Horizontal Or Vertical Divide

Horizontal or Vertical Divide

James 2:1-13

Many years ago when Terri and I were living in Bowling Green, KY, we were members of a very large church for a while. This church was so large that they had two of everything—two Sunday morning worship services and two Sunday School services. Now, I have no idea of how many classrooms the church had, but I estimate maybe 20 classrooms and then they also had a large common room which was partitioned off for 7 or 8 other classrooms.

This church maybe had 1500 Sunday worshippers. Around half of that number would be in the early worship service while the other half were in Sunday School. Then at the designated time, both groups would swap back and forth. The early worship service people would go to Sunday School while the early Sunday School people would go to the later worship service. It was a very efficient system that accommodated large numbers very well.

But large churches have their downsides. For example, when Sunday School classrooms have 30-40 people in them, it’s difficult to really get to know anyone outside of the classroom. So, you become just a number—one of the masses. To combat this, small groups were begun. Each group would consist of maybe 10 people, max, or 5 couples. Now, I’m a real proponent of small groups. I think they’re great when under the control of the spiritual leadership such as the pastors, deacons, or elders of the church. That way, whatever studies the groups do must be approved and are in line with the Bible and the beliefs of the church.

However, just like large churches have their downsides, small groups can also have their downsides. For instance, the difficulty of getting into a small group. Because of the membership limits (5 couples), many are already filled so it may take a while to get into one. But another problem can also be the mismanagement of the small group by its leadership.

One day, Terri and I were finally asked to come to a small group meeting by a friend I knew from work who was part of this group. So, we went and spent the evening with everyone and we had a really nice time of fellowship, or at least Terri and I thought it was nice. But when I asked my friend a few days later when and where we would meet next, he told me that we had been blackballed.

Let me tell you folks, that really hurt. Neither of us knew why they didn’t want us to be a part of them, and my friend wouldn’t or maybe couldn’t say either. I think he actually ended up quitting that group himself. But to have a group of “Christians” tell you that they don’t want you, it hurts, its offensive, its degrading, and we were left thinking that we weren’t good enough, rich enough, educated enough, or that we didn’t drive a nice enough car, live in a nice enough home in a nice enough neighborhood. Folks, this single action by that one small group still hurts when I think about it 20+ years later.

The effects of prejudice, favoritism, or discrimination can be long lasting, and it can cripple relationships for years to come. It goes on every day, and it exists in varying degrees in almost every place. Boardrooms, the workplace, school classrooms (such as teacher’s pets), or even families where children are treated differently based entirely on certain qualities they may or may not have. Unfortunately, even though the Lord specifically commands us against it, it also occurs in the churches too. This is why our text in James was written. He wanted to deal with favoritism that he saw in the early church. The history of the church is filled with examples of these things, and it continues to be a problem as my own story illustrated.

Folks, if we are practicing any form of favoritism, prejudice, or discrimination, then we need to stop, immediately. But you know, it’s not just us doing these things that are bad, but it’s also us receiving the benefit of these things as well. I’m reminded of the Christian actress, Lori Loughlin and her husband who paid $500,000 in order to have her two children accepted into college. Now, she isn’t the only one who’s gotten in trouble for this, but the fact that she’s a well-known Christian, in my mind, makes it worse. They paid for favoritism but were arrested instead.

So, if we’re doing it, we need to stop. If we’re receiving the benefit, we need to stop that as well. If we’re suffering the adverse effects of it, then we need to learn how to deal with it in a biblical way. This is why we’re looking at James, chapter 2, verses 1-13 today.