Signs of an Unhealthy Church: The Sin of Partiality

James 2:1-4 “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. Partiality (차별은) offends (불쾌하게) Christ (2:1)

i. Verse 1 speaks of one simple truth. If you show partiality, that is incompatible with the faith that you say you have. 2:1 should be read as a question. Do you truly believe that your favoritism is reflective of someone who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?

ii. When we think about the church, we think that the church is so different from the Biblical times and the times that we are going through now. But what we see from this section is that the church has always been the same. Why? Because sin is and always has been the same. You see, discrimination wasn’t something that just happens today. It is something that has always happened. This is why James is dealing with this issue here.

iii. James is telling his listeners to not discriminate on people based on their exterior. The usage of words James uses is interesting. The word here for discriminating is literally translated as receiving the face. To “receive the face” means to make judgments about people based on external appearance. Although it can speak of social and fiscal situations, the fact that favoritism is plural tells us that it is more wide in range. We are not to make decisions about people based on any external factor—whether it be dress, color of skin, or general physical appearance.

iv. We think this is a very noble idea but this has been an idea that has been taught consistently throughout the OT. One of the clearest passages is found in 1 Samuel 16:7 where it talks about David. Before David was chosen, Samuel saw some of the sons of Jesse. Based off of appearance, Samuel thought Eliab would be king. That’s when the Lord spoke to Samuel telling him that men look at the outside but God looks at the heart. After Jesse had gone through all his children and Samuel said that none of his sons were fit to be king, he asked if there was another son. Jesse stated that he had one last son who was tending to the sheep, David, who would ultimately be God’s king.

v. When we think of this example, we are all guilty of this type of behavior. We all want to be rich because we are deceived to think that only the rich people are truly happy. This is why people strive after trying to make money. We think that the exterior is what brings happiness. But as we grow older, we soon learn that happiness is not because of our wealth. We realize that happiness is inward. We could have nothing and still be happy. We could have everything and still be sad.

vi. James is reminding us of this same principle. What we see here in the text shows us that even people back then thought the same as us today. If we have an attitude of favoritism then this passage is telling us of our own sin.

vii. Now this is not to say this was actually what they were doing because James was using hypothetical language, but James was using this illustration to make a point. Just as in the example James uses shows partiality, he was using this example to show them that they were clearly guilty of being partial.

viii. But if everyone is partial to a certain degree, why is this wrong? There seems to be three reasons. First, it’s wrong because in the book of James, doublemindedness is frowned upon. James is asking the question, how can you have faith and yet be partial? How can you who has faith also be partial if you have faith in Him?

ix. Secondly, the book of James is simply echoing the common theme that he started at the end of chapter 1. Pure religion is not just thinking to be religious (1:26-27). It is to act upon those things. This idea is expressed in 2:20, that faith without works is useless. Therefore, James is helping his listeners understand, that if you have faith in Christ, showing favoritism is offensive to Him.

x. Lastly, in 2:9, James says if you show partiality it is sin. This is the biggest problem because God cannot sin. Therefore, if we are partial, than it is offensive to Christ because it goes against the very nature of God. God is not like man that He should lie or a son of man that He should repent (Numbers 23:19).

xi. If we borrow the teaching from James 2:8-12, it helps us understand a bit better. 2:8-12 speaks about the royal law and if we are keeping the royal law, the ten commandments, by loving your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. So the comparison here is if you love your neighbor as yourself, than you are not showing partiality. But if you don’t love your neighbor as yourself, than you are showing partiality and that is a breaking of the law and is sin.

xii. So James summarizes in 2:12 by telling us therefore you are to speak and act as those who have been judged by the law of liberty. So what is the law of liberty? Based upon similar language in Galatians 5:13, we should use our freedom to love one another and serve one another. Love is the natural fruit and the necessary evidence of being justified by faith (Galatians 5:6; James 2:17 ). James and Paul are saying if you are saved, then you will love, not because you love, therefore you are saved. Love is the kind of law that governs us when we are freed from condemnation by the blood and righteousness of Christ. And we will be judged under this law of liberty. If we have not loved, we will perish, because there will be no evidence that we are born again and justified by faith.

b. Partiality offends the Gospel (2:2-4)

i. What is interesting about verses 2-3 is that man is always the same. Just as people discriminate and treat the rich better than the poor today, it’s clearly something that was happening back then. James was teaching that people are guilty of showing this type of partiality in the church then, but this is a bigger problem than that.

ii. We have so many problems today in our culture because people don’t understand partiality correctly. Partiality is problematic because it causes divisions.

iii. In verse 2-3, it shows us a picture of a man who has a rich visitor and also a poor visitor. Well, because we are sinful, we think that we should be nicer to the rich person because we can gain something from them. In today’s terms, if we see someone come into the parking lot with an expensive car and we see people look rich, we tend to think that we should be nicer to them so they continue coming to church. But if someone is homeless, we don’t care whether they come or not, because there’s nothing to gain from them.

iv. If we were honest, this affects the way we think about even salvation. If someone is rich, we think about reaching out to them more often because there’s something to gain from them. But if they are poor, we don’t think twice about asking them to come because there’s nothing to gain from them. Salvation should never be measured by someone’s wealth. We should seek the lost because they are lost, not because we can get something in return.

v. What is significant here in this illustration is the fact that this person is looking at two people completely differently. Again, the picture of doublemindedness shows up. How can a person look at one person one way and another person a completely different way? Why? Because at the end of the day, man is man. Nobody is better than the other. James is making the point through this example that wealth doesn’t make a person better before God. His wealth isn’t the reason why God chooses a person over another.

vi. I love the question in verse 4. James is putting all his listeners in a corner and making this simple point. James’s point being that the discrimination exhibited in the community is another manifestation of a wavering, divided attitude toward God. James is reminding us that our outward actions is because of our inward disposition. If we show partiality to others, it is because we have grown distant from God.

i. But more importantly, why is partiality an afront to God? Because James tells us when we show partiality, we actually become the judge of others. Through our partiality, we are the ones who decide is good enough to receive salvation. When we show partiality, what God is telling us is that we pervert the very Gospel we proclaim. How? Because we say salvation is based on how much or what I gain from you. It’s not about the beauty of Christ and His death on the cross, but rather, what I could receive from you. James’s point here is to say that when we show partiality, we are effectively deciding on God’s behalf who deserves salvation and who doesn’t. It perverts the Gospel by telling us it is no longer about the grace of God but rather man’s possession. God doesn’t choose people because of His grace, but now, based upon what God can receive in return.

ii. If we are showing partiality to others, this passage is reminding us of our need to look inwardly and check our hearts. May God grant us a heart to look inwardly that we might bring glory to God outwardly.

3. CONCLUSION