus says to follow Him, He is not looking for just certain aspects, but rather looking for the whole heart, which means that we need to give every part of ourselves to the Lord.
