Partiality in the Church James 2:1-13

Partiality in the Church James 2:1-13 We saw last week that James was telling the Christian Jews who were dispersed around the Roman world that they were to live out their faith in a practical way. True faith in God is always accompanied by a change in direction to match the direction God is going in. How we act is to reflect God s character and not our own sinful character. This morning James continues on the same theme, but in our text today we see James addressing some practical faith issues that affected the early church, as they do the modern church. So let s dig into the text this morning to see what God has for us. James 2:1 3 (ESV) 2 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 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, James again refers to the Dispersed Jewish Christians as my brothers reflecting that James was addressing other believers, 1 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

followers of Jesus. James was talking to members of the true church. He goes on to tell the church that they should not show any partiality in the practice of their faith. Partiality is a form of prejudice that caused and does cause real problems within the church. Leaders in the churches were always on the lookout for wealthy people, connected people, important people, and would provide the wealthy, connected, important people with benefits not available to others. James does not state in the text here why the people were categorized by Church leadership, but I can imagine that leaders were doing this for their own benefit. If they can attract a wealthy person, then the potential for receiving more in the offering was real, which may translate into greater income for the leader personally. But I think the issue of partiality was greater than just being self-serving. Society, in the areas where the dispersed Jews were living, were divided into classes of people. Some of the divisions were because of wealth or the lack thereof. Others classes were formed because of the importance of connectedness of the people. Some people fit into a low socioeconomic class while others fit into a higher socioeconomic class. As people came to know the Lord, these classes then became part of the church society as well. A member of high society who came to know the Lord remained a member of high society within the church. But that caused all sorts of problems within 2 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

the church and hurt the churches mission given to it by Jesus. A member of the high class would have a difficult time reaching out to a member of the lower class and vis versa. Social classes within the church make it harder for the church to be effective in the assigned ministry. Ad to this that as Jews they were prohibited from showing partiality. Take a look at what Moses told the Jews: Deuteronomy 1:17 (ESV) 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it. When the church shows favoritism, partiality, class warfare, we violate the nature and character of God. Romans 2:11 (ESV) 11 For God shows no partiality. Ephesians 6:9 (ESV) 9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. 3 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

We could go on to several other verses where we see that God is not swayed by our socioeconomic class, our wealth, our selfimportance, etc. Our value to God is not determined by our money or anything else temporal. Since God is not partial, we should not be partial either. James 2:4 (ESV) 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? James points out that when we divide the church into different socioeconomic classes, we do so with evil intention. There is nothing proper or Biblical about prejudice, no matter what form it is, especially within the church. We do not have the ability to make these distinctions properly without evil. James 2:5 7 (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? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? I don t think these verses are as much about the spiritual wealth of the poor verse the spiritual depravity of the wealthy, as much 4 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

as who God primarily used to start the church and spread the gospel. Think about who the early church leaders were. Men who had given up everything to follow Jesus. Men who became outcasts because they followed Jesus. Men who could no longer operate their businesses and operate within society. The early church leaders, the foundation of the church was of men who were now physically poor but extremely wealthy spiritually. You see the underlying principle in the text here is when we show favoritism to those we think will provide us a benefit, we reveal to the world our true sinful state and our own manipulative desires. One of the things I learned about ministry was that as Pastor I should never have access to the giving records. I should never know who gave what in the church. That is the only way that I can ensure that my pastoral care is not self-serving and only for those who give. My level of pastoral care is not determined by how much you give. What are some of the dangers for the church to treat people differently based on their socioeconomic class? 1. We may be discounting the work being done within the person. If we treat them only based upon their money we will miss the work God is doing in them. Often God is doing a great work in the most unassuming, meek and poor person. 5 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

2. We also disrespect God and His choice of people. We are not privy to why God has chosen each of us, so we have no right to pass judgment upon them 3. If we separate people based up age, we might miss what God is doing in the new believer who is younger or the old saint who had a lifetime of experience. We could go on and on with examples how our judging the value of a person will lead us down the wrong path. We also see in the text the reality that often those who are connected, those who are wealthy, those to whom we give special treatment to, use their wealth, position and honor against us. Sort of give an inch and take a mile. The wealthy are used to getting what they want, and so when they don t get what they want in the church, they look for ways to get it. Causing unrest in the church, even going to court to get what they want. I read about a case where a wealthy family sued a church they had been part of for years because all of a sudden they did not like how things were going in the church. They sued for ownership of the building since they had donated the land and provided the majority of the money for the building. They felt they had the right to dictate what the church did. They ended up losing the suit but the drawn-out lawsuit damaged the reputation of the church which ended up folding a couple years later. 6 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

