James 2 - No Partiality

Favoritism isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s a warmer greeting for the “important” person, a better seat for the one with money, or instant trust for someone with the right résumé. We walk through James 2:1–13 and let it confront the subtle hierarchy that can slip into church culture, where appearance, influence, and donations start to matter more than spiritual maturity and shared need at the cross.

Transcript

Prayer For Mercy And Renewal

SPEAKER_00 0:21

We bless you that we're not left to grope in darkness, but have been brought into the light. That Jesus obeyed where we failed, that He He died where we deserve punishment, and He's risen that we would have life. But Lord, we are still needy people. Distracted, cold in our affections at times, quick to trust ourselves and slow to trust you. Forgive wandering hearts. Cleanse us in the blood of Christ. Restore to us the joy of your salvation. And Lord, make us a humble, holy, gospel-filled people, marked by repentance, faith, and love. And we ask all this in the strong and saving name of Jesus Christ, because he is our only hope. Amen. James chapter 2, I'm going to read verses 1 through 13. My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in? 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, you stand over there or sit down at my feet? Have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, 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? But you've dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich ones who oppose you, the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you're doing well. But if you show partiality, you're committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point becomes guilty of all of it. For you said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. If you do not commit adultery, but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to those who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Amen. This is God's word. One of my first jobs before I ever went into finance, one of my first real, I called it like my first real adult job where I was earning grown-up money. I was working as a service writer. If you know you know what that is, if you've ever taken your car into a dealership and the guy greets you at the door and he he you talk to him and say, hey, this is what's wrong with my car, it's doing this thing, and and and he writes it up for you, and he could that's what a that's what I did. I did that for a few years, actually. The dealership that I worked at was in Concord, New Hampshire. The proper way to say Concord, not Concord, but Concord. Amen. Any New Hampshire people in here? Amen, that's right. But because of our and so uh is Concord, New Hampshire is the state capital. And so we were very we were in close proximity to the state house. And so we regularly saw uh uh state senators, we saw government officials, high-ranking law enforcement people, and they were bringing in their Corvettes and their Cadillacs all the time. If somebody pulled in with a low number license plate, everything changed. See, in New Hampshire, low license plates represent status, legacy, and political connection. From what I could find, I don't know if it's a thing here. I couldn't find that it was. Somebody's gonna correct me later, I'm sure. But most states assign numbers randomly. But in New Hampshire, there's a long-standing tradition where low number plates, especially under a thousand, even under 5,000, are protected, and you can't just request one from the DMV. If you have one, it's probably been passed down through your family, or you have a connection to political influence, likely the governor's office or state legislature. And so these low-number plates in New Hampshire are associated with the political class, prominent families, people with real influence. And so when you see one, that's the assumption. This person knows someone, this person carries some weight. And it's not just vanity, it's access, it's recognition, it's perceived authority. And so at this dealership, that took, they took priority. And it's been so controversial in the state that people have tried to change the law to put in a lottery system, but even when they they started a lottery system, those numbers under 5,000 were protected anyway. So it was a very weird time. And so when one of those plates pulled into the service lane, they were first. They were first. It didn't matter if somebody had been waiting or if somebody had scheduled an appointment weeks in advance, you moved them aside and you made room. It didn't matter. Why? Because of who that person was, or at least who the leadership of that dealership uh assumed them to be. But even at like 19 years old, I'm thinking, you know, this doesn't really sit right with me. And they didn't really care what I had to say anyway. In fact, when I was when I questioned it, I was told not to worry about it, just do what you're told. So I did. Now, from what I could tell, as I said in my research, this this is normalized in New Hampshire. It's it's true, I think, in Massachusetts and Maine and Rhode Island, it's pretty normalized there. But it's I think it would feel out of place in Kentucky because it's just not a thing, as far as I could tell. So if someone pulled up with 557 on their license plate, here it's not really gonna sound any alarms. And I think that's exactly what how James wants the church to see favoritism. If some dude pulled up with a no low number license plate and thought he was gonna get the best seat at the Waffle House, they're gonna look at him like he has two heads. And