Prejudice Series

INTRODUCTION

• When we began this series last week, I talked about the practical and straightforward teachings in the Book of James.

• Last week we started the series with a practical message about living out the message.

• As we spend time together in James, we will examine ways to live out the faith we proclaim.

• One of the things we tend to do in life is to overlook areas of weakness in our faith when the area of weakness is a societal norm.

• Have you noticed that there are inconsistencies in our faith that we really do not give much thought to?

• We understand big ones like, murder, stealing, etc...

• Other inconsistencies in our walk are a little more subtle.

• On the surface, they do not seem to cause much harm; they usually are the ones that do not get much thought.

• James, of all people, would not speak on a subject that was not an issue.

• James moves from a focus on faith in action to teachings on prejudice.

• The subject at hand is one way we can either live out the message or not live out the message.

• Prejudice is nothing new; it has happened as long as we have been on the planet.

• One would think of all people, this would not be an issue for Christians, but it is.

• Throughout history, the issue we will cover today has existed in various forms, from favoritism within a family, like the case of Joseph, and Jacob and Esau, to discrimination based on economic divisions, to out-and-out racism.

• Racism was not invented in America; it has existed since the fall.

• As incredible as it may sound, professing Christians took part in the injustice of slavery, and to this day, there are people, including professing Christians, who struggle with prejudice.

• The dictionary defines prejudice as an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.

• Biblically the flavor of the word is close to the same; it would include showing favoritism, which includes treating one person better than another or giving favor to one group at the expense of another.

• The big idea for today's message is that true religion (faith) does not show prejudice toward others.

• Let's turn to James 2, we will begin in verses 1-4.

• Today we will examine three reasons why there should be no room for prejudice toward others in the life of a follower of Jesus.

James 2:1–4 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

2 For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes,

3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”?

4 If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?

SERMON

I. Prejudice dishonors people.

• James dives right into the problem at hand in verse 1.

• He tells us that if we possess faith in Jesus, we are not to show prejudice toward others.

• The command to not practice prejudice is rooted in the depth of our faith.

• James appeals to a single fact that holds us together.

• It is our faith in Jesus.

• We are told that as we possess our faith, we are to listen to this command.

• In the direct context of the passage, James speaks of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

• The church struggled with the Jew versus Gentile issue in the beginning, but apparently, they also struggled with rich versus poor.

• The term "prejudice" or "partiality" (p??s?p???µ??a, prosopolempsia) comes from the Greek root for "face" (p??s?p??, prosopon).

• Prejudice, favoritism, is judging others based on appearance, that is, at face value.

• It reflects the Hebrew idiom "to lift up the face," that is, to show favor to someone.

James & Jude (A. Favoritism (2:1–7))

Partiality, that is, judging appearance instead of the heart, is directly contrary to the character of God

Gary Holloway, James & Jude, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub., 1996), Jas 2:1.

Deuteronomy 10:17–18 (NET 2nd ed.)

17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who is unbiased and takes no bribe,

18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing.

• Having faith in Jesus means we are called to do the same.