When First Impressions Get It Wrong

James 2:1–13 | What do someone’s clothes, car, or last name tell you about their worth? Less than you might think. Pastor Chris Teien explains how first impressions can lead to favoritism and why faith in Jesus should shape the way we welcome and treat people.

Through everyday examples and James’s contrast between rich and poor visitors, discover how to look beyond appearances, examine your motives, and show mercy. Learn why treating everyone with dignity goes hand in hand with wise discernment, and why every person needs the same saving grace found in Christ.

IN THIS MESSAGE

1. LOOK BEYOND APPEARANCE

James challenges believers who give special attention to a well-dressed visitor while dishonoring someone in dirty clothes. Clothing, possessions, and connections cannot determine a person’s worth or need for Jesus. Welcome people with Christlike care while exercising discernment based on character rather than outward impressions. (James 2:1–4; Romans 15:7; John 7:24)

2. VALUE PEOPLE BEYOND THEIR STATUS

Wealth does not measure spiritual maturity, and poverty does not make someone less important. James exposes the contradiction of honoring influential people while neglecting those God values. Trust God rather than pursuing relationships for personal advantage, and use whatever resources you have to do good and help others. (James 2:5–7; 1 Timothy 6:17–19)

3. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR WITHOUT FAVORITISM

The royal law calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, including people outside our familiar circles. Favoritism violates that command, and doing other good things does not excuse it. Obedience cannot earn salvation, but the grace we have received should move us to care for the people God places around us. (James 2:8–11; Luke 10:25–37)

4. SPEAK AND ACT WITH MERCY

James calls us to take our words and actions seriously and show mercy to others. Remembering that God saved us through His mercy challenges harsh judgments and selective compassion. Every person needs forgiveness and new life through Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again. (James 2:12–13; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Titus 3:5; Romans 10:9–13)

BE ENCOURAGED

Who might you overlook because they seem different, unfamiliar, or unlikely to offer you anything in return? Make room for a conversation, offer a sincere welcome, and seek to understand their story. Ask God to expose favoritism in your heart and help you reflect His mercy. If you have not trusted Jesus for salvation, receive the grace He offers and begin following Him.

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I hope this message helps you understand and apply God’s Word. Find sermon transcripts at https://Well.faith, learn more at https://ChrisTeien.com, or come visit us at https://Rockwell.church in Virginia, Minnesota. If this message encouraged you, I’d love to hear from you at wellfaith24@gmail.com.

