BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 3

No Place for Favoritism

James 2:1-13

June 13, 2015

Have you ever felt like Les Wolfeson in “Funky Winkerbean” or Charlie Brown in “Peanuts?” Neither of them ever gets any respect because they have the right stuff according to the world to be popular. Charlie Brown expresses what so many feel today when he utters his famous “Good grief.” One of the things that has disturbed me as far back as I can remember is favoritism. It has always seemed unfair, although accepted, for one group of people to be viewed as better than others. I guess one reason it has affected me is that quite often I have felt as if I was the odd man out. One example that sticks in my mind took place after my family had moved to North Carolina for about three years. Moving back to Richmond as I began attending high school , I found that those who had been my friends during elementary school had moved on and had formed their own groups who were part of their lives. During my high school years I was never ever able to reestablish those relationships. Many of them by that time were in the Cadet Corps, on sport teams or involved in school activities. I was just a stranger coming into a new environment just wanting to fit in. On my part I had to make new friends who were also considered outsiders even though many had grown up with the in crowd.

 

Even at church there were the popular kids who had no time for someone like me who they did not know. I can remember going to youth parties and spending the whole evening by myself. From what I have said it might appear that I am critical of those people. That is not the case. As an adult some of those same people have to come to respect me. I have learned a very important lesson from all of this. Even though, I may have been rejected by all others, I know with full assurance that Jesus loves me. I will never be left out of his group.

 

In a way the church is quite often guilty of the kind of behavior described above. I have seen youth groups so full of cliques that new people have not been able to break into them. All too often the ones left out eventually drifted away and sadly no one even knew they were gone. Those who were accepted were friends from school, were talented or had an overwhelming personality. The quiet ones, the unattractive or those who were the studious types may as well have been from another planet.

 

Adults quite often act no better. Many times the leadership is chosen from those who are successful in business who are outgoing or belong to the right group. There is little or no determination given whether they have the spiritual qualities to be a leader. They tend to gather around themselves and give support to those who are just like them. Jesus of course gave us the example of choosing those He wanted to be with Him, to learn from Him and be entrusted to carry out His work when He went home to be with His Father. Probably many churches would never select the type of men He did to be part of a leadership team in their midst. They were the most diverse group of outsiders that anyone could ever choose. Not one of them would have qualified to be a religious leader of his day. There is a danger that the ones we reject may be the very one that God has sent our way to provide a totally different perspective on our service to Him.

 

James 2:1

The faith man has in Jesus Christ makes each person equal with another in the eyes of God. There is no partiality with Him and He expects His church to have the same mindset to treat each person as equal. To promote another person as on a different level than others is to border on idolatry. It is the exalting one man above another. In other words showing a favoritism that is not Christ-like. One man is not to have undue influence over others.

 

1. What is our relationship with Christ to show us about how we look at others?
2. Why is it wrong for a man or group of men to have too much influence or power in the body of believers?
3. Why did I use the word idolatry in my comments?
4. How do we prevent favoritism from taking place in our midst?

 

James 2:2-4

James provides two examples of how the attitude of favoritism might work its way into the church. He first spoke of a man who came into the service with all of his wealth on display. He was dressed in the finest of clothing and was laden with gold rings on his fingers.

 

In contrast to the display of wealth another man entered who was obviously very poor. His clothing was shabby.

 

The treatment of the two men could not have been any different. The rich man was given the special treatment and a place to sit. Most likely he was seated where he would be the most visible to all who were there. On the other hand, the poor man was told to fend for himself and find a place to sit wherever there might be room even if it meant sitting on the floor. To make such a distinction between people that influences our behavior is wrong.

 

1. Why did James provide such a sharp contrast in describing the two men? (Extremes are often the means to setting up the point of the story. If the men were somewhat closer in status the people would have hardly noticed.)
2. How might we describe the different types of people who come into the church today?
3. How do we treat them differently?
4. What had James done up to this point? (Pointed out the obvious differences between different classes of people and how they are treated.)
5. How does this kind of favoritism play out in our churches today.)

