The sins of Favoritism
James 2:1-13
(Instruction: Come in dressed well)
Jesus Christ is the Lord who left the glory of heaven and came to this corruptible world to save sinners like us. He humbled himself, laid aside His position in heaven, and became like us. He was born is dire poverty so that we might have the riches of heaven. He did so because He loved us. If Jesus loved us this way, then we who are believers and followers of Him should not act differently. We must love the poor and the lowly just as He did. All followers of Jesus must do what He did, humble ourselves, and reach out to bring ALL men to Him so that they may be saved. We must reach out to the rich as well as the poor.
1) There was a problem with favoritism/prejudice in the 1st century and there still is today in the 21st century. It was a Jew/Gentile problem as well as a rich/poor problem.
(2) Story:
Behind the line in World War I, rest homes were operated which were designed to serve as places of fellowship for all soldiers – whether officers or enlisted men. Over the entrance of such houses were posted these words” Abandon all rank, ye who enter here.” So must it be in the church. (Shelly 25)
(3) Let us note what James has to say about this problem:
2) As for the Jew/Gentile problem, James addressed it in Acts 15. The Jerusalem council had decided to welcome the Gentiles into the church with a few conditions. There is nothing in the conditions that did not apply also to the Jews. They sought unity in the church.
General Robert E. Lee was a devout follower of Jesus Christ. It is said that soon after the end of the American Civil War, he visited a church in Washington, D.C. During the communion service, he knelt beside a black man. An onlooker said to him later, "How could you do that?" Lee replied, "My friend, all ground is level beneath the cross."
In this passage, James is showing us the error of favoritism. There are five sins connected with the favoritism:
1. Showing partiality or favoritism sets one up as the judge of men. It makes one as though he or she is God. We tell who can and cannot worship God, we decide who is and who is not acceptable to God. This is something only God can do.
i. Jesus told us (Matthew 7:1)
ii. Paul reminds us (Romans 14:4)
iii. James says elsewhere (James 4:12)
In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India.
So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned. "If Christians have caste differences also," he said, "I might as well remain a Hindu." That usher’s prejudice not only betrayed Jesus but also turned a person away from trusting Him as Savior.
2. Showing favoritism/partiality reveals evil thoughts
a. Those who show favoritism are focused on the perishable. In this case it is wealth and social status. Yet there is another way, one that is more repulsive to us, probably because it is more obvious. How would we appear if we did not allow a person of color in our congregation? Now you may sit there and say “We would not do that.” Yet I would ask you, “How do you make the people of color in your community feel welcome to come to your services?” Do we go and invite them, make them feel welcome? If we would do this for people of color, why not people who are dirty, poor, wretched, or high maintenance.
A friend of mine, George Hall is in the process of writing articles for the Restoration Herald. George is a church planter presently working in South Parkersburg, WV. His article has to do with church growth. In it he describes why smaller churches stay that way. He calls them ingrown churches. I know that sounds painful, when I see that title I think of ingrown toenails. The idea is not far from that. He identifies a problem in such congregations. It is the problem James addresses in this passage. Ingrown churches say they want to grow, and they may genuinely want to. But they want to attract people like them. In some cases it may be only people of color, or people of a certain ethnic background. Yet what they do not want are people who are “high maintenance.” George goes on to describe high maintenance people. These are people who may be lower middle class, or upper lower class financially, dress differently, have various emotional baggage. They may be single parents, dysfunctional families, may even have mixed ethnicity. The ingrown churches make these people feel unwelcomed in various ways. Maybe the people around them showed themselves to be uneasy or uncomfortable around them. Maybe they ignore, neglect or even shun them. They may even fail to greet them when they are there. Yet when they stop coming, no one goes to see why. They justify themselves by saying; “They will be more comfortable with their own kind.”
The following story appeared in the newsletter Our America; it is written by Larry D. Wright.
"Dodie Gadient, a schoolteacher for thirteen years, decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon rounding a curve on I-5 near Sacramento in rush-hour traffic, a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. In spite of the traffic jam she caused, no one seemed interested in helping.
"Leaning up against the trailer, she prayed, ’Please God, send me an angel . . . preferably one with mechanical experience.’
Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattooed arms. With an incredible air of confidence, he jumped off and, without even glancing at Dodie, went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy, and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump.
"The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumbfounded to talk. Especially when she read the paralyzing words on the back of his leather jacket: ’Hell’s Angels -- California’. As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, ’Thanks so much,’ and carry on a brief conversation. Noticing her surprise at the whole ordeal, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, ’Don’t judge a book by its cover. You may not know who you’re talking to.’ With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as he had appeared."
Given half a chance, people often crawl out of the boxes into which we’ve relegated them."
3. Showing partiality discriminates against the poor and lowly.
a. James tells us God loves the rich as well as the poor. The church should communicate the same message.
b. Psalms 12:5, 14:6, 140:12, Isaiah 25:4
c. The church needs to be a place where all can come regardless of social status.
Illustration #1
There is a wonderful story about a Chicago bank that once asked for a letter of recommendation on a young Bostonian being considered for employment. The Boston investment house could not say enough about the young man. His father, they wrote, was a Cabot; his mother was a Lowell. Further back was a happy blend of Saltonstalls, Peabodys, and other of Boston’s first families. His recommendation was given without hesitation. Several days later, the Chicago bank sent a note saying the information supplied was altogether inadequate. It read: "We are not contemplating using the young man for breeding purposes. Just for work." Neither is God a respecter of persons but accepts those from every family, nation, and race who fear Him and work for His kingdom (Acts 10:34-35).
Illustration #3
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in America, started her practice in New York in 1851. Not only was she unable to find patients -- no one would even rent her a room once she mentioned that she was a doctor. After weeks of trudging the streets, she finally rented rooms from a landlady who asked no questions about what Elizabeth planned to do with them.
Quaker women, who had always been receptive to the goal of equal rights, became Elizabeth’s first patients. But no hospital would allow her on its staff. Finally, with financial help from her Quaker fiends, Elizabeth opened her own clinic in one of New York’s worst slums. The clinic opened in March 1853. Elizabeth hung a sign out announcing that all patients would be treated free. Yet, for the first few weeks, no one showed up. Then one day a woman in such agony that she didn’t care who treated her, staggered up the steps and collapsed in Elizabeth’s arms.
When the woman was treated and recovered, she told all her friends about the wonderful woman doctor in downtown New York. The dispensary was soon doing well. It eventually expanded, moved, and is now a branch of the New York Infirmary on East Fifteenth Street
Conclusion: On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves they went out, day or night, tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little lifesaving station grew.Some of the new members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they redecorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort of club. Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club decoration, and there was a liturgical lifesaving boat in the room where initiation took place. About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boats loaded with cold, wet, and half drowned people. They were dirty and sick, some had black skin, and some had yellow skin. The beautiful new club was considerably messed up. Therefore, the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where the victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.At the next meeting, there was a split in club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities, as they were thought to be unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life of the club. Some members insisted on lifesaving, as their primary purpose, and pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. However, they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did.As the years went by, the new station experienced the same change that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown!
Is our congregation a place where anyone can fit in? Faith and favoritism do not mix; they are like oil and water.
Everyone has celebrity status with God. Everyone who comes into this church should be welcomed equally. No one is to receive better treatment because of his or her economic or social status. The real sin in the church today is not primarily racism but classism. We get all gooey inside when some famous celebrity gets saved but don’t give it a thought when a homeless alcoholic comes to Christ.
So let us get rid of our classism, our predjudice, our pride and open our doors to all who seek salvation regardless of race, social status, wealth, or clothing. Let us become that lifesaving station and rescue the perishing.
