24 Mar Recap | James | The Sin of Partiality
This weekend we continued to look at the teachings of James. In the beginning of chapter 2, James is addressing the sin of partiality, which can also be described as “judging according to value.” This passage is a brief aside, wedged in between two sections teaching on obedience, which indicates how crucial of an idea and how big of a problem James considered partiality to be.
The chapter begins with a strong command from James, issued directly towards the brothers and sisters of the church. He commands the church to not play favorites or show discrimination, and he gives this command a great weight by saying, “how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?” (v1) James considers this such a big issue that he questions the integrity of their faith. The important thing to realize is that James is viewing the sin of partiality as the warning sign of a bigger issue.
As the chapter continues, James gives three reasons why discrimination is wrong and stated they have evil thoughts and motives. The first reason is theological, reminding the audience that God loves the poor, and He has repeatedly worked through those who are poor in possession but rich in faith (v.5). James also reminds the church that the same rich people they are showing favor to are the ones who call people to court for debts and create a tension between the rich and everyone else (v.6-7). This is a pragmatic reason as to why partiality is wrong. James’ final reason as to the evil nature of partiality is that it is anti-gospel. Partiality dishonors God and breaks His law.
James quotes Leviticus 19, which is where the law says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The sin of partiality boils down to not loving your neighbor well. Not only is this breaking God’s law, but it is also hypocritical. We know that God does not show any partiality. We are all desperate sinners in need of grace. We come to Him with nothing to offer, with no merits to be judged by. He knows who we truly are, and yet He still offers total salvation and grace. We have been treated with complete love and lack of discrimination. We are given the strength and freedom to love our neighbors well, without partiality, because we have been loved well by our glorious Savior.
Application:
1. What type of Christian relationships do you have? What is the quality of them? It is in the context of relationships that we are challenged to engage and love well.
2. What holds you back from loving well?
3. Where are you tempted to show favoritism? (wealth, attractiveness, similarity)
4. Are you trying to be someone you are not? Are you playing a character to try and earn favor?