When Faith Confronts Favoritism
Series: Real Faith (The Book of James)
Brad Bailey - July 14, 2013
Intro:
Let me begin by asking you to reflect on this question:
Who do you tend to include in your life?
Who do you tend NOT to include in your life?
All of us walk around with an unpublished list in our minds of desirable and undesirable
people.
Whose on your unpublished list of desirable and undesirable people?
How might it relate to wealth...success...education.... race...age...gender?
These are dynamics that God speaks to us about today.....as we continue to hear what the
apostle James wrote in the New Testament book that bears his name.
James focuses on 'Real Faith".... not simply what we claim to believe...or even want to believe...but
how the reality of life with God changes how we live.
So as we continue through the Book of James, he begins by...
IDENTIFYING the problem between faith and favoritism
James 1:26-2:1 (NLT)
26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your
religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for
orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. 1 My dear brothers
and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some
people over others?
James focuses on 'Real Faith"....because as we know... ideas about faith and religion can be
corrupted. We can twist the truth to fit our own bent.
One of the ways it can go bad is when we think that all that matters is not doing bad things. We
become prideful of what we "don't do" that others do... merciless. It can be hard to be around that
type of person or group. Often something seems wrong...and it's usually how they treat people.
Here we are confronted with what really matters - HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE....especially
those who may seem to have less...or to be in a position of weakness.
He speaks of one's "religion" not as a category of certain beliefs...as we might today...but more as
one's faithfulness to God...the living God.
He begins saying it doesn't matter what you claim...if what comes out of your mouth does not
honor people... your so called faith is worthless.
For Jesus had challenged the religious leaders that it's what comes out of a man that reveals
their hearts. James will speak more about the significance of our speech later.
He tells us that the real deal...that which God the Father is looking at... is how we treat those with
needs around us... and how we refuse the ways of this world that corrupt us.
There is something vital to catch in stating both an element of omission and commission....we are to
keep ourselves "pure" ... that is, from that which does not reflect our true nature...AND actively live
out such a nature by how we CARE FOR THOSE IN NEED.
Real faith is not simply one or the other. Some think that if they care about the poor....nothing else
they do with their lives matters....but here he is engaging the opposite problem. We can't just
withdraw and abstain from bad things...we are to care for orphans and widows.
Now specifically...he begins to identify a central issue... which is to "show favor to some people
over others." He is confronting the issue of favoritism.
Not referring to simply having some people we feel closer to and may be more intimate with.
• We all do that.
• Jesus did that.
• He is not referring to the normal flow of developing intimacy...but rather he is confronting
"favoritism"
Favoritism is about the way treat people based on outward circumstances.
This becomes clear as James...
Now he gives
An EXAMPLE of favoritism
James 1:26-2:2-4 (NLT)
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive
jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. 3 If you give special
attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there,
or else sit on the floor”—well, 4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by
evil motives?
James offers a graphic illustration of the problem. Two men come into a gathering ....one is
decked out and obviously wealthy (literally "gold handed"...meaning with lots of gold on his
fingers)...and common work worn dirty clothes. The wealthy is given the choice seat...and the poor
man is told to "stand off to the side" or sit on the floor.
There is nothing wrong with extending a warm welcome to the rich visitor.
> The sin was in treating the poor visitor differently.
Maybe it sounds a little more extreme than you can relate to. (Around here few show up in a
suit and tie....and if they do...they may feel less at home.)
Many people have described us to be a very open and welcoming community of lives. And in
so many ways I see that quality. I believe we not only have proven to welcome...but really care
about those in need.
But I also believe that what James is confronting...."favoritism" is still a very real challenge
not just in our midst...but in our hearts. I believe we all have some degree of "unpublished list in
our minds of desirable and undesirable people."
If we're honest...this dynamic is alive and real...and running through us. James is using this
illustration to reveal a more common dynamic. It’s obvious that we shouldn’t treat people
differently just because they can’t afford top-of-the-line clothes. That’s obvious—but what is the
point of the illustration?
> James gives us such a simple illustration to point out WHY we treat people differently.
He wants to show us our motives behind why we treat people differently. We treat people
differently because of what verse 4 says.
This is "discrimination"... and it shows that we are making "judgments"..."guided by evil
motives."
Because we like to set ourselves up as judge and jury.
Think about what it means to show partiality. In order to show partiality, first you have to
determine a difference between the people in question. Then you have to make a judgment as
to which person is better than the other one.
What's the bent of our fallen nature?
> To choose or "favor" those who will benefit us or will make us look good.
This can include the subtly of being most like ourselves or who we want to be like.
In James’ illustration, why do you think they gave the rich man the preferred seat?
[Because of what they could get out of him. This could include actual financial gain...but far more
commonly may include either feeling close to power... or being connected to success... perhaps such
a successful person sort of validates one...and the church community.]
It can sound so shameful that we can't accept it's potential in us.
> My sense is that it is as common as anything we share.
