Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Before we get into the message today, I want to give you a preview of what’s coming up here at ACC. Starting on February 26, which is three weeks from today, we’re going to launch a series called Bring It!

Normally we don’t start talking about a series three weeks before it starts, but this is different. This series is going to be HUGE! This could be the most important series that we have all year.

In this series, we’re going to talk about our vision. We’re going to explore who God has called us to be. We’re going to look at the DNA of our church.

If you’re part of our family here at ACC, this series is going to pump you up! If you’re checking out our church, you can’t miss this. If you want to know who we are…if you want to know what makes our church tick…you’ve got to be here for this series. It starts on February 26, but we’re asking you to start praying about it now. Pray that God reveals Himself to us and that we see clearly who we are and the next steps that God is calling us to take.

Now, let’s get into God’s Word for us today. This is the second week of our series called What Jim Said. In this series, we’re taking four weeks to explore the New Testament book of James.

We learned last week that James was the brother of Jesus. And after the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to James, James came to believe that his brother was actually the Son of God. And he became one of the most prominent leaders in the church in Jerusalem.

He also wrote this book of James in our New Testament. A lot of scholars believe that the book of James is, chronologically, the oldest book in the New Testament. This book was possibly written only 15-20 years after the resurrection of Christ.

That means that the people who received this letter from James were very new to the faith. They were very new to Christianity, because Christianity was very new. But it’s amazing to see the issues that James hits in his book. Many of the issues that existed at the very beginning of the church are the same issues that the church is wrestling with today, 2,000 years later.

Last week we talked about temptation. James just waylaid us last week. It was a tough, tough Word from God last week. But that’s pretty much all that you find in the book of James. There are no softballs in this book. James just hits you. And when you start to get up, he hits you again.

But even though it’s hard truth, it’s life-changing truth. It is truth that takes us to a new level in our faith. It’s truth that changes us into people who are more like Jesus.

And that’s the ultimate goal. When I preach hard, uncomfortable truth, I don’t’ do it just because I can. I don’t do it because I enjoy pounding you. I don’t do it because I want to stand up here and yell. And I don’t do it because I just want to make you feel like a loser.

I do it because I love you. If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t preach this kind of difficult truth. I would just say whatever you wanted to hear and try to keep everybody happy. But because I love you, I will tell you the truth, even when it’s hard.

I tell you the truth because I want you to become more like Jesus. That’s what I want for me and that’s what I want for you. And that kind of deep, spiritual formation is hard. I said last week that this is not a game. Christianity isn’t for wimps. It isn’t for spectators. And it isn’t for people who just want a get-out-of-hell free card.

Christianity is about becoming like Christ, and that will wreck your life. It will tie you up in knots. It will turn you inside out. Ultimately, it will kill you. Following Jesus is about dying to yourself and living for Him. And if we always want softball sermons and feel-good messages, it will never happen. We’ll never become like Jesus.

So I’m telling you up front. We have another sledgehammer message from the book of James today. Jim hit us hard last week, and he’s coming back for more this week. So we’d better pray before we get started.

Last week, Jim told us to watch it. Today, he’s telling us to stop it. Just stop it. And the “it” we’re talking about today is favoritism. James tells us with crystal clarity that favoritism and partiality have NO place in the Body of Christ.

We’re in James 2 today. I want to read our text in its entirety, and then we’ll go back and unpack it.

James 2, starting in the first verse. “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

[Now skip on down to verse 8.] If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. (James 2:1-4, 8-11, NIV)

Now that we’ve read this pretty long text, let’s go back and walk through it more slowly.

In verse 1, James said, “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” (James 2:1, NIV)

The word translated “favoritism” comes from the Greek root for “face.” Favoritism is judging someone based on how they look, or at “face value.”

