05. The Sin of Favoritism

Sermons on James 2009

James 2:1-13

Introduction

We all like to think that we are above prejudice. We all like to think that while others might engage in judging based on illegitimate reasoning, we would never behave in such a way. But the Scripture wouldn’t talk as much as it does about the sin of wrongfully judging others if this were not a serious problem and something that we all need to guard against.

Soon, in his epistle, James is going to talk about the connection between faith and works. He’s going to teach that a living and true faith always gives evidence of itself through the works of the believer. Before coming to this section, however, James has something to say that is related to that connection between faith and works. As chapter 2 opens, James speaks of the sin of favoritism, which is a form of prejudice. The sin of favoritism has to do with the treatment shown to another due to elements that are inconsequential and that, therefore, should not be the basis for how a person is treated. The favoritism that James has in mind is the kind motivated by our perception of an individual when that perception is invalid.

In this sermon, we will be considering 2:1-13. As he identifies this behavior as sinful, James first uses an illustration to explain how or under what circumstances favoritism occurs; then he gives us insight regarding the control of favoritism; and, finally, he warns us about the judgment of favoritism.

01. The Occasion of Favoritism (vv. 1-4)

2:1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 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, 3 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,” 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?

James continues to use a particularly personal tone in his opening remarks on this subject. He refers to his readers as “my brethren,” a term that we see utilized three times in the previous chapter. James is, as I have suggested before, writing as a pastor who is attempting to guide his flock toward a better understanding of the faith. He speaks clearly and bluntly, but with grace and an obvious endearment. His plea in this case has to do with two conflicting dispositions: “Do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.” (v. 1) The conflict to which I refer is that which exists between a pure faith in the Savior, that is expected and commendable, and the practice of preferential treatment based on illegitimate grounds.

The manner in which James expresses himself puts these two positions in opposition to one another and plainly implies that the Christian faith is not compatible with the practice of showing unjustified favoritism toward other human beings. Much of what James says here has to do with the precise situation in which these Christians were living, as will become evident, but the principle on which he touches has universal application. This too, becomes obvious as the passage continues.

To make his point as easily understood as possible, James gives his readers an illustration. He imagines a situation in which a finely dressed man comes into the assembly of the church (v. 2). This man’s appearance immediately identifies him as someone of wealth and importance. Along with this man comes another. The second character is “a poor man in dirty clothes.” Much about him also is revealed in his dress. James deliberately draws attention to the appearance of each man. Based upon how they look, certain conclusions are going to be drawn, James implies. As he continues, he explains what those conclusions are and how they affect the church’s response to these two men.

In the case of the first man, the one dressed in fine clothes wearing a gold ring, James says: “you pay special attention to [him]” and even insist on giving to him one of the best seats in the assembly (v. 3). But, what about the other man, the man “in dirty clothes”? Well, James continues, “you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool.’” The poor man is given the least comfortable and least useful seat in the assembly. In doing this, James asks, “have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?” (v. 4) This is a rhetorical question. The answer is already obvious due to the clear illustration James uses. Yes, if the congregation behaves this way, the people are making distinctions among themselves and, as James teaches, this is wrong.

Let me emphasize that this is not a fairy tale never to be seen in one of our modern churches! This kind of thing has happened right here at Westminster—and it’s happened more than once. It happens all the time in lots of different churches. If a nicely-dressed person walks in, there is no alarm, no whispering, no suspicion. That person is warmly greeted and see smiles on our faces. But, if a person walks in who is not as nicely dressed and who looks a bit untidy, that person receives a different greeting.

To a degree, such reactions are understandable, but when our judgment relies too heavily on our observations of things like appearance, we run the risk of committing the sin James is speaking of in this passage. In the illustration James gives, certain assumptions were made concerning both characters. The one neatly dressed and apparently of some means was treated kindly and respectfully; the other character, the one not so neatly dressed and obviously not a person of means was treated unkindly and disrespectfully. And keep in mind that these responses came based on nothing except appearance.

This kind of behavior is to be avoided, James is teaching. And the reason it is to be avoided is based on the truth of the gospel, as he is going to explain momentarily.

As we look more closely at this illustration, I want to point out two things of importance. First, James provides us with a quick lesson on how or when favoritism is likely to exist. Second, in his illustration, James provides an enormously valuable principle that has to do with our responses to appearances.