When we understand that the issue if about our bent to relate to others for how the benefit us or
will make us look good...in a way that will dishonor some...and dishonor God....we can begin to
understand that this is not simply about rich and poor.
I believe we start our challenge with rich and poor. We are a culture still quite enamored with the
wealth...and can watch whole shows about the lives of the rich and famous.
But if favoritism is rooted in honoring those who make us feel better about ourselves... and in turn
dishonoring others.... we do well to consider other factors along with how rich or poor someone is.
Do we favor the successful... and famous...and popular....over the unknown?
Do we favor the beautiful...attractive.... over those who may appear less attractive?
Do we favor one race more than another....because it seems better?
Do we favor one gender more....because it seems superior?
Do we favor the educated... to re-affirm how smart we are...and how superior our knowledge
makes us?
These are very real issues for me...both personally and pastorally. I can be impressed with the
success of wealth and influence. As one who seeks to build community... I can feel challenged by
the breadth of needs...and want to see the strength and resources of those who have been successful.
My spirit has to listen to Jesus ...who gives me compassion for those who are successful....for they
carry much that is not seen....and compassion for those whose need is obvious....as I sense Jesus'
presence with them.
I have to learn to see like Jesus...who saw a wealthy man come into the place of
offering...followed by a poor widow...who gave only two coins...her last. He went WOW at the
faith he saw in her.
It’s been my experience that God will use both wealthy and poor people to test our hearts.
Both are a test as to how we will respond to them. Both have needs. Both should be treated with
respect and love.
It is really their experience...not our self-assessment that may be the most telling.
And I think it's important to understand that James gave this illustration to highlight that which is
not limited to the dynamics of gathering. Some of our deeper prejudices may come out where
we live...or where we work.
The central issue is this: Are we concerned about their well-being or are we just seeing them
for what we can get out of them. The fundamental issue is that selfishness....and how our
selfishness allows us to dishonor others and thereby dishonor God.
To show favoritism is incompatible with our faith because...
Favoritism doesn't participate in the nature of God our Father
God is not partial. He is no respecter of persons.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 (NLT)
“For the LORD your God...shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. He ensures that orphans and
widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and
clothing. So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the
land of Egypt.
The symbol for Justice is always a blindfolded lady holding scales in her hand. Unable to see
anyone because of the blindfold she is able to serve the cause of justice impartially. God does not
allow Lady Justice to peek. He is no respecter of persons. With Him there is no partiality. He
expects us to make equitable judgments also or we are guilty of injustice.
> God is looking at the inside and wants us to see inside-out. We see what people look
like...what they have. We assess them by their ethnicity, education, gender, and age. God
appreciates those as unique aspects of their life but not their worth. God is looking at the
inside.
One of Jesus' disciples named Peter was faithfully sharing the good news about Christ having come
to save his people... and assumed what God was doing didn't include Gentile....but God had to
expand his perspective. he would finally declare....
"God does not show favoritism." - Acts 10:34
And in one of his own inspired letters of the faith, he wrote...
1 Peter 1:17 (NLT)
"Remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites...."
Warren Wiersbe nails it when he says: "The way we behave toward people indicates what we
really believe about God."
Now he begins to REASON with us about what's wrong and what must be set right.
EXPOUNDING on the problems with favoritism
James 2:5-6a (NLT)
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in
faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6 But
you dishonor the poor!
The first point he makes is that favoritism is inconsistent with how God reveals His glory most
through our human weakness.
1. Treat people in a way that honors God being most glorified in our human need and
weakness.
God has chosen to honor the poor and you dishonor them. God has chosen to honor the poor
because he is most glorified in our human need...and weakness.
Jesus was born among the poor and simple.
Jesus himself was poor…his parents borrowed a manger; he borrowed a boat, a donkey and an
upper room for the last supper. And, He was buried in a borrowed grave.
Jesus often blessed the poor (Matthew 5:3) and warned the wealthy (Matthew 19:23-24).
Why? Because as James says... the poor bear the potential to be rich in faith.
Those who are in need can best rely on God.
Those who don't control much have the most potential to not presume they are in control.
And in these ways...they can be rich in faith.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NLT)
God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And
he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised
by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world
considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
He goes on...
James 2:6b-7 (NLT)
Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus
Christ, whose noble name you bear?
The second point he makes is that favoritism is inconsistent with what serves the proper use of
power.
James establishes his point by asking a series of three questions;
• Who is Oppressing You?,
• Who is dragging You in to Court?
• And Who is Blaspheming the name by with you are called?
The point is that the very thing you are giving favor to is that which is exploiting you.
Wealth is not wrong in ANY way. Nor is the gaining of wealth inherently wrong in any way.
But the gaining of wealth is OFTEN done in ways that exploit others...like themselves.
Those who were wealthy had the power then...as they often do today...to control others.... to drag
them to court for money owed...and to dishonor God with their public influence. So he wants them
to see the inconsistency of allowing their selfish hopes of gaining to draw them to the same power.
Do they really want to serve the world's power that exploits?
