Community of Allegiance

Welcome

Good morning, friends! Good to be with you today! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and serve here as the teaching pastor at Lifepoint Worthington.

New Guest Language

Introduction

We are continuing today in our series called Everyday Faith. So if you have a bible with you, meet me in James chapter 2. James 2 and we’ll be in verses 1-9. James 2:1-9.

Series Recap

Just to catch you up:

We’re walking through the New Testament letter of James—and what’s been so compelling about this book is the clarity with which James speaks into a chaotic and divided world.

James is writing in the first century, to a community of followers of Jesus trying to navigate life under Roman rule. It’s a world full of political pressure, cultural polarization, and economic instability.

And in that moment, people were being pulled in opposite directions.

Some said, “It’s time to fight—resist the empire!” Others said, “Fall in line—join the empire!”

But James offers a third way—the way of allegiance to Jesus.

And that word “allegiance” matters. In the first century, faith wasn’t just about private belief, as it typically is today—it was about public loyalty. It was a word used for pledging devotion to Caesar. So when James talks about “faith,” he’s not just saying “believe the right things”—he’s saying: live as if Jesus is King.

In many ways, this letter is about what it looks like to live as a community of allegiance—a people who live differently because their ultimate loyalty is to Jesus, not to the powers or patterns of the world!

Hook - Why Today Matters

Today, James is going to name a subtle danger that threatens that kind of community—something that might seem small at first, but can quietly erode the whole thing from the inside; what he calls “partiality.”

He’s going to challenge how we view people—especially within the church—and how easily we bring the world’s metric of status, performance, and usefulness into a space that’s supposed to be defined by grace, honor, and love.

This passage confronts a hard truth: that you and I are regularly tempted to treat people based on what they can offer us.

And here’s why this matters for all of us—whether you’ve been a Christian for years, or you're still figuring out what you believe:

We’ve all been shaped by a profoundly transactional culture.

A culture where relationships are measured by what you bring to the table. Where your value is tied to your productivity, influence, or image.

But James says—not here. Not in the community of allegiance to Jesus. Not among people who claim to follow a King who gave up everything for those who had nothing to offer in return.

Because when we treat people with partiality—when we play favorites, or size people up based on what they can do for us—we aren’t just being rude—we are denying the very story we claim to believe.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to James 2. We’ll be in v. 1-9. James 2:1-9. I’ll pray, and we’ll get started.

Pray

Partiality

Alright, let’s go ahead and get started.

Look with me again at v. 1.

James 2:1 ESV

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

“Or…in practicing your allegiance to our Lord Jesus Christ…you must not display any kind of “partiality.”

We’re going to come back to that word in a few moments, but for now - think of “partiality” as making a judgment about someone in the community based on some attribute they have…and then given better treatment based on that attribute. Look at how he describes it as he keeps going.

Verse 2.

James 2:2–3 ESV

2 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, 3 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,”

And it’s pretty vivid picture isn’t it?

You pull up in the nice car - with the nice clothes - and whatever form of “opulence” you can think of…

None of which is wrong!

But by virtue of how you show up…what you look like…you get special treatment.

And the other side is that those who don’t show up that way get over looked…and maybe not outright neglected, but just end up a bit forgotten.

Partiality creates a kind of class system within the church…you have groups…those who are on top and those who aren’t. Those who have prestige and honor, influence and power, and those who don’t!

And for James, this completely misses the point of how God’s Kingdom operates!

James 2:5–6 ESV

5 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? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court?

After all, the very story of the Gospel is centered on how Jesus first gave up his status for us…how he first emptied himself - humbled himself - took on the vulnerability of being human - blessed the poor in spirit - cared for the outcast, the weak, the poor, the forgotten - and then charged his followers to do the same!

And he brings his thoughts to a climactic moment declaring that a community of Allegiance to Jesus takes hold of what he calls the “royal law”…

James 2:8 ESV

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”

The idea being that on the other end of the spectrum is a community that is actively rejecting partiality and embracing a true and real love of neighbor!

That the church would would be is community that looks out for one another’s needs, [EXPAND].

His point partiality is actually quite simple: don’t do it!

To which, I think we would all say, “Yes! We agree. Partiality bad! Love of neighbor - good! Got it!

And that friends - is 15 minutes - it’s pretty short sermon from me.

PAUSE

Partiality

But…

I just keep having these nagging questions that come up for me as I think about this passage.

Because it sounds very simple…obvious, really…but James takes a pretty big swing this, right?

Look with me at v. 9.

James 2:9–11 ESV

9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 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.

And it’s not an out-right comparison, but in the same space that he talks about partiality, he goes on to talk about adultery and murder…those a pretty serious, right?

Whatever the reason James had, to me, it gives me at least a little pause…my ears perk up a little bit - maybe partiality is a bit more serious than I thought…maybe there’s more going on here.

Actually, the more I started to look through this passage, the more I realized James is taking aim at an issue that is far closer to home!