In the first place, then, James explains the occasion of favoritism; that is, how and when favoritism is likely to occur. It is likely to occur when we come into contact with those who are different from us. Notice that in James’ story, the wealthy man was an unusual sight, but the poor man was also an unusual sight. The congregation was not composed of a majority of either the wealthy or the poor. This is why both men “stood out,” so to speak, when they entered the assembly.

This is, as I said, the occasion for favoritism, favoritism expressed positively, as it was toward the wealthy man, or negatively, as it was toward the poor man. Favoritism, that is treatment based on perception, is likely to occur whenever we come into contact with those who are of a different social rank or perceived to be of a different social rank or classification. In this story, the congregation showed preferential treatment to the finely dressed man, but showed demeaning treatment to the poorly dressed man. Please note: all that distinguished these two men was their appearance. Up until the moment they were spotted, no one in the congregation had had contact with these two men. But as they made their way into the assembly, significant judgments were made almost instantaneously based only on how each man looked.

And this brings me to the second issue I want to focus on, which is, as I stated before, the principle involved in this story. What is the principle involved in this story? Simply put, the principle is this: In the Church of Jesus Christ, our response to other human beings is not to be based upon external considerations. James is going to elaborate on this idea in the following verses, but for now we know that this is a correct conclusion because of what James says in v. 4. He describes a response to a man that is based on external considerations as “evil.” This must mean that, in the assembly of the saints of God, judgment or action based purely upon initial impressions may very well be wrong.

You’ve all probably been in church buildings that had walls lined with plaques and on the plaques were the names of people who had donated money toward some project. Or, if you’ve ever been in the south, I know you’ll recall seeing little gold plaques on the ends of pews, once again with people’s names inscribed on them. In this case, someone donated money for that pew and was honored for the donation by having a permanent marker attached to the pew for all the world to see. But have you ever seen a plaque on a wall or on a church pew with the name of someone who could not afford to make a donation? Have you ever seen a plaque that read: “In memory of ‘so and so’ who could not make a donation, but was faithful”?

James tells his readers that if they behave as he describes in his story, they are acting like judges with evil motives. Something is wrong, in other words, with this behavior. Something is wrong with giving the best seat in the assembly to the wealthy man simply because of his appearance of wealth. And, likewise, something is wrong with giving a demeaning place to the poor man simply because of his appearance of poverty. Neither spiritual worth nor spiritual maturity may be determined by appearances. The obvious conclusion, therefore, is that our treatment of others is supposed to be based on something else and this is what James explains next.

02. The Control of Favoritism (vv. 5-11)

5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by that you have been called? 8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well. 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 and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

In this passage, James explains how the tendency toward unjustified favoritism can be controlled. First, he reminds the readers of how God treated them. Does God show favoritism based upon external considerations, such as wealth and fine clothes? No, God “chose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom.” (v. 5) James means that if external elements truly meant anything and truly should influence the way in which people are treated, then God would not have opened the way of salvation for those who are not impressive by the world’s standards. In other words, the readers of this epistle were being challenged to behave like God in their responses to various people.

God’s estimation of what constitutes wealth is something far different from the notion that operates in the world, James teaches. God takes the poor man and makes him “rich in faith”; that is, rich in what really matters in this life, which is a relationship with God. James is teaching us that God gives no thought to a man’s financial status or social rank when it comes to electing him unto salvation. And God’s people are supposed to behave like Him. That’s the main teaching of this section in the epistle.

Returning to his illustration, James chastises his readers and says “you have dishonored the poor man.” (v. 6) The implication is that this is, indeed, how these believers would have responded to the situation imagined by James. Or, perhaps, he is thinking of events that actually transpired among these Christians. Whatever the case, to treat a man in a negative fashion in the church based upon external considerations is wrong. The word translated “dishonored” (atimazo) means “to treat shamefully, to insult, to treat with contempt, to degrade.” The use of the word implies that such treatment is not justified, that is the point James is making. The poor man, for no justifiable reason, is humiliated. And, by way of implication, we could say that the well dressed man, for no justifiable reason, is exalted. The responses on both accounts were wrong.

To demonstrate the unreasonableness of deferring to the wealthy man, James reminds his readers that the rich oppress them and drag them into court; and the they have little regard for the name of the Savior. They “blaspheme the fair name by that you have been called.” (v. 7) James indicates how foolish it would be to show favoritism toward those who are, in fact, enemies of the Church and despisers of the Lord Jesus. What sense does it make to give them the best seats in the assembly or to make concessions to them in any manner? As a class, the rich had no use for the Church and used every advantage against Christians. On what basis, therefore, should such people be exalted in the local assembly?