I don't even know if there is a best seat at the Waffle House, if I'm honest. It should feel foreign, not familiar to us. Partiality should feel foreign in the body of Christ. And that's James' point here. So I want to break this down. I got two big pieces today. Let's start first with what the gospel does, because that's really the point of what's taking place here. Verse 1, he says, My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. So God often works in the opposite way of human expectations. James reminds us that God has chosen many who are poor in the world to be rich in faith, to be heirs of the kingdom. But the church was dishonoring the very people that God exalts while favoring those who frequently oppressed them, dragged them into court, he says. See, the deeper issue is that partiality evaluates people by wealth, appearance, social influence instead of their standing before the Lord Jesus Christ. In the kingdom of God, worldly status has no value whatsoever. All believers stand equal before the foot of the cross. So showing favoritism reveals a heart that is still shaped by the thinking of the world rather than the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not just an ancient problem, is it? The world has changed, but the human heart remains the same. We see this clearly in the modern evangelical church, especially in subtle forms of preference. I mean, I think overt discrimination is probably less visible in 2026. But churches can unintentionally give greater attention or influence or visibility to individuals who are wealthy, uh professionally successful, socially connected, the low license plate people. Those who contribute large donations or hold influential positions may be granted greater access or even recognition. And so when that happens, the church begins to mirror the value systems of the world rather than the kingdom of God. Why are so many churches struggling? Because they put men into leadership positions that have absolutely no business in a leadership position in the house of God, but they have some leadership position in the community. And so individuals dealing with poverty and addiction or homelessness or incarceration can feel like outsiders. They might be welcomed politely, but they're kept at a distance. But James reminds us that God chooses the very people the world overlooks. So when when churches sideline the vulnerable, we risk dishonoring those who God may be powerfully working through. And to be clear, poverty does not equal righteousness. That's not what James is saying. He's also not saying that wealth equals wickedness. There's lost people who are poor. There are faithful believers who glorify God and build the kingdom with their wealth. The issue is not what someone has, it's how we assign value. Charles Spurgeon once said, God is no respecter of persons. He does not care for our rank, our station, or our wealth. James is telling us this reality. The gospel, listen, the gospel destroys worldly measures of value. The gospel does not merely call us to behave differently, it fundamentally changes who we are at the deepest level, our heart. You see, at the moment of salvation, we're not just, we're not seeking improvement. We are made completely new. God gives a new heart, new desires, new orientation toward Him. What we once loved, we begin to see differently. What we used to resist, we begin to hunger for. That's the work of the Spirit applying the finished work of Christ to our lives. We're justified fully and instantly, but we're also being sanctified progressively throughout our lives. The gospel moves inward before it ever shows itself outward. And because the change begins on the inside, it gradually reshapes everything on the outside. Our relationships, our attitudes, how we speak, our priorities, that all begin to reflect what's happening inside of us. We begin to love people that we once overlooked. We we extend mercy where we used to hold judgments. We pursue holiness, not out of obligation, but because we love Jesus. This transformation it's slow, it's uneven, but it is real and it is evident over time. I bet you if we went around the room and we asked your story, nobody in here got saved and then has this straight line of sanctification in their lives, right? Mine's like this. Am I the only one? Everyone's like, oh, that's awful. Thinner. No, you all we're all the same, right? We're all over the place. But that's what sanctification is. You see, it but it's evident over time. I I know for me, if you sit down and talk to my wife, who's known me most of my life, she would say he is a different man than he was five, ten, thirty years ago. And that's because of Jesus Christ. And so God continues his work in us, that outward fruit becomes more and more evident. In the first century and today, public figures, celebrities, political leaders, they can receive disproportionate attention because of notoriety. Now their testimony could be genuine, but elevating them primarily because of fame communicates that influence in the church is tied to worldly recognition rather than spiritual maturity. I remember this was our last church in Connecticut. I remember a man, I didn't know him. He came to church one Sunday. I didn't know who he was, but apparently he had a big background in local politics. He came in and one of somebody came up to me before church and said, Hey, that's Mr. Political Guy. I'm like, who? He's like, Oh, if you knew Connecticut politics, you'd know who he was. First off, don't get involved in Connecticut politics, because I'm pretty sure it's just the mafia. But anyway, so this guy came in. Anyone in here