Pressure Points - Favoritism/Partiality
Scripture: Matthew 22:15-22
I’ve been preaching once a month on the subjects that are coming from the Adult SS Class’s study of James. Last week we talked about temptation - that was at the end of their section. This month, I thought we could get in on it at the first of their study on partiality - showing favoritism.
On Thursday, when I sat down to put pen to paper, I went on FB and the very first post that popped up on my newsfeed was this -
Nana’s Favorite picture . . .
I figured that was a sign, right there, that today was the day! to preach on this subject.
How many of you grew up with siblings?
How many of you will admit that you were your parents’ favorite?
How many of you KNOW that your younger brother or sister was your parents’ favorite?!!?
We are all likely very aware of the fact, that no matter how hard parents try NOT to, they do have favorites. They don’t admit it, and they try hard not to, but there’s something in our nature, that causes us to have favorites.
And if you were not your parents’ favorite child, you don’t mind letting everyone know about it, because the injustice of it still bothers you, even after all these years! And if you were the favorite, you keep quiet about it, don’t you? Because, either you know it’s wrong, and you feel guilty about it, or you know you have a good thing going, and you don’t want to mess it up!
One way or another, we know playing favorites is wrong. It offends our sense of justice.
And yet, it seems like we come by it, so easily, so naturally - we gravitate toward people who are like us - we want to be with people who build us up - who LIKE us - who make us laugh. Don’t we want to be with people aren’t - who aren’t - well . . . WEIRD? Don’t we?
Last week, it was pretty easy to show that Jesus didn’t give in to temptation. And before that, that the didn’t become overwhelmed with the trials of his life here on earth.
Did Jesus show favoritism?
His disciples? What about the inner circle? Peter, James and John? What about the Pharisees - was he partial against them?
What is it - exactly - in its biblical context? Is there a nugget of truth we’re missing when we just think about partiality or favoritism as we would today - discrimination/prejudice? Or is it all those things, but something a bit different than what we normally think of as favoritism?
Let’s look at some verses:
Deut 10:17: God who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.
Deut 16:19: You must judge the people fairly. You must never twist justice or show partiality.
2 Chron. 19:7: Fear the Lord and judge with integrity, for the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.
James 2:9: If you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
Galatians 2:6 By the way, their (the leaders of the church) reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.
Eph 6:9 (Masters with slaves)- Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.
Col. 3:25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites.
Acts 10:34 (Peter in speaking about the Gentiles) I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.
Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.
James 3:17 Wisdom from above . . . shows no favoritism.
It certainly appears that God has no favorites!
It also seems like partiality in the Bible is the same as it is in the 21st Century. The same Greek word is used in the New Testament - meaning in the face of - or like we would say - on the surface. In other words don’t favor someone just because of their face - their facade - their outward appearance.
So does that mean we can’t have special friends? Does it mean we can’t hang out with the people we like the most? What’s the answer?
Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew. Matthew chapter 22, verses 15-22
READ
With the other passages we sited earlier, this may seem like a strange story to talk about favoritism or partiality. But actually, it has all the elements we need to learn about what God wants from us when it comes to not playing favorites.
The Pharisees were Jewish through and through. They were strongly opposed to Roman rule. The Herodians, on the other hand, supported Roman rule. But here the Pharisees actually enlist the help of the Herodians to try to trap Jesus.
Verse 16 where Jesus is told he is impartial and doesn’t play favorites is actually flattery. They are buttering him up. Flattery usually has an element of untruth in it, but here the Pharisees and even the Herodians are telling the truth!
So they flatter Jesus with the fact that he is impartial - he doesn’t play favorites. And once the stage is set, they ask the big question.
“Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
If Jesus said, “no,” the Herodians would report him to the Roman governor and he would be executed for treason. If he said “Yes,” the Pharisees would denounce him to the people as disloyal to his nation - to Israel - to the Jews - his own people.
Feel the pressure? These two opposing forces are trying to trap Jesus into a yes or no answer. They were literally, trying to get him to play favorites!!
I think we feel that kind of pressure every day of our lives. The world, the devil, - the times that we live in right now - try to get us to believe that we’re in an either/or situation. You feel trapped. You feel like it’s a no-win situation. If you side with this group of people, you’ll lose that group of people. If you’re seen talking to HIM, you’ll be shunned by THEM. If you go there, you’re going to miss out on here, but if you stay here, you’re going to miss out on there. “Yes” will get you in trouble, and “no” will get you in trouble.
Jesus has another answer. A very clear answer.
In response to Jesus’ question as to whose picture was on the coin, they said Caesar’s.
Jesus is meeting these people - these two groups who actually oppose each other - right where they’re at. He’s using the flattery that they started with to come back at them - do you see it?
They flatter Jesus by telling him he doesn’t judge by appearances. And JESUS - asks them what is the APPEARANCE of the coin - who’s PICTURE is on it.
It’s actually quite humorous how Jesus takes the very thing they tried to trap HIM with, and he uses it to trap them!
There IS no other answer to, “Whose picture is on the coin?”!!