Transcript

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Chris T 0:16

When first impressions get it wrong. I was asking some of the people in Sunday school if they could identify which one of these were pumpkins, gourds, squashes, what couldn't be eaten, what can't be, what's ornamental. And no one had a great idea. But they did like the big orange pumpkin on the top because you could carve that into something fun. I hear that some of the pumpkins that are best for carving are the worst for pies because it would be too stringy. And then we broke out into conversation as to who likes pumpkin pie and who doesn't. So interesting. But when you look at the screen, you see all these different vegetables, different colors. One's got bumps all over it. And I can just hear someone going, Ooh, it's got bumps all over it. Gross. And another one saying, Oh, it's got bumps all over it. It's kind of cute. That ugly pumpkin's kind of cute. And so, first impressions. When we look at people, we really need to see them as Jesus sees them. We need to have a heart that shows love and compassion no matter what they look like, no matter who they might be related to, no matter what they drive or if they look like they're wealthy or not. We shouldn't show favoritism. We shouldn't show partiality. I'll tell you a quick story, then we'll look at what the Bible says about this, because James is talking about this today in James chapter 2, verses 1 to 13, about not showing partiality. Okay. So years ago when I worked in the optical industry, I would go and I would call on doctors and opticians and try to sell them anti-reflective coated lenses to get a commitment to them to always send their lenses to the company that I work for so that we could apply their anti-reflective coated lenses and that I could get them to order what they needed. And it was really important when it came to dress. My national sales manager said when we made those sales calls that we should wear suits, that we should, the women should wear dresses and we should wear suits, and because they changed the policy, they gave us a cash allowance to go get our suit and dress pants and whatever. So I wore the suit and I made the calls. And I went to one of the optical places and I was talking to the owner and I said, Hey Jeff, I'm just curious. I said, when I walk in the door and I'm wearing a suit and tie telling you about our product, what do you think? As opposed to if I walked in the door dressed nice but wearing a shirt that had the company logo on it, not in a suit and tie, who are you more likely to buy from? And the owner said, I'm more likely to buy from the person who is repping the product, not wearing a suit. When I see a suit, I think you're just after my money. When I see you're wearing something that represents your company, I think you're probably more knowledgeable about your product. So I went back to the national sales manager and the president of the company and I told them my story, in which we ordered new logo wear, and I didn't have to wear the suit anymore. But it was so wonderful because a year later I needed that suit to candidate for my first position in the Baptist church where I would become the youth pastor. So it was a God thing. But we sized people up on the way that they dress, we size people up on the way that they look. And me as a pastor, when I came here, when I candidated here five years ago, I made it clear I don't wear suits. And one of the older ladies said, Well, other pastors wore suits, and when they did, people knew they were the pastor and they were respected. And I said, You know what happens now when a pastor wears a suit? He disconnects himself from the men, especially that he's trying to reach. But that happens in the church all the time. You'll size, do people up based on what they wear, who they're related to in a small community. Maybe you saw what they drove when they come in, came in and all these things. And so that's what the passage talks about. So, number one, look beyond appearance. Look beyond appearance, have a heart for all people, that they all need to know Jesus, that they all without Jesus have a sin sickness and you have the cure, and you want to help them to find the cure so that they too can be healed from the sin sickness. So James starts out, my dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? So giving preference to one person over another, seeing them and thinking they're more valuable because of the way that they look or who they are or what their last name is. And the last town I lived in, last names were a big deal. So there are certain names in the town that were like the founders, the important people. So names, position, authority, those types of things, as opposed to those people that you don't know, those people that you don't recognize, those people that you don't think look like you, or those types of things. But to claim faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, to honor Jesus with the way that we do things. So Romans 15, 7 says, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you, so that God will be given glory. So let me continue on in James, and you'll hear more of this. For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes, inexpensive jewelry, and another one comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. So back in those old days, they might load their fingers up with rings or gold rings or things like that or fancy clothes, and you would look at them and say, Oh, they must have a lot of money. They must be really important. We should give them a special seat. We should teach, we should, they're prominent people. We should give them a good seat where they want to sit in the front. So actually, you people never sit in the front. It's like the buffer zone. I don't know if I spit or what, but yeah. But so to give preference to those people, to give preference to those people that you think they may have more for you. Verse 3, if you give special attention in a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, you can stand over there or I'll sit on the floor. Think about that. I don't think that we do that. I think that sometimes in our minds we might give preference to certain people. Oh, that person is famous. Oh, that person is well known. So we had a former city councilman's funeral here, Charlie, and someone in the church said that you have a lot of people in the room that are leaders in the city, in the county, and even the state that are at this funeral today. And it was interesting. The fire department showed up in the back parking lot, giving the guy full honors, and it was a big deal. God wants us to respect everybody, though, not just to be a respecter of one person. Think about in your life how you can show care for those people that maybe have less. Sometimes it's even hard to tell, really, who the rich person is, because sometimes the rich person is actually the person with the old car with rust on it that doesn't have any car payments, as opposed to the person who has the brand new vehicle that actually has eight years of car payments. And so they