This is completely contrary to the character of God. In Deuteronomy 10, the Bible says, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.” (Deuteronomy 10:17-18, NIV)

And in 1 Samuel 16, the Bible says, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b, NIV)

God shows no partiality. No favoritism. He doesn’t even see what’s on the outside. He looks directly at the heart.

Back to James 2. James tells us that we are “believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.” That means that we understand the difference between true glory and false glory. We are able to see past the false glory of riches and wealth. We see past the false glory of nice clothes or big houses or expensive cars. And we see the true glory of Jesus Christ. And because of His true glory, it completely changes our perspective on other people.

We stop seeing people for what they look like. Or what they have. Or what they can do for us. And we start seeing them for what they are. Sinners who need a Savior.

And James then goes on to give us an example. Starting in verse 2, he said, “Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4, NIV)

It was easy to spot rich people in the first century. They had obvious status symbols. They wore bright colors, like purple and red. That kind of colored fabric was very expensive. If someone wore purple, they were rich.

They also wore jewelry. In his story, James mentions that the rich man that comes to church was wearing a gold ring. A lot of us today are wearing jewelry. That wouldn’t be the case in the first century, unless you were very, very rich.

It was easy to see the divide between rich and poor in this culture. As soon as this rich person walked in, you would know it.

But also, as soon as the poor man walked in, you would know it. James said he was dressed in filthy old clothes. No purple cloth. No rings or jewelry. Just filthy old clothes. He probably smelled bad. He was probably missing some teeth. His hair was unkempt.

And the question that James asks is simple. Do you treat these two men any different? We still have divisions between the rich and the poor today.

What would you do if a homeless person sat down next to you today? Dressed in rags. Smelling bad. What would you do? How would you react?

On the flip side, how would you react if a rich, powerful, famous person came into our church today? Maybe a famous athlete. Or a powerful politician. Or a multi-millionaire. Even a billionaire.

James’ point is simple. You know how both of these people get treated in the church? Equally. Exactly the same.

I remember a time when I was leading worship at another church and someone of considerable prominence and power attended that particular service. I saw this person, but I didn’t do anything about it. I just noticed they were there.

After the service, one of the elders of that church came up and took me to task. “Why didn’t you recognize this person? Why didn’t you mention them? You should have asked them to stand up. You could have brought them on stage.” And on and on and on.

It got so bad that the next Sunday, another church leader stood on the stage and mentioned my “mistake” for not recognizing this person.

I just took the criticism and didn’t say anything. But inside, I kept thinking, “This isn’t how the church operates. We don’t show preferential treatment. We don’t show favoritism and partiality, regardless of who it is.”

In the first century, the temptation was to give the rich man the best seat in the house. In these gatherings, the teacher was usually in the center of the room. And they didn’t have sound systems, so the best seat in the house was right next to the teacher so you could hear every word. Now the best seat in the house at church is in the back row. Things have changed a little bit.

But the point is that there was a great temptation to give the prime seats to a rich person. While the poor person didn’t get the best seat. Sometimes they didn’t even get a seat at all. They sat on the floor.

And when that kind of division happens in the church, James says that we have “discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:4, NIV)

God is against discrimination. And by the way, he’s against discrimination in all its forms. It could be financial discrimination. Or racial discrimination. Or gender discrimination. When we discriminate, we are judges with evil thoughts. Period.

But now, before you think that this is a problem the church has outgrown, let me tell you something. This type of division is as prevalent in the church today as it was in the first century. The sin of favoritism and partiality is as alive in the modern day church as it was in the ancient church.

Here’s how you gain power and position in many churches…be a member for years and years and give a lot of money. That is the ticket to power and influence in a lot of churches.

“We can’t upset George. George has been a member here for 50 years.”

A lot of churches will kowtow to certain people because of their tenure. They’ve been around forever. Everyone knows them and likes them. Or maybe everyone knows them and is afraid of them. Depends on the person. But either way, they use their tenure as a method of gaining favor.

