#4: “The Sin of Partiality”

SCRIPTURE: James 2:1-13

            ¹My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  ²For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  ¹Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?  ⁶But you have dishonored the poor man.  Are not the rich the ones who oppress you and the ones who drag you into court?  ⁷Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

            ⁸If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.  ⁹But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.  ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.  ¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.”  If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  ¹²So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.  ¹³For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.

INTRO:

            The Greek word translated “partiality” here literally means “reception of face.”  As it’s used here, it refers to the acceptance of certain people on the basis of external appearance, while rejecting others on the same superficial grounds.  I’m reminded here of 1^st Samuel 16:7, where God told Samuel, “…the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Apparently, their assemblies were open to anyone who wanted to come, but these Jewish Christians were showing partiality to a certain class of people and snubbing those who weren’t of the “upper crust.”  Does this have any application in 2022?  Are we guilty of the sin of not loving our neighbor as ourselves?

First, then,