might look rich, but you wouldn't know. But here, the passage is really focusing on favoritism and choosing to show everybody the love and care of Jesus, giving an opportunity for everyone to hear about Jesus and to be part of the local church. Verse 4 doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives? So what could their motives be? Maybe it would be, oh, if I connect with that person, maybe I'll get something for myself. Maybe I'll get a better deal at their store. Maybe they'll give me a better paying job. Maybe they'll be a big giver in the church and help fund our vision and our mission and our ministries. Maybe we should just connect with them, and that would be so good. Years ago when I planted the church, started it with no contacts, nobody just showed up and gathered a group of people to start a church and it went good. I went there for 20 years. But in the beginning, I had two leaders and so two elders, and one of them was actually they were both really smart and everything, but one of them had said that he was going to give a lot of money to support the church and that they had skills and they had started churches before and all this stuff. So after a short period of time, I found out that he wasn't happy with the direction that the church was going. So I had two men, and one was happy that we're going in this direction, and another one who said, No, I think you should be more like the conservative independent Baptist church, and we should do this and that. And I realized when I was sitting at that table in that restaurant, but by the time the conversation was over, I was probably going to lose somebody. And so I was so concerned, but I wanted to trust God and not just say, well, you know, if you're the one that's keeping the lights on, I sure can't afford to lose you. But instead I prayed about it and I just trusted God, and sure enough, that family left. And I just knew things were going to be hard. My treasurer would show me what came in for the offering, and sure, after they left, it was down. And it was down. And I was praying about it. I'm like, this isn't gonna go very good. And but I trusted God, and I didn't look at the person and say, oh, this is the person that we need to be successful. We can trust God to be successful. So I think it was week number three. A new family showed up, hadn't seen them before. Actually, they were from a couple towns over, and they came to church and they said, Oh, this is nice. We haven't been to church for a while. We are one of our guests, we're really into giving. And actually, we haven't given for a while because we haven't been to church for a while. So we just gave your treasurer all of our back tithes. And so then they continued to fund the church in the place that this person that I thought that I needed, that I thought, what if I can't afford to let them go? I did let them go. And God provided and God moved. And we need to make sure that we don't have evil or selfish or greedy motives to try to pursue someone or prefer someone or think that is the person that we need to keep moving forward. We need to trust God first and to realize that God values all people and God cares for all people. Jesus said in Matthew or John 7, 24, stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly. So important. Now, just real quick, when it says, don't judge like that, and when Jesus said, don't judge, it didn't mean don't be discerning. So what James is really saying here is that we need to do everything that we can to accommodate everybody that crosses our path, no matter their social status or who they are or their age or whatever. There's a lot of isms in the world. And there's racism, or you reject someone based on their race. There's ageism where you reject someone based on their age. They're either too young or too old. All these different types of isms. But it's not saying you shouldn't be discerning. Now, when it comes to leadership in the church, we're gonna be real discerning as to the Christ-like character of the person. When it comes to who gets to date your teenage daughter, you're gonna be real discerning. You're gonna make a few judgments about the person. Is the guy respectful? Is he kind? Is he does he honor boundaries? Is he polite? Is those types of things. If you're gonna go into business with someone, you're gonna make a few discernments, a few judgments based on can I trust that person with my livelihood? Can I move forward? But this is about going through life, inviting everyone to the communion table, inviting everyone to be part of the church, inviting everyone to be part of it. Now, in one church in Iowa, there was a hog farmer. There were quite a few hog farmers actually in the church in Iowa. And one of them was walking into the church with his boots on, because he had been in the barn, and you could smell him coming. I knew what he was wearing before I even saw him because I could smell it. And as he was walking in, I'm like, Oh, your boots. And he's like, Yeah, you smell that? That, yeah. He said, That's the smell of money, son. And that that money helped build this church that you're in here right now. You could do two things. You could say, Hey, any chance you want to take your boots off? Or maybe we could put your boots in plastic or something, or maybe you just clean up behind them. I don't know. When people come dirty into the church, maybe you can just say, Well, we'll probably have to clean that chair after, but we don't want to do anything to make them feel uncomfortable. Those would be good things. So you have to pray about that and you have to think about that. Number two, value people beyond their status. Value people beyond their status. So James says in verse 5, listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren't they the ones who will inherit the kingdom he promised to those who love him? So the rich people, they trust in their riches and they enjoy all these comforts in life and they can buy their way out of trouble and they have all these things. But last week you heard that they should be careful, because their riches can fade away. It's the people who are faithful when God hasn't blessed them with tons of money, who struggle more, that often have more faith and they have the hope in the future, hope in the inheritance that they have. So it's not about riches. And then it says in verse 6, you dishonor the poor. Isn't it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren't they the ones who slander Jesus Christ whose noble name you bear? Which is interesting, because that's not more, this isn't just saying rich people are bad. James was pointing out the people, the rich people who are causing lots of trouble. They would tend to take advantage of those who are helplessly poor. Even though the rich man doesn't need the money, he forecloses on the poor person's property to collect on a debt, or he charges high interest rates that the poor person can never hope to repay, where he pays pitiful wages that hardly allow a man to feed his family while the rich man just gets richer. I got that out of the coal commentary. The William Barclay