These statements only emphasize the illogical behavior of humiliating the poor man while honoring the rich man. Rather, James goes on to say, the people should be “fulfilling the royal law according to Scripture,” which tells us: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (v. 8) Instead of paying attention to external things, such as dress, as in James’ illustration, believers are to be guided by a different principle and that principle says that my concern for another should be just as active as my concern for myself. No one in this group would want to be treated as the poor man was treated. Just because he was dressed in dirty clothes, he was humiliated before the whole congregation. No regard was given to his character or his faith. The rich man, by contrast, was honored and, again, no regard was given to his character or faith. The poor man, James emphasizes, was not treated as a neighbor, and the only reason was the perception others had of him based upon his appearance.

Partiality, as illustrated by James, is a sin (v. 9). It is not just hurtful to the one who is humiliated, it is a sin. This is not a small matter in God’s eyes because it strikes at the heart of the faith. We are brought to salvation by the mercy and love of God, not on the basis of how we look, how we dress, how much we possess or on the basis of any other standard that might be mentioned. God does not have regard for what we have or what we might bring to the Church. Therefore, we are bound to imitate God in our treatment of one another in the Church. We are not allowed to judge another unfit for our attention or our ministry simply because of what we see on the outside. If we do this, James tells us plainly, we are committing sin. The word of God itself convicts us as transgressors, he adds.

Here, then, is the control for favoritism. Simply by keeping in mind the example of God, sinful favoritism can be avoided. If we recall that God chose us without regard for our station in life, then surely we will understand that we must imitate Him in our dealings with other human beings. To refuse to do this is to set ourselves above God and it is to say that while God shows no partiality, we will show partiality, as if we have some right or authority that God does not have. We must take seriously the exhortation of the holy Scripture: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This was part of the answer given by Jesus when He was asked which was the greatest commandment. In reference to our treatment of one another, Jesus said that the greatest commandment is: “You shall love you neighbor as yourself.”

Underscoring the importance of this principle, James reminds his readers of another fundamental teaching of Scripture, viz., that transgression of the law at one point is transgression of the law in all points (v. 10). He means that the Law Giver is one and the Law, therefore, is a unit. He means that this is not a trivial issue; he means that favoritism, as envisioned in this passage, is a serious transgression. You cannot mistreat others and think that, in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter. It really does matter to God and if you break His law in regard to the treatment of other human beings, you are guilty before Him even though you may not have violated other parts of His law (v. 11).

This is strong language and it should cause us to think seriously about what James is saying. As I indicated before, if, in our treatment of other human beings, we act unlike God in His treatment of us, we are putting ourselves at odds with Him; we are saying that we are not bound by His example. Of course, when we stop and look at this issue from this perspective, we realize just how right James is when he warns his readers. They were wrong, they were sinning, James plainly declares, if they showed favoritism toward the wealthy man simply because of his wealth while showing disdain for the poor man simply because of his poverty. They were behaving in an ungodly manner.

03. The Judgment of Favoritism (vv. 12, 13)

12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

The solution to problematic behavior, as James has been teaching, is conformity to the word of God. Here, James commands his readers to conduct themselves entirely according to the law of God. In such behavior, that is, behavior patterned after God’s revealed will, there is freedom. This is what James means when he refers to being judged by the law of liberty (v. 12). Christians must remember that their every word and deed is open to the ears and eyes of the Lord. We do nothing in secret and all of our words and actions will be measured against God’s perfect law. Therefore, we should live now in anticipation of that great day when we stand before the Judge of all the earth.

James warns his readers, in a solemn closing remark, that judgment comes without mercy to those who show no mercy (v. 13). Those who humiliate the poor man simply because he is poor may themselves one day face a judgment in which mercy is absent. You cannot behave in this way and think you will escape accountability, James teaches.

And, at the same time, he adds: “mercy triumphs over judgment.” The godly thing to do would be to give the poor man a place with everyone else and not judge him as unworthy to sit with everyone else. The merciful thing to do is to not call attention to the poor man’s poverty by treating him differently from everyone else. Mercy should mark the people of God because they have been shown mercy.

