UNFAVORITISM
James 2:1-13
INTRODUCTION: There’s a saying, ‘the clothes make the man’. Actually, that’s not true. Clothes don’t make the man; they make the opinion of the man. There’s a certain image that’s portrayed when someone is dressed nice. And surveys have shown that nicer dressed people get treated better. Nicer looking people get treated better. The stigma is that nicer looking, nicer dressed people are more important. And we see from the text today that things were no different in James’ day. But James has something to teach us about the unfavorable attitude of favoritism.
1) Why do we show favoritism?
• Because we’re selfish. Prov. 28:21, “To show partiality is not good—yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.” We will compromise for selfish gain. We will show favoritism and partiality when it serves my cause. We are willing to show favoritism to the rich person to get a little something in return. Why waste my time talking with the poor man, he can’t do anything for me? I’m not going to invest my time and attention on orphans and widows, what purpose would that serve? We choose to give someone preferential treatment because we they have something we want. They have something to offer so we throw them some favors. We might show preferential treatment to someone in the church because of how much they contribute financially or because they are talented and serving in various ministries. I might not be willing to confront them on something lest I lose what they bring to the table. When I show favoritism shows I’m selfish.
• Because we’re prideful. We think we’ve got it all together so we make sure we associate only with those who look like they got it all together too. We don’t want to associate with those people. We would rather identify with people who look successful rather than people who look like failures. We would rather die than be seen talking to certain people. It would demean our reputation. I might come to be categorized with them if I associate with them. James attacks this prideful attitude by basically saying, ‘who are you? You haven’t sinned? Are you perfect? Are you any better than the ones you’re unwilling to associate with? NO! Could it be, though, that we want to associate with the people who look like they got it all together because in doing so, we will look like we got it all together too?
• Because we’re prejudiced. We can have the tendency to discriminate toward certain people for various reasons. We are biased toward people because of their color or culture or because of their sexual preferences or because of their political preferences. Prejudiced means to pre-judge which means if we’re prejudiced against someone we are judging them without knowing them. We are judging them based on something specific we notice or, in some cases, it’s merely speculative. We think a certain person is a certain way and we form an opinion based on nothing more than assumption. The problem is we see them for the label we put on them rather than them being a creation of God. Proverbs 22:2, “Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is Maker of them all.” If I show favoritism then it shows that I am prejudiced toward certain types of people.
2) What does favoritism highlight?
• We are judgmental (vs. 1-4). In some cases we might convince ourselves that we are being discerning when we look down on someone. “Look at him, he doesn’t look right. Those beady eyes; he just looks guilty of something”. So therefore he must be shady and untrustworthy. But James says these thoughts are judgmental and evil. I can’t spiritualize this attitude; I have a critical spirit towards the person. Any why such disapproval? Because they look different? Because they act different? I’m judging you when I don’t know anything about you. I’ve condemned you without a fair hearing. I’ve rendered you negative without determining if there was anything positive about your make-up. My judgment of you was harsh and my criticism quick. Favoritism highlights a judgmental spirit.
• We’ve got it backwards (vs. 5-7). When we show partiality to the rich or the smart or the good looking we are making appearance more important than character. When we do that, we have our priorities backwards. James is saying, “What’s wrong with you? Why do you show such preferential treatment to the very people who are making you suffer by dragging you into the courts and exploiting you? Why would you show favor to those who are slandering the name of Jesus? Whose side are you on? You’ve got it backwards. Here’s the poor man among you who is lean in money but rich in faith and yet you shun him. And then there’s the man who is plentiful in money but lacking in spirituality yet you honor him. You’ve got it all wrong.” In showing favoritism, I’ve got things backwards.
• We are unloving (vs. 8-13). Just as James said before that the failure to practice control of the tongue renders my religion worthless, so too if I uphold all these aspects of the law yet show favoritism I am a lawbreaker and are thus just the same as someone who has broken all of them. I can do many amazing things for the church and be a spiritual super hero but if I don’t have love for the poor man as well as the rich man what good is it? I need to be careful and come out of denial because if I think I can be in God’s favor and not be merciful I’m wrong; I will be shown judgment without mercy. Favoritism shows that I am unloving.
3) How can we overcome the sin of favoritism?
• Practice humility. Rom. 12:16, “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” Outside the church you can have people in authority and power and status along with those who are under them. And sometimes the higher-ups are not willing to associate with those who are ‘beneath’ them. However, in Christ we are all on equal ground. No one is more important or special than another. Boss and employee become brothers. General and private become equal. Social distinctions exist in the world but they shouldn’t in the church. The church needs to be set apart, it should be different; it should stand out. Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” We are not to be showing favoritism with selfish ambitions, we are not to be showing favoritism in our vain conceit but rather, in humility, consider others, all others, important and special. If I practice the principle of humility then I won’t be practicing favoritism.