from Connecticut in politics? That was a joke, by the way. But anyway, so so this guy introduced himself to me after church, and he he outlined his influence and his platform. But in essence, the conversation was this what can you do for me, and what can the church do for me? And why should I bring my name and my recognition to this little podunk church? And I told him as graciously as I could, and you all know I have a lot of tact. I said, Man, if you're looking for recognition or personal benefit, this is not the right place for you. And then I asked him plainly, I said, Brother, is your faith 100% in Jesus Christ for your salvation? And he got very angry with me. And he never came back. The church, when it faithfully proclaims the word, strips away human pride. And for someone seeking status, the word of God preached either is deeply offensive or profoundly transformative. At the same time, the gospel not only destroys worldly value systems, it creates something entirely new. The gospel creates a community of wise, compassionate, and intentional unity. The church becomes one of the very few places where economic, social, and cultural distinctions lose their power. I mean, that's not easy in practice. If it was, it wouldn't be an instruction in the scripture. There's a reason the Bible addresses this. And there's a reason, and I know this from personal experience. Many people shaped by poverty or instability or repeated contact with the justice system, they develop patterns like dishonesty or manipulation, not out of malice, but out of survival strategies. I was in the jail last night, I was having a conversation with someone, I was doing a one-on-one with that person, and I knew as this person was talking to me, this person's trying to manipulate me. I didn't take it personally. Because I know with that person it's a survival strategy. Because I know what that person's been through. And so what looks like untrustworthiness is often a deeply ingrained defense mechanism. Protect yourself, take what you can, don't be vulnerable. And so those patterns become normalized. And it's understandable, but it's not harmless. I mean, sin is still sin. But the gospel, the gospel uniquely shows us to see both the brokenness behind the behavior and the responsibility for it. And so that guards us from being naive and it keeps us from being cynical. Instead, the church can be wise and compassionate at the same time, can't we? The church can be wise and compassionate at the same time. Real change is possible because the gospel does not merely restrain behavior, it reorients the heart completely. But when trust is shattered over a lifetime, rebuilding that takes time and consistency and a community that reflects Jesus Christ. And trust is not given quickly, is it? It has to be built slowly. And I can tell you, the most powerful testimony in a church is rarely the polished people behaving well. It's broken people learning step by step to live truthfully because Jesus made them new. Now, I'm not suggesting if you follow Jesus your whole life and you're really following Jesus, that that's not a powerful testimony, it is. But often when we listen to people who are completely shattered and broken and Jesus made them new, it inspires us. C.S. Lewis says to love at all is to be vulnerable. And that's exactly what the gospel creates, a community willing to risk love because we have first been loved by Jesus. And that brings us to the second big piece here, which James calls the royal law of love. Look at verse 8. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you're doing well. But if you show partiality, you're committing sin and convicted by the law as transgressors. Forever keeps the whole law, but fails in one point, has become guilty of all of it. And so he confronts the church for dishonoring the poor while giving special attention to the wealthy. Then he points them to the very principle that should govern the life of every single believer. And he what's interesting, he uses the word the royal law. And it doesn't appear anywhere else in the Bible that I can find. But the principle behind it runs all throughout scripture. He calls it the royal law, so he's emphasizing that this command comes from the authority of the king himself and it governs the ethical life of those who belong to the kingdom of Christ. You see, the citizens of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, we don't evaluate people based on wealth, appearance, social standing, but we treat every person with the same love that God has shown them in Jesus Christ. We treat everyone as an image-bearer of God. When the church shows favoritism, it violates the royal command and it reveals that it's still operating by the values of the world rather than the values of the kingdom of its king. The royal law is the defining standard of God's kingdom. And this reaches all the way back into the Old Testament. James is actually quoting Leviticus 19. God commands his people do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. And that command was a cornerstone of the Israeli community life for centuries, and it established that true obedience to God was not just about external rule keeping, but about relationships that were shaped by love and mercy and justice. James shows that the call to love one's neighbor has always been central to the moral life of God's people, and of course reflects the very character of the God who gave that law. And we know just by reading this, it sounds so familiar to us because our Savior elevated this command to the center of God's law and the great commandment. He was asked which commandment was the greatest. He says the first is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus said, all the law and prophets hang on these two commands. So, in other words, the entire moral framework of the scripture finds its summary in loving God and loving others. We can summarize the morality of the church with we need to love God and love others. And Jesus illustrates the meaning, he goes into the parable of the good Samaritan. The Samaritan was a guy from a despised ethnic group. But he becomes the true neighbor by showing mercy to someone in need. So genuine love is cross social, cross cultural, cross ethnic boundaries. So the Apostle Paul echoes the same truth about the teaching of the fulfillment of the law, and this is Romans 13. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. And then he commands, he explains the commandments. He says, Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet. He said they're all summed up in this single command, love your neighbor as yourself. And then in Galatians 5, the one we everyone reads at weddings, he declares the whole law is fulfilled in this one word, love. The point is that love does not abolish the moral law, it expresses it, it fulfills it. And when I say love, I'm not talking about love like from the Beatles or from a teenage vampire movie. I'm talking about love from the scripture. Love, listen, biblical love seeks the good of others. Biblical love seeks the good of others, doesn't it? And it naturally upholds the commandments that God has given. And when we love others, we are realizing on a basic level that when we love ourselves, rather, we recognize that at a basic level, we already understand what love looks like because we practice it daily. We feed ourselves when we're hungry, we protect ourselves when we feel threatened, we pursue what brings us joy, we extend patience to ourselves when we fail. Jesus basically says, take that instinct and turn it outward toward other people. Could you imagine what this church or this town or this country or this world would be if we gave other people the same love that we give to ourselves? Think about it when you're driving. No, I won't talk. Yes, you will talk. Loving our neighborhood means we intentionally seek the good with the same seriousness, care, and consistency that we naturally give our own lives. Especially when it's inconvenient. But instead of loving our neighbors as ourselves, we often place ourselves first. We judge others by outward standards, we fail to extend mercy, and we tend to reveal the deeper problem of sin that resides in every human heart. And the law exposes this reality by showing us that we fall short of the love that God requires. And that's why the gospel is necessary, isn't it? God didn't leave us condemned under the weight of a law we couldn't keep. Instead, he sent his son Jesus Christ to perfectly fulfill the law in our place. Jesus lived a life of flawless obedience, loving God perfectly, loving others without partiality. Then he went to the cross and he bore the judgment our sin deserves so that those who trust in him would be forgiven and reconciled to God. And then he dies on the cross, bearing our weight, taking the punishment for our sin, and then he rises up on the third day, and he offers us freely forgiveness and transformation. And so when when we when we repent of our sin, when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are justified before God, not because we are good, but because Jesus is perfect. Jesus kept the law and he kept it on our behalf. And when we come to faith in him, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, begins to transform our hearts. If you have received the mercy of God, you are gradually changed by the Spirit to reflect that same mercy toward others. You see, the gospel fulfills the law and produces a merciful people. The gospel fulfills the law and then produces a merciful people. To the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the law is no longer external and threatening, it is internal and delightful for us. And what the law commanded from the outside, the gospel now creates from the inside a new heart that loves God and loves people. And then from that flows mercy to others. We forgive because we've been forgiven. We show compassion because we've been shown compassion. And we move toward the broken rather than away from them. Mercy is no longer a burden that we we strive to achieve, but it is a fruit that grows from us because grace has been received. And the gospel reshapes our instincts. And we extend the grace to others, reflecting the character of Christ. And I think in contrast to a lot of modern evangelical world is what I would call easy believism. I didn't coin that phrase, it's been around for some time. And the problem with that is that the gospel is often reduced to a one-time decision or verbal profession with very little, if any, expectation of transformation. The biblical gospel that fulfills the law actually produces a changed person marked by mercy. Easy believism can separate justification from sanctification, can't it? Say, hey, if you're saved and there's no evidence of a new heart, you're still saved. No. If you are saved, your life is going to be the evidence of that salvation, isn't it? Amen. Somebody. You say, well, no, I got saved when I was a kid. I was at camp. They turned the heat up to 110 and said, hey, if you don't want to go to hell, it's hotter than in here. You better run forward. And she dropped that little noodle necklace and you ran down front and said, I don't want to be hot, so now I'm saved. But ten years later you're not