In the next few verses James moves into how we really should act within the church. James 2:8 (ESV) 8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. Our love for others should not be based upon external stuff like socioeconomic status, wealth, connections, etc. It should be based upon an impossible standard apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. John 13:34 35 (ESV) 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. The royal law, the law given by the King Himself, Jesus, was that we love like Jesus loves. By loving like Jesus loves we reflect properly that we are followers of Jesus. James is setting up a comparison of sorts. He is comparing what is happening in the church, the favoritism being shown compared to the ideal Jesus Himself gave. What is the proper way to reflect the nature and character of Jesus? To actually do what He told us to do and what He modled for us. 7 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

James 2:9 (ESV) 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. That is about as black and white as it gets. If you show favoritism in the church you are sinning. What is the sin here? I would argue the sin is violating the nature and character of God. It doing what Jesus said not to do. James then moves on to focus more on sin, or the degrees of sin, within the church. It seems like there was the thought that favoritism was not a high sin and could be in some form tolerated. We don t know, but it seems that there may have been some in the church who argued that it was not that big a deal, they were just doing what was going on naturally in society. But look how James responds: James 2:10 (ESV) 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. It does not matter what the sin is, it violates the nature and character of God, and it only takes one sin to make us guilty. There are no degrees of guilt. You are guilty, or you are not. So any argument that makes favoritism not a big deal is a bad argument and those who play favorites are guilty and stand before God as guilty sinners. 8 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

James 2:11 (ESV) 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. As I studied this, I wondered why this verse is in the text. But then I saw the connection. What is the basis for both murder and adultery being sins? The basis is the command of God. God said do not commit adultery and God said, do not murder. They both violate the nature and character of God. All sin violates the nature and character of God. Anything that violates the nature and character of God is a sin. Showing partiality to someone because of our own self-serving desires violates the nature and character of God and therefore is a sin and does not reflect the proper picture we are to reflect. We are to look like Jesus, not the world. We are to be in our white hats. But James does not stop there. This issue is biger and deeper than that. James 2:12 13 (ESV) 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What is the law of liberty? We saw last week in our text. 9 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

James 1:25 (ESV) 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. We determined last week that the law of Liberty was God s word, the revelation of who God is and what He wants us to do. God s word, written out as the Bible and written on our hearts by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Let me see If I can explain it a little better. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins. He purchased us on the slave market of sin and liberated us from bondage to sin. We no longer are slaves to sin, we now sin because we choose to. James 2:12 13 (ESV) 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. So James says we are to speak and act like we have been liberated from sin, we will no longer be judged for our sin, it was dealt with by Jesus blood, and we should act that way. We have been freed from the power of sin all we have to do is follow God and be obedient to Him and not chose to sin. 10 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

James goes on in verse 13 to reflect that God provides for us mercy because we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus which is visualized by the reality that we act differently than the world. We act differently than the world because we have been transformed by the power of God in our lives. God does not give us mercy because we act different, that would be salvation by works. God give us mercy, and because of that mercy, we are liberated to live according to His will and not our own. Conclusion These verses are complex and sometimes difficult for us to understand. I trust we have made them just a little easier for us to comprehend. James was dealing with an issue in the church that prevented the church from being different from the world and looking different from the world. The only thing that prevents the church from looking and acting different from the world is sin. In the example James gave, it was the sin of partiality or prejudice based up selfish reasons. But in reality, there are many ways sin creeps into the church and prevents us from looking like Jesus and not looking different than the world. Prejudice is a big one. Pragmatism is another big one today. Pragmatism is the process of making the church inviting to the world, so they want to come in. That won t work to make followers of Jesus, it only works to make followers of the world. 11 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,

We also have the wondering away from the word of God to make the church more attractive to the world. That also does not work and is sin. In chapter 1 and now the first half of chapter 2 James has made clear that we need to remain closely tied to the law of liberty, the word of God written out in the Bible as well as written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, obedient to the commands of God, not violating the nature and character of God to be viewed as followers of God. We are to live out our faith in real and practical ways, reflecting God and not ourselves. Let s Pray! 12 Page Dr. Rich Schnieders,