Roman Patronage

The first thing that started to jump out to me has to do what something we’ve been doing all along in this series - trying to jump back to the cultural moment James was in…trying to make sense of his world so that we can get a better idea of what was going on at the time - and make better connections to how this might play out in our own time.

And one of the first things that jumped out to me had to do with the example of partiality that James used back in v. 2. You can look again there.

James 2:2–3 ESV

2 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, 3 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,”

He calls this partiality, which - as we’ve seen - James is strongly against!

But this whole practice of giving prominence and influence based on “status,” in the Roman world (which James was living and writing in) was exactly how things were supposed to work!

In fact, the whole social structure in the Roman empire was built on what we call “Patronage”.

This was the unchallenged social and political operating system of their world. Think of it like a massive pyramid built on transactional relationships. At the top were the wealthy and powerful Patrons, and beneath them were their lower-status Clients. The Patrons had money and power so they could offer money, power, protection, and opportunities.

IN EXCHANGE, the Client owed the Patron their absolute loyalty, their vote, and their public honor…in short, it cost them their allegiance!

And this kind of favoritism wasn't a flaw in this system; it was the system. Giving preferential treatment to the rich and powerful wasn't seen as wrong; it was seen as smart.

It was how you got things done.

Your value…your influence was determined by who you knew and what you could offer them.

Now, with that system burned into your mind, listen again to the specific scene James paints.

James 2:2–3 ESV

2 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, 3 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,”

This isn't just a random example he made up.

For his original audience, this would have been an unmistakable and shocking picture of the Roman patronage system walking right through the front door of the church.

You see, more than just a nice moral lesson on being kind to different kinds of people…James is describing this tendency for followers of Jesus to bring their understanding of how the world works right into the midst of this new community of the church - one that is supposed to be a community of allegiance to Jesus - and try to use the same set of transactions to get things done!

Transactional Community

And friends, in a moment of honesty, I think we have to ask if we end up doing the same thing…maybe far more often that we think…

PAUSE

No, we don't have a formal patronage system anymore…

But the world we live in has hardwired us to operate by a very similar rule: life is a series of transactions.

This isn't just one idea among many; it is the fundamental operating system of our culture.

It’s the air we breathe.

And this training starts early. The carrot and stick framework is everywhere in childhood. It's not wrong to reward kids for good grades or to praise them for their effort. But somewhere along the way, the subtle, underlying message we tend to absorb very early on from a thousand different places is that our value, our security, and even our lovability are tied to our performance.

As we get older, the training deepens!

Our dating lives can become like a consumer experience, swiping through profiles, looking for a partner who checks the right boxes for us. Even in our most profound relationships, like marriage and friendships, this transactional instinct tempts us to "keep score," becoming as a 50/50 contract where we're always subconsciously asking if we're getting a fair return on our emotional investment.

And it follows us everywhere! In our careers, we learn to network, leveraging relationships to get ahead. In our digital lives, we curate a personal "brand," exchanging likes and follows.

See, the end result is that we’ve been trained to be consumers in almost every area of life. You and I are formed to walk into any room, any relationship, a community, a meeting — dare I say, a church - and have the unspoken question deeply embedded in our hearts: "What's in it for me?"

Our worth becomes hopelessly tied to what we can offer, and we learn to judge others by that same utilitarian standard.

You see, in talking about partiality, James is masterfully addressing the very human and almost universal tendency to view our community through a transactional lens…where relationships are secretly about what we can get.

And, listen, I know that sounds bleak — but friends, I think the dangerous thing about partiality is how subtle it is, and how it touches all of us.

If partiality is the temptation to bring a transactional lens into the church, then we have to be honest about how that plays out differently among us.

Entitlement

Let’s start with one side of the equation — entitlement.

And I think this one shows up most often among those who’ve been around the church the longest — the people who have served faithfully, given sacrificially, and stayed when it would have been easier to leave. You’ve poured your time, energy, and resources into this community because you believe in what God is doing here.

And yet — the temptation to partiality can creep in through the quiet, unspoken belief that your contribution has earned you a certain kind of influence. That after all the ways you’ve shown up, there’s now a certain place that’s owed to you.

And it’s so subtle!

Because in a healthy church, of course your wisdom and investment should shape the community — that’s good stewardship!

But somewhere along the way, what starts as influence humbly received can become influence quietly expected.

And that shift — that razor-thin line — is the birthplace of entitlement.

It’s rarely a power grab. It’s usually much quieter — the gentle inner voice that says,

“After all I’ve done, don’t I deserve a little say? Don’t I deserve to be heard?”

And when that happens, even unintentionally, we start viewing community through the same transactional lens as the world: “I’ve paid in — so now I deserve a return.”

James would say — we’re showing up, expecting partiality!

Manipulation

But the other side of the coin hits closer to home for me.

Look again at verses 2 and 3, and imagine the scene James describes: “If a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in…”

If you picture that moment — who does it sound like those instructions are coming from?

It sounds like the pastor, doesn’t it?

Let me ask you. What happens when a pastor…when the one responsible to keep the community attentive to God, and His voice, and how He works…what happens when this person embraces that transactional lens for how they engage with everyone else?