walking with Jesus at all. The suggestion is turn from your sin and believe in Him. You say, Gulah, Gulai, that sounds very judgmental. It's meant to be. If you say you're married, you say, Oh yeah, I've been married for 10 years. I see my wife every Sunday night. The rest of the week I live over there across town with that other woman. And then Saturdays I go down to that other town without with that other woman. But Sundays I'm with my wife because I'm married. I've been married for 10 years. I got the piece of paper. What kind of marriage is that? There's no Hebrew word. Trash. What kind of salvation is that? Oh, I see Jesus every Sunday, but the rest of the week I sleep around with the world. What kind of salvation is that? Easy believism separates our growth in Christ. You see, the gospel declares both. Declared righteous in Christ, but made new and made new by the Holy Spirit. So the result is not just assent to facts, but a life increasingly shaped by the character of Christ, including tangible, costly mercy toward others. No, I'm not suggesting if you got saved at kids' camp with a noodle necklace, you're not saved. I'm simply suggesting that if you are saved, your life will be the evidence of that salvation. In fact, we're going to talk about that here pretty soon in James, aren't we? Alistair Begg recounts the vivid picture of the thief on the cross. And he's got a wonderful story called The Man on the Middle Cross said I could come. But he basically imagines the man arriving in glory with nothing to commend himself, no baptism, no works, no theological resume, just that simple explanation. The man on the center cross said that I could come. That is the scandal and the beauty of the gospel, isn't it? Here's a man who had wasted his life. He couldn't make restitution. He could not turn over a new leaf. He could not prove anything. But in his final moments, he looks to Jesus, and Jesus says, What to him? Today, you will be with me in paradise. We can't save ourselves. That confronts our instinct to contribute, to clean ourselves up, to add something to the grace that God gives. But the gospel stands firm, salvation belongs to the Lord. And it's given freely to those who come to Christ in faith, empty-handed. And that means the ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level. The only people who enter the kingdom are those who come the same way that the thief did. Not with a list of achievements, but with a desperate appeal to mercy. Are you trusting the one who has done it all? That's the question, isn't it? Are you trusting the one who's done it all? Jesus doesn't receive us on the basis of what we bring, but on the basis of what he has already completed. The man on the center cross has spoken, and his words are enough. So every sinner returns to him, no matter how late, no matter how broken, finds the door open, the welcome is real, and the promise is secure. So let me end this way. James ends, verse 13. Mercy triumphs over judgment. You see, James isn't suggesting that God ignores sin or lowers his standard, but that for those who are in Christ, judgment has already been satisfied in Jesus Christ. The believer doesn't stand before God hoping that our good outweighs our bad. We stand covered in the righteousness of Christ and mercy has the final word. I never go to sleep at night hoping that my good has outweighed my bad for that day. I go to sleep at night knowing that Jesus is my Savior and Jesus has paid it all. And there's nothing I did that day to add to my salvation. In fact, I probably messed it up a little bit more than the day before. Judgment is real and necessary because God is holy, but mercy triumphs, justice, mercy triumphs because Jesus has borne that justice, that judgment in our place. So when James writes this, he's grounding our behavior in the gospel. Those who have received mercy must become people who extend mercy. And that has profound implications for how we treat others. It doesn't mean we ignore sin or abandon discernment, but it does mean we lead with compassion rather than condemnation. We live in a world that is very quick to discard people, to label people. This place must be a place where people encounter patient, undeserved kindness that reflects the heart of God. Because that's what we've all received. And often it's that mercy that God uses to soften hearts, rebuild trust, and bring about real transformation in the lives of men and women. I'll close in prayer and the team's gonna come and lead us in a final song. You guys can come on up. And once the song's complete, I'm actually gonna have Justin close us in prayer at the very end. But while we're singing, if you're led and if if you need prayer, uh a few of the elders we're gonna stand down here and we'll pray with you. If you need Jesus, we'll talk to you about that. If you need healing, we can pray with you for that. If you're struggling, we want to pray for you. So as the team sings, come and pray with us. Let's bow our heads together and pray. Father, we thank you for your word. It is clear, it is searching, it is kind. We confess that so often our faith has been a matter of words than works and more profession than practice, and been content to say the right things while failing to live in a way that reflects the mercy we've received. Forgive us for a dead and lifeless faith, and forgive us for showing partiality, for withholding compassion, for claiming to trust Christ while neglecting to walk with him. Create in us clean hearts, O God, because of the finished work of Christ. We love you, and we're so thankful for that salvation. Freely given. In Jesus' name, amen.