Once they’ve answered.
Then Jesus says, the answer we all know so well, “Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
Biblical favoritism. Biblical partiality IS about not giving favor to those people who APPEAR to be rich (as it says in James), but it’s not JUST that. It goes even deeper than that.
Favoritism, is giving to Caesar what belongs to God, and it’s giving to God - listen - what belongs to Caesar.
The coin, by the way, had a picture of Emperor Tiberius on one side and on the other side of the coin, was an inscription. It said: “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, son of the divine Augustus.”
When Jesus said to give to God what is God’s he was making a clear distinction between God and Caesar. He was protesting against the idolatry - blasphemy really - written on the coin!
This is a marvelous story!
When we play favorites, we
Give to Caesar what belongs to God.
family
when time with your family takes away from your time with God, you’re playing favorites
does that mean you can’t very make your family a priority on a Sunday morning or when you might be having your daily devotions? No, absolutely not - it means when you hear that still small voice that says, “being with your family today is more about having fun than it is about enjoying my blessings” then you’re out of balance.
talents
when you use your talents for self-centered purposes, you are giving to Caesar what belongs to God. There are people who want to be pastors for the SOLE reason that they only want to work one hour a week on Sunday morning!!
That’s giving to Caesar what belongs to God.
- there are those who start out in the gospel music ministry who get grabbed by a talent scout, offered fame and fortune and are gone. They are often giving to Caesar what belongs to God.
finances
when we give the bare minimum when God is asking for more, we’re playing favorites
when we buy something we don’t need, or keep something we just don’t want to part with, we’re playing favorites
when God blesses us, and we withhold the blessing from others - however God has said to give.
work
- when we work to the neglect of our family, our health or our church, we are playing favorites.
Give to God what belongs to Caesar.
We can give to God what belongs to Caesar. When we do that, the gift becomes the sacrifice of Cain - it’s unpleasing to God. How do we do that?
relationships - remember when Jesus prayed in John 17 that God would not take believers OUT of the world but protect them from the evil one? It where that saying comes from - “in the world but not of it” - we’re to be in the world. We’re to have non-Christian friends. I for one have a hard time with this one. But when we, in our relationships, surround ourselves with ONLY Christian friends, we’re playing favorites. Maybe we think we are giving to God what belongs to God because we’re surrounding ourselves with godly people - that’s good - we need to have those who influence us to be godly, but here’s the deal - Caesar - the world - NEEDS Christian friends.
talents
using our talents is similar to our relationships. When we use our talents for God’s work ALONE, and withhold it from the world, our sacrifice is not pleasing to God. In other words, if all we ever do is cook for pot blessings, and not for our sick neighbor down the street who is ornery and hard to get along with, we’re playing favorites and God is not honored.
when we have a beautiful singing voice and we’ve been asked to sing the National Anthem at a football game, but we don’t do it, because we only sing spiritual, godly songs, we’re giving to God what is Caesar’s because God said we are to love the world as he loved it.
money - Pharisees did it - In Matthew 15 Jesus got after them for saying it was alright to tell your parents you couldn’t help them out because you were giving to God what you would have otherwise given to them. That’s giving to God what belongs to Caesar and God is not pleased with that! It’s all about balance. It’s all about what GOD is telling us to do.
We don’t do this here, but can I just say one word? Plaques. Now I’m not opposed to giving honor where honor is due, but I’ve known people who have given money to a church or they’ve bought something for a church and it’s ONLY on the condition that a plaque be placed in their honor mentioning their contribution. THAT, my friends, belongs to Caesar. That’s worldly stuff and it’s not God honoring. In my opinion, it’s one of the worst kinds of favoritism.
So what do we do? Neither giving to Caesar what is God’s, or giving to God what is Caesar’s is right or pleasing to God. So what do we do?!
Jesus said:
Give to God what belongs to God. God has called us to give to Him in at least four areas.
time - Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Do not forsake gathering together and even more so as you see the day approaching, that you may encourage one another. In short - go to church.
talents - I, the Lord your God am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.
tithe - You must not steal. Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce (Prov. 3:9)
tongue - Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes - these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. (Eph. 5:4)
Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
taxes - there are obligations to the state that do not conflict with our obligations to God. The Jews in Rom were required to pay a poll tax to the Roman emperor. The tax was highly unpopular, and some Jews refused to pay it. They thought by paying it, they were admitting that Rome had the right to rule. Jesus said to pay your taxes. Don’t refuse.
work
Put in an honest day’s work. You owe your country that. You owe that to your community. We owe that to our fellow workers.
Conclusion: Not playing favorites. Showing no partiality, is a lot more than just about the friends we pick, or the preferences we have. Playing favorites is about every aspect of our lives. When they tried to get Jesus to play favorites, He showed them a better way. Caesar’s image was on the coin that was used to pay taxes.
The image of God is stamped on our very being. It’s who we are. We are made in the image of God. If therefore, we give to God what belongs to God, we give him our entire lives. Everything we have. It’s the only way we don’t play favorites. It’s the better way.
