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Plainly Speaking
with Karl J. Forehand
The
Perils of Partiality
(James 2:1-9)
by
Karl J. Forehand
My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ
with an attitude of personal favoritism.
For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in
fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one
who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good
place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit
down by my footstool," have you
not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil
motives? Listen, my beloved brethren:
did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of
the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored
the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into
court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been
called? If, however, you are fulfilling
the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor
as yourself," you are doing well.
But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted
by the law as transgressors. (James
2:1-9)
At the time James wrote
these the words, the Sanhedrin had rules concerning this:
``two adversaries (at law with each
other), if one of them is clothed "with precious garments", ((Myrqy Mydgb) , "goodly apparel",) and
the other is clothed with (Nyywzb
Mydgb) ,
"vile raiment", (the judge) says to the honourable person, either
clothe him as thou art, while thou contendest with him, or be clothed as he
is, that ye may be alike, or on an equal foot.''
(Maimon. Hilchot
Sanhedrin, c. 21. sect. 2).
``one shall
not sit, and another stand, but both shall stand; but if the sanhedrim, or
court, please to let them sit, they sit; but one does not sit above, and the
other below; but one by the side of the other.''
(Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 21. sect. 2).
In other words, level the
playing field. While rules like this
may be applicable to a court room, we don’t have that luxury in church. We can’t insure that people will dress a
certain way or sit in a certain place to avoid any unfair advantage. But, somehow we must avoid the perils of
partiality.
I believe the key to this passage
is found in verse 8 when James reminds them to “love your neighbor.” Remember what 1 John 4:20 said? It says, “If someone says ‘ I love God’
and hates his brother, he is a liar…”
The disciples tried to get out of this by asking, “Who is my neighbor?” We must understand that this is one we are
not going to wiggle out of – it is solid in Scripture – it is a part of the
Great Commandments – we must love God by loving others.
In other words, the way we
behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God. Warren Wiersbe says, “We can’t separate
human relationships from divine fellowship.”
Partiality is a huge hindrance to love for man and fellowship with God. Partiality stresses, “I only love those
that appeal to me in some external way.”
God loves us even though we don’t appeal to him externally or
internally. What are the perils of
partiality?
1. It conflicts with our faith.
We often assume, “Well, I
know I’m sort of playing God by being partial, but….” Did you know that God is not partial? The Bible says that He is not a “respecter
of persons.” (Rom. 2:11, Eph. 2:9,
Col. 3:25). We access God through
faith – He accepts us through grace – yet we try to preclude and promote
others based on external qualities.
I cannot tell you how many
churches I have attended that would pounce on the new lawyer that moved into
town. He would quickly be elected to
the deacon board and “put to work” in the church based on his career, his
status and the appearance of his family.
Nothing about us impresses God, but He still accepts us and even seeks
us. Partiality conflicts with our
faith.
Many of us actually have the
audacity to say, “I hope they don’t join our church,” or we might exclaim,
“She would make a good church member.”
The New Living Translations puts it this way “How can you claim that
you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people
over others.”
To be partial we have to say:
“I know why God chose
someone like me…..”
“I can’t see how God
could use them…”
“They are too far gone
for God to help them…”
“They deserve to suffer”
or “They deserve God’s blessing..”
All of these statement are wrong
thinking.
If we would be honest we would
understand: We were NOT good enough
to come to God. He accepted us
because He loves us. He loves them
too. The “royal law” (love your
neighbor) stresses that partiality doesn’t mesh with your faith.
2. It makes you a judge
We have a lawgiver and judge
– the Lord. When we make distinctions
about what is important, we usually make them based on the external. When we make distinctions about who should
attend church, we become “judges with evil motives.” I suppose a partial judge (in a court of
law) would be the worst possible thing imaginable. The things we “discern” must be the things that are absolutely
clear in Scripture. By the way, the
fact that partiality is wrong is crystal clear in Scripture.
We must keep the doors of our
church wide open.
3. It dishonors the poor man
In Jewish culture, there
were distinct differences between the “have’s” and the “have not’s.” The Pharisees had made religious life into
a country club where the landowners were oppressive to those that were not. Jesus said that He was called to minister
to the poor. The Sermon on the Mount
stresses that the “poor in spirit” were blessed. Those that need it most are the ones we are called to minister
to, not the ones that “think” they have it all.
We are all spiritually dirty –
we all need to cry out together for mercy.
We can’t be partial to those in need.
Are they sinners? Yes. Are they perfect? No.
Are they redeemable?
Absolutely. Are they jewels in
Jesus’ eyes? You better believe
it. Don’t dishonor them by oppressing
them spiritually.
4. It brings US into judgment.
Partiality is sin. It is not discretion or shrewdness or
anything like it – It is disobedience of the Great Commandments. II Corinthians 10:12 says, “For we are not
bold to class ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when
they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves,
they are without understanding.
The comparisons we tend to make
are most always in our favor. The
often look at the external qualities.
God always looks at the heart.
Let me close with a passage from Acts:
And opening his mouth, Peter said, “I most certainly understand now that
God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him
and does what is right, is welcome to Him.
(Acts 10:34-35)
Karl
J. Forehand, 2002
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