• Practice sensitivity. There are consequences to showing insensitive favoritism. What if our shunning of someone causes someone to walk away from the church that otherwise would’ve come to Christ and received salvation. Brian Warner started going to church with a friend years ago. Brian was a skinny pizza faced nerdy looking kid that nobody liked. He was also a loner who looked out of place most of the time. The youth group took a trip to an amusement park one weekend and when they got there the Youth Pastor instructed everyone to pair up with someone so nobody would get lost or left behind. Everybody got a partner but Brian. Nobody wanted to hang out with him, so he was left by himself. The weeks went by after that little trip and Brian came to church occasionally but he was never really accepted there and he never felt welcome. Eventually he just quit altogether, and sadly, nobody seemed to notice. Years later that Youth Pastor got a call from one of the teens that had been in that group. The former teen asked, “Do you remember Brian Warner?” The youth pastor didn’t. The former-teen said “Let me refresh your memory, he was a skinny nerdy kid that nobody liked” The youth pastor said, “Oh, I remember him. Whatever happened to him?” The teen said, “He changed his name. He took the first name of Marilyn Monroe because she committed suicide and the last name of Charles Manson because he was a serial killer. Now he calls himself Marilyn Manson. He formed a band and all the members have taken the first name of a movie star and the last name of a serial killer.” Most people have heard of Marilyn Manson because he sings some of the most satanic and anti-Christian songs of all time. One of his albums is titled, “Antichrist Superstar”. He once said it was his goal to totally wipe out Christianity. When I’m insensitive I push people away from Christ. God wants everyone to be saved but that won’t happen if we show favoritism.
• Practice acceptance. Acts 10:34-35 [9-16]. Peter needed to understand that there was now no ‘impurity’ between Jews and gentiles. Don’t call unclean what God has declared clean. Peter understood that the vision wasn’t so much about animals as it was about people; specifically gentiles. They needed to hear the gospel too but before Peter was to visit Cornelius the gentile he needed to be changed in his thinking. What about us? Before we accept and minister to certain people would we need to be changed in the way we think about them? There is a story of a young hippie who gave his life to Christ during the Jesus Movement of the late sixties and early seventies. One Sunday he went to a church, not knowing it was one of the more “upper class” churches in the area. He was late to the service, and the pastor was about to begin the message. As he walked in, he saw that the place was packed and he could not find a place to sit. So, not knowing any better, he sat down on the floor in front of the platform where the pastor was standing. Well, you can guess what kind of reaction he caused, although people were quiet about it. Everyone was wondering how the pastor was going to handle the situation, and how they were going to get rid of this unmannered young man. After what seemed like an eternity, an elderly gentleman rose from his seat and headed down the aisle toward the young man. “Finally, we’ll get some action. He’ll tell this guy what’s what, and we’ll be done with him.” Everyone held their breath as they waited to hear how the old man would tell the hippie to leave. The old man bent over as if to talk to the young man, then bent his knees, and sat down next to the young man, worshiping with him for the rest of the service. He saw past the social barrier and saw the heart of the matter. Romans 15:7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” I need to practice acceptance if I am going to get rid of favoritism.
• Practice Christ. Mark 12:13-14. In Luke’s version of this event the men said, “We know that you do not show partiality”. They recognized that Jesus was impartial. They knew this not because he said he was impartial but because he displayed that he was impartial. Jesus ate with the “sinners” and was criticized for it. Jesus didn’t show favoritism to the religious leaders, like others did, but rather he went after their hypocrisy. God told Samuel that man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. When we practice this principle we are practicing Christ. Ron had long hair, listened to heavy-metal music, drank alcohol, and experimented with drugs. He had also tried church but had been ‘turned off’ by the judgmental eyes of some. One summer he was hired to work in a lumberyard. He was partnered with a skinny, fair-skinned Christian teenager name Joe, who immediately thought Ron was ‘cool.’ “Over the weeks, Ron and Joe laughed, ate, and talked. Ron drilled Joe about God and the Gospel, but Joe never pretended to know all the answers. One day, Joe asked Ron if he’d like to come over to his house for dinner the next night. A couple of weeks later, Ron got brave enough to ask Joe over to his small house in a poor neighborhood. As the summer drew to a close and Joe prepared to return to college, they both knew their days together at the lumber yard were numbered. As they walked out to the car on Ron’s last day, he looked up at Joe and tearfully said, ‘A lot of people have tried to tell me about Jesus, but Joe, you’re the first person who has shown Him to me”. We can’t practice favoritism and practice Christ.
CONCLUSION: There was once a town drunk that was moved in his heart toward God. He immediately stopped drinking and began to look for a church. Determined to turn his life around he found a church and went in. He was met at the door by a couple of ushers and they told the man, "Please go home and clean up, take a bath, cut your hair, shave your beard and then you can come back to church." The man left and did what they asked and came back to the same church the next week. Once again, the ushers met him at the door. The former drunk said, "I have done what you asked and I am ready to come to church." The ushers said to the man, "That is good but your clothes are dirty and torn up. Go get a suit so that you will look nice for church." The man felt sad but he decided to do what they asked; after all this was the church he felt he was supposed to attend. So he went out and bought a nice suit, determined that this time they would let him in so he could worship God. The next Sunday the former drunk returned to that same church but this time the man was met by the two ushers and the senior pastor. Together, the three of them explained to the man that he could not come into the church because of his past. How would it look if the town drunk came to their church? The man walked out of the church totally dejected because he desired to seek God in a house of worship alongside the men and women of God. He sat down on the steps in front of the church and put his head in his hands and began to cry. As he sat there, he felt the hand of someone touch his shoulder. Before he could look up he heard a voice say, "Don't worry my friend, I have been trying to get into that church for years and they won't let me in either." The former drunk looked up and saw a man dressed in a white robe with nail pierced hands.