commentary explains if a creditor met a debtor on the street, he could seize him by the neck of his robe, nearly throttling him, and literally drag him to the law courts. That's what James is describing here. It's not wealth that James is condemning, but a lack of compassion and understanding on the part of the wealthy towards the poor. All right, so 1 Timothy 6 17. Paul says, Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future, a found good foundation for the future, so that they may experience true life. Number three, love your neighbor without favoritism. So Jesus had told about the good Samaritan finding that needy guy on the road and caring for him in Luke chapter 10 that you can read about. But a neighbor is a person that is near you, around you. So it's not just the person who lives next door to your home address. It's maybe your co-worker or the person that you are on the team with or at your school with, but you're to love your neighbor without favoritism, to care for them. Yes, indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law, as found in the scripture, to love your neighbor as yourself. So Jesus was asked, What's the greatest commandment? And it was to love God and to love your neighbors as yourself. The royal law, to love your neighbor as yourself. Do you do that? How can you do that better? If you discriminate against people around you, if you show favoritism, then that isn't love. Verse 9, but if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. That law, the royal law of love. For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. So some people were saying that, well, I do prefer to be around people like me. Or we have our own little group at church. So I guess I'm not very good at socializing with others or showing I care for others. But I do other things like I give and I help teach and I do these other things, so it's okay. And James is like, hey, don't let yourself off the hook by saying that you're doing most of the things on the list. That's good. He's like, no, don't let this one go and excuse yourself because you do other things. It's like, do them all. They're all important to do. For the same God who said you must not commit adultery, also said you must not murder. So if you murder someone, but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. So, again, that idea that you can't excuse yourself from this just because you do other good things and you don't do other things. It's like, in God's eyes, it's important that we do right. It's also important to remember that we are under grace, that it's not following the Old Testament law that makes us right with God. We don't keep all the rules to be right with God. It's not a way to salvation, but what it's saying is that it's important to remember that we're to love God and we're to love others, and that shows care, and that's important. Number four, speak and act with mercy. Speak and act with mercy. So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. To think about that, to are you set free in Jesus? When you came to the communion time, did you celebrate that Jesus has paid for your sin, that he set you free from the Old Testament law, though Jesus said he came to fulfill the law, and God's moral standards still need to be kept. But to know that whatever we say, whatever we do, we need to show mercy. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful to you when he judges you. The old, the the people without Christ, those who haven't received Christ, they're going to be judged on whether they'll spend eternity with God or not. For the New Testament, believer who has received Jesus Christ, we will be judged based on the works that we have done, and we'll be rewarded for it. But to think of that, to think about how that makes a difference. So, 2 Corinthians 5 10, we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. So, to think about what is it that we're doing and what will we receive reward for? What is our message? What are we supposed to be sharing with people? What is it that we so long to tell every person, whether they're rich or poor, clean or dirty, young or old, tall or short, skinny or somewhere in between or beyond that? Titus 3.5 talks about Jesus. He saved us not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and a new life through the Holy Spirit. We want every person we come across to be able to experience that new life through the Holy Spirit. And we know that the disease that we have, the sin disease that we Jesus is the solution, says everyone has sinned, and we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Every one of us are sinners, but through Christ we can be sin, seen as sin free. Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. So if we continue to sin, it will lead to eternal death and separation from God. But that free gift that we can receive is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. For God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. God provided the solution before we even knew we needed it. And Acts 4.12 says there is salvation in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. So what's the solution? It says if we openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. For it's by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it's by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Have you believed in your heart? Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you openly declared that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? So one good way to do that is during baptism. And telling people about your faith in Christ is so important. If you're ashamed to tell people about your faith in Christ, that's not a good thing. We can help you to get better at it, to know what you can say if you're afraid you're going to mess it up. But if you don't think that you have a relationship with Christ, let me know. We want to help you to know that you do, to get assurance that you do, or maybe you don't, and we'll help you to cross over from death to eternal life. Because everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The worship team can come up here. But Lord Jesus, I pray that there's anybody here that doesn't know you as our Lord and Savior, that they would cry out something like, in prayer, Lord Jesus, I realize that I'm a sinner in need of salvation and that you died on the cross for my sin to make the payment, the ultimate sacrifice. And I receive it. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me, come into my life and save me, help me to follow you, or something like that, so that you can start that relationship with Christ. And if it's not just the words of a prayer, if you truly mean it, the Holy Spirit should make a connection and help you to understand what it means to follow Jesus. Those How to Find God New Testaments are helpful. And so we want to be here to help you to grow in your faith and to be able to share your faith and to make a difference in the world as we reach out to people and accept people without favoritism. So, Jesus, we thank you. Amen.

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