 

James 2:5-7

The point James was trying to make was the way they were looking at people and the way God saw them was very different. Although poverty in itself does not give a person a greater status in eyes of God generally it was the poor who filled the churches of the day. They had so much more to gain by their willingness to accept the teachings of Jesus. They saw that God saw them as valuable and they could become fellow heirs in His kingdom. God offered them what they had never had before, worth as a human being. On the other hand, James noted that the people were dishonoring the poorer members of the church and giving honor to the very ones who had and were oppressing them.

 

The last point to be made before moving on to the way the people should act was the attitude of the rich. There would be every reason for them to demean those who had received a freedom because of their position in Christ. No longer would the Christian have to fear what their masters could do to them. Of course it would have caused the masters to do everything to keep the people under control even if it meant blaspheming God.

 

1. How does God view all men?
2. In what ways did becoming a Christian do more the down trodden and poor than the rich and powerful?
3. Why is it easier for the poor to accept Christ?
4. If God sees man as equal before Him what should be our attitude and behavior toward those God brings into our presence?
5. Why do the elite and rich behave the way they do? (It is their means to keep everyone under control)
6. Why do we ultimately not have to worry about their behavior?

 

James 2:8-11

According to James and others the main thrust of the Law of Liberty of man’s relationship to others was, “To love your neighbor as yourself.” When a man set one man above another person he was violating this summary of the Law and committing sin. To commit sin is put oneself in the camp of the transgressors and therefore in line for judgment.

 

Evidently there were those who did not believe that such a minor lifestyle would cause spiritual death. James wanted to make sure they understood what made a person a sinner and thus condemned. In his mind there was no degree of sin. He wrote that to break one point of the law made a person a law-breaker even if he or she kept every other commandment.

 

1. In James’ mind what was the royal law? (Love neighbor as oneself)
2. Why was playing favoritism violating this law? (Because you did not love everyone equally and would favor one person over the other. It would cause a person to serve a different master so to speak.)
3. How do we violate the Law of God? (By committing any act or having any thought that rebels God’s standards given in His word.)
4. Who according to that criteria is a sinner?
5. How does these verses leave a man in a hopeless condition? (No one can keep every facet of the Law)
6. How do we deal with this issue? (Teaching by grace man can find forgiveness and salvation even though we cannot keep the law perfectly.)

 

James 2:12-13

To act contrary to the Royal Law was to bring judgment. James saw that to act that way was to behave as one without mercy. To treatment people unequally was to have disregard for their needs, spiritual and physical. Those who violated God’s laws regarding relationships would be judged accordingly. There was hope however. To love one’s neighbor would bring God’s mercy upon and individual instead of judgment. Man’s attitude and behavior does matter in how God views him.

 

1. What can a person expect if he has no love for his neighbor? (Judgment)
2. What does the word mercy mean? (Treating a person with kindness even if he does not deserve to receive such treatment. Man only deserves death and judgment but God gives us grace instead.)
3. What did James see as a lack of mercy on a person’s part? (Not treating a person with fairness and equality as a child of God.)
4. What can a person expect who shows no mercy?
5. How can one avoid judgment? (By living according to the royal law that can only come when a person loves God with his heart, soul and mind.)
6. Why does God treat us with mercy rather than judgment?

 

• Even though those who attend Bethany Place may not be like you in many ways, work at loving them as Christ loves them.
• Work at eliminating favoritism from the church
• When the opportunity comes to choose new leaders make sure that you want them in those positions because of their qualifications and not popularity.
• Understand that it is only because of what God is doing in your life and the lives of others that you are part of His eternal family and not that you have not done anything on your own.
• Pray that God will remove any prejudices from your heart that will keep you from having true fellowship with others.
• Know and understand that none of us are perfect. By breaking even the minutest part of the law that you are a sinner in need of grace and mercy like every other person.

 

James gives some valid information in these verses. As difficult as it may be, there is to be no favoritism and snobbish behavior in the church. To do so destroys the very fellowship we hope to create. His message is a warning that if we exclude anyone from the opportunity to worship and be discipled by us we could be in danger of receiving the same treatment that we have afforded others. Christ came to save every man. It is our responsibility to not be a roadblock in that relationship. The old saying that the ground at the foot of the cross is level has not changed since Jesus walked this earth. Let each of us do our best to have the mind of Christ in us and welcome every one God sends our way. He has to do a work in all of our hearts. It needs to begin with me.