Conclusion

The summer I graduated from Bible college, I served as pulpit supply for a congregation in a small town in a neighboring state. This was my first experience at regular, weekly preaching. I was excited and thankful for the opportunity. Rebecca and I were married just after graduation, went on our honeymoon and afterwards went to this church where I was to remain for the rest of the summer.

One of the people I met in this congregation was a dear older widow. I immediately liked her and liked spending time with her. I can remember sitting in her little apartment listening to her tell stories of her childhood and being fascinated by her recollections. Whenever this dear lady came to church, I noticed that she always sat on the very back row—always. This was not because the church was crowded. There was always plenty of room in the pews, but she routinely chose to sit in the back. Finally, I decided to ask her why she always chose that particular spot. Her response was: “It’s always been this way.”

Would you like to know why it had “always been that way”? It was because the color of this saint’s skin was different from everyone else in the church. And no one, as far as I could determine, had ever gone to this dear woman and said: “It’s not like that anymore, not here in the Church of Christ. Come and sit with me.” No, they were all willing to let that elderly woman sit by herself in the back of that sanctuary while they worshiped the Lord and sang their hymns and smiled politely at me as I preached.

The folks who had been in this church for many years were willing to distinguish among themselves based upon an external consideration. Like the poor brother in James’ story, they told this dear woman to “sit there in a place of disrespect. Don’t think for a moment that you can blend in as if we are all equal.” They did not see the hypocrisy of treating a sister in Christ like that, as if her skin color made her less lovely in the eyes of her Savior. And the truth is, out of all the regular attendees at that church, that dear older woman is the only one I’m sure was a believer.

These were folks, by the way, who came to me about half through that summer and said: “We really don’t need to hear the kinds of things you are preaching. We are mostly an older congregation and we just need to hear about what heaven is like.” Those who said this did not care a bit about the young families that occasionally visited the church. As I think back upon that episode now, I should have said: “Well, my description of heaven is about as close as any of you are ever going to get.” Of course, I did not preach to them about heaven, but continued preaching for the rest of the summer about the way in which believers are supposed to live in this world. Needless to say, there was no grand banquet given in my honor when Rebecca and I packed up at the end of the summer and headed for seminary.

This passage is about the sin of favoritism. It is about the sin of distinguishing between yourself and another person in the church based on external considerations. It is about the sin of letting something other than your common bonds in Christ determine how you treat another believer. It is wrong to let financial considerations or racial considerations or vocational considerations cause division in a congregation. We are bound, as I indicated, by something far greater than any earthly distinctions we might observe.

Remember how James began this passage: “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.” Living with an attitude of personal favoritism, which leads us to separate ourselves according to various differences between us, is forbidden to Christians. You cannot behave that way if you are a disciple of the Savior. If you do, then you are denying the gospel that declares that people of all classes, all ranks, all races and all economic means are saved by the same blood of the same Savior. And in His house, He does not allow divisions that accomplish the opposite of what He accomplished on the cross.

The temptation to act as James describes is going to be there anytime you encounter someone different from you or any time someone walks into this building and something about them doesn’t match what you have determined is appropriate. And, in the local congregation, that is likely to happen regularly. In your home, you control who comes in, but you do not control who comes into the Church of Jesus Christ. In His house, variations in skin color and economic standing and background are a beautiful thing. The natural tendency you will have to remove yourself from a brother or sister who is, in some way, different from you, is going to be controlled when you remember what the gospel is all about and what duty God has given you.

That duty is that you love your neighbor as yourself. You don’t love only those neighbors who look like you and think like you. And understand, as James warns, that God takes this matter seriously. Judgment awaits the man who uses false criteria to establish distinctions between himself and others. If you look down upon those who are different from you, you are failing to show mercy and failing to remember that you were shown mercy yourself. And James promises that God will respond to that kind of behavior and His response will not be pleasant.

Prayer . . .

Baptism . . .

Communion hymn . . .

Sacrament . . .

This sacrament declares that all who are in Christ Jesus are welcomed by Him to enjoy and count on all the benefits of His work of atonement. The only thing that determines whether or not you are allowed to receive the bread and the wine is faith. When we celebrate this sacrament, therefore, it should be a time of joy and thanksgiving. Had God judged us on our appearance or merit, we would not be here. Instead, He accepted all of us in His Son. That’s why Paul declared:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal. 3:28, 29)

On that last night together, Matthew provides this record:

And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.” (Matt. 26:26, 27)