Let me tell you how it plays out for me.

For the most part, it’s hidden.

You see, when I bring in this relationally transactional lens into my pastoral work, I find my self absolutely dominated by the fear of “what if.”

What if I don’t keep that person happy? What if I don’t spend enough time with them? What if I say something they disagree with? What if they stop giving? What if the y leave?

I know it sounds mellow-dramatic…and it’s probably because I’m a Millenial…but

What if I’m rejected?

More than that, there’s the fear that “what if I’m missing an opportunity?”

Like I have a vision for this church - there are things I want us to be engaged in - want us to do - much of which requires finances and people and serving! The very thins I am so afraid of loosing!

So ‘what if’ I spent just a little more time…gave a little extra attention…with the ones who can help us realize that vision? What if I made a little more of an effort not to “shake things up right now…” because what if I need them for something big right around the corner?

Friends, I think for many ministry leaders, and pastors…for me…the temptation to partiality plays itself out as a grand strategy to prevent those terrifying “what if’s!”

And the real kicker is that because I’m a pastor, I know exactly how to “baptize” so it doesn’t sound manipulative…even thought, at it’s heart, that’s exactly what it is.

At the end of the day, it’s taking that transactional lens right in the church - and in my heart of hearts, I often ask the same question everyone else does “what can I get out of this?”

And James says, that too is partiality.

Community of Manipulation Entitlement

And friends, when a community is shaped by these two forces—entitlement on one side and manipulation on the other — it stops being a family and starts feeling like a business.

The community becomes an exhausting place of striving, a hollowed-out version of the church where everyone is trying to justify their seat at the table.

Is it any wonder why so many…maybe even you…have walked away from a church…completely underwhelmed by the overwhelming sense, that it’s no different from the rest of world?

PAUSE

Grace not Transaction

Friends, this is why the Gospel—the good news about Jesus—is not just the entry point to the Christian life; it is the very air we have to breathe, to fight off the poison of partiality.

Because into this anxious, score-keeping, transactional world, the message of Jesus lands like an asteroid. It obliterates the entire system.

Think about the scene James paints one last time. A rich man and a poor man walk into the assembly. The transactional world inside of us immediately knows who to honor. But how does God react?

The good news is that God, in Jesus Christ, looked at all of humanity—spiritually poor, dressed in the shabby clothes of our own sin and brokenness—and He did not tell us to "stand over there.”

Instead, the King of Glory left His throne, walked over to us in our shame, and said, "You sit here with me."

He showed no partiality. He didn't look at our “value." He didn't weigh what we had to offer Him, because we had nothing. He didn't give us what we earned or what we deserved. Instead, He offered us pure, undeserved grace.

On the cross, Jesus took the judgment that our spiritual poverty deserved so that He could offer us the honor we could never earn. He treats us, the poor, as if we were the ones wearing the gold ring. He makes us "rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom."

Friends, this is the news that creates a completely different kind of community!

We are freed from endlessly trying to justify our seat at the table because we realize Jesus already secured it for us. We stop sizing people up because we remember that God didn't size us up.

We are freed from the exhausting work of manipulation and the bitter poison of entitlement because we are secure in the unconditional love of our King.

So What?

And when that gospel becomes the “air we breathe”, it doesn’t just change how we see ourselves — it changes how we see each other. It builds a community that looks like grace made visible.

In a community of Allegiance, shaped by grace, honor doesn’t climb upward — it flows downward. The overlooked are seen. The anxious are comforted. The powerful are humbled. It’s a place where people don’t walk out the room wondering, “Do I belong here?” because every person has already heard the invitation of Jesus: “You sit here with me.”

It’s a place where no one is trying to prove their worth, because worth has already been declared at the cross. A place where we stop keeping score — not because we’ve become less ambitious, but because we’ve learned to rest in love that can’t be earned or lost.

That’s the kind of community of allegiance that grace creates. And that’s the kind of community the world can’t ignore.

So what does this new way of life look like — right here, among us?

It looks like unseen kindness.

Because if partiality trains us to seek status and approval, then grace trains us to do good when nobody’s watching. It retrains our hearts to no longer crave the “hit” of recognition — that quiet reward of being noticed, thanked, or praised.

That’s the transaction we’ve lived on for so long. We’ve learned to measure our worth by the response we get.

But in the kingdom of Jesus, love doesn’t need to be seen to be real. The Father who sees in secret delights in what no one else applauds. So we practice kindness that no one posts about. We serve in places where nobody’s keeping score. We work in the margins, off the stage, without the platform — not because we don’t matter, but because He matters more.

SERVING PLUG

And slowly, almost imperceptibly, that practice starts to rewire our souls. We stop needing the transaction. We start tasting freedom.

That’s what grace does — it doesn’t just forgive us, it reforms us. It creates people who are no longer chasing approval because they already have the affection of their King.

Imagine a church where no one wonders if they belong because everyone knows they are loved. Where the poor sit beside the powerful, and both are equally at rest. That’s the community of Allegiance James is imagining. And the invitation is open to all of us.

Let’s pray.