2. Treat people in a way that does not further the improper use of power.
The same could be said for how we might serve the exploitive use of looks...education...and so
much else.
Don't further exploit human power over others.
He goes on...
James 2:8-11 (NLT)
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your
neighbor as yourself.” 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are
guilty of breaking the law. 10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a
person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit
adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery,
you have still broken the law.
The third point he makes is that favoritism is inconsistent with the "royal law" of loving our
neighbor.
3. Treat people in a way that does not break the central law of Christ.
Christians are called upon to live by the “royal law” which is the law of love for our neighbor. Jesus
outlines this royal law in Matthew 22 when a young lawyer asked, “Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the law?”(37) Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (38) This is the first and great commandment.
(39) And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (40) On these two
commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:36-40) (JH)
It is called the royal law because it is the supreme law of human relationships and because it
was given by the King of Kings.
(Noted by James Drake)
In just those few sentences, Jesus summed up the 10 commandments. The first four
commandments deal with the way we are supposed to love God. The next six deal with the
way we are supposed to love each other. But not only did Jesus’ two commandments perfectly
sum up the 10 commandments, they perfectly summed up the whole Old Testament. They
completely summed up the law and the prophets. In other words, all that God had revealed in
His Word up till that time was summed up in those two commandments. Everything that God
reveals of Himself deals with how we are to treat Him and how we are to treat others.
In some of His last words to His disciples before He was betrayed, Jesus told them in John 13:34-
35: “A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one another; as I have loved you... By
this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” That is what
James calls the royal law according to the Scripture.
So, is it really that big of a deal when we show preference to people? Is it really that big of a
deal when we treat people in a selfish self-serving manner?
How serious is this?
Serious enough that Jesus listed it as only one of two commandments. Serious enough that He
reiterated it by telling us it was His only new commandment. Treat others in light of Jesus’
commandments.
James offers an exaggerated example to prove his point. In the 10 Commandments God said,
“You shall not murder” and also “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:13,14). Both are clearly
forbidden. It is absurd to argue, “I didn’t kiss my neighbor’s wife; I just shot him between the
eyes.”
He goes on...
James 2:12-13 (NLT)
12 So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets
you free. 13 There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have
been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.
Finally, here he declares that favoritism is inconsistent with the very mercy we rely on to
overcome judgment.
In verse 12 he tells them they should live as people who know they will one day stand before
God’s judgment. That’s a good word for most of us Christians in America. We have almost lost
sight of the fact that we will one day stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and give account
of the deeds done in this body. It will matter whether the faith we professed actually proved to be
the real thing. It will matter how we treated people.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.” That’s what James is talking
about in verse 13. If you want mercy on Judgment Day then show some mercy to people now.
On that Judgment Day it’s not going to be a matter of what the institution did—what the
church organization as a whole did. You’re going to give account for what you did. I’m going to
give account for what I did.
We are in constant need of God’s mercy and James shows us on what terms we may have it:
“There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others.” (13).
This is not a suggestion that our expressions of mercy somehow obligate God to show us mercy.
Our mercy simply indicates that we recognize the basis of our own acceptance before God.
If we aren't merciful it reflects that we don't embrace relying on God's mercy to overcome
judgment.
4. Treat people in a way that embraces God's mercy over judgment.
The most fundamental truth is that we all long for justice and mercy. We all see aspects of life that
sem unfair...wrong....and we want justice. If we are merely the product of meaningless matter that
has evoleved with no intended order....then there is really no basis for any idea of right order and
justice. But God has created the universe and he is just. Now some believe simply in karma...an
impersonal system of justice alone. We simply must reap what we sow. I don't know about
you....but I am banking on more than justice. I need mercy that reached beyond justice....not
ignoring justice....but reaching beyond it.
That is what we all need.
Each of us will seek to be find worth in our accomplishments or appearance... but
accomplishments are generally short lived...and appearances fade.
God declares that we can only face ourselves when we are accepted by His mercy. That is why
Christ came as the savior... to reclaim us as daughters and sons...to bear our shame...to bear the
consequences of our sin and separation.
If you have never received Christ... and come to the cross of his mercy...you can do that today.
For all of us... today God is calling us to awaken from the false way of seeing people from the
outside in...and to begin to see people as he does...from the inside out.
Just as we have the power to exclude people...we have the power to include people. It isn't limited
to when we gather...but there's no more appropriate place to exercise treating others as equal.
It can start with just greeting.... talking.
Jackie Robinson was the first black to play major league baseball. While breaking baseball’s
"color barrier," he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. While playing one day in his home
stadium in Brooklyn, he committed an error.
His own fans began to ridicule him. He stood at second base, humiliated, while the fans jeered.
Then shortstop "Pee Wee" Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Jackie
Robinson and faced the crowd. The fans grew quiet. Robinson later said... that arm around his
shoulder saved his career.
> You can make that kind of difference in someone else’s life.
Resources: Jim Drake, Richard Tow, John Hamby, Brian Bill