And then there are the big givers. “We need to be sure to keep Martha happy. Martha tithes. And her tithe is BIG!”

A ton of churches and church leaders will bend over backwards to keep a tither happy. Especially if it is a wealthy tither.

Isn’t that EXACTLY what James just told us to not do? Of course it is. But that was easy for James to say. He isn’t the one looking at our budget. If Martha leaves, our budget is shot. So we’d better keep her happy.

I’ve seen stuff like this over and over again. And if you don’t believe me, go to some other church. Find the man or the woman who is the tenured tither…and then park in their spot. Sit in their seat. And you’ll see just how much influence they have.

I’m not kidding. Stuff like this happens in churches all the time. But it does not happen at ACC. It doesn’t mean that people haven’t tried. I have had people tell me, “You’d better not do that. It will really upset this person. They’ve been here a long time, and they tithe.”

Seriously. This has really happened. I’ve had people tell me, “There is this certain group of people who has financially supported this church for years. We need to keep them happy.”

Here’s my response. If someone has been part of our church for years…if they have financially supported our church for a long time…if they have loved and sacrificed and prayed for our church to reach people with the gospel…then they are seeing their dream come true! They have got to love what is happening because we are seeing more people come to Christ now than at any other point in our church’s history! And the people who have been here for years and love our church so much and have given so sacrificially to our church…this is what they’ve dreamed about their whole lives! You know how I know that? Because they tell me.

But then there are always other people who want to use their tenure or their tithe to highjack the vision of the church. So I want to say this as clearly as I can…our vision is not for sale. We don’t care how much money you have. We don’t care how big your tithe check is. Our vision is not for sale.

There’s an incredible story in Acts 8 about the Apostle Peter and a man named Simon. Simon had been a sorcerer who had been involved in the occult and the black arts. He amazed people by his power, and he made a lot of money from it. But then Simon gave his life to Christ and was baptized into Him.

He started following the apostles and listening to their teaching. But he was most amazed that, when the apostles laid their hands on people, those people received the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 8, starting in verse 18, the Bible says, “When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:18-19, NIV)

Simon wanted to purchase power. He wanted to buy power and influence. Really, he wanted to pay money to receive the Holy Spirit. That didn’t go over too well with the apostles.

In the next verse, “Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God.

Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” (Acts 8:20-23, NIV)

Peter was outraged. “You thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You thought you could use your money to buy influence and power in the church. You wanted to become someone important with your money. You have no part of us. You have no part in our ministry. In fact, may your money perish with you.”

Actually, when the Bible says “may your money perish with you,” when you look at what Peter literally said, it is more accurately translated, “To hell with you and your money.” That’s what he told this guy.

“You want us to show you favor and give you power because of your money? To hell with you and your money!”

Now I’m sure someone is offended by that, which is interesting. You’re offended because I told you what the Bible literally says. So really, you’re offended by the Bible. Interesting.

This is the attitude that the church has to adopt regarding money and power and position and prestige. If we were willing to sell out our vision to the highest bidder, then we would be directly disobeying what James said. He told us to show no favoritism. No partiality. The rich person gets no preferential treatment over the poor person. No preferential treatment at all.

Our vision is God-given. Our mission is God-given. And our blessings are God-given. No tithe check is going to change that.

But this also means that if someone comes into our church that is poor, they are as much a part of our church and our vision as anybody else. The American church has done a horrendous job ministering to the poor. And one of the reasons why is a poor person can’t do anything for us.

That’s a huge part of what James is getting at here. Do we treat people differently according to what they can do for us?

Do you do that in your life? Do you change, based on who you’re around? Do you treat people differently based on what they can give you? Based on what they can do for you?

This person can help you get ahead at work. This person has real influence and position. But this person really has nothing to offer you. Do you change depending on whose around? Do some people get your best because they can offer you something, while others get your worst because they really can’t do anything for you?

There was a poet in the 1700’s named Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He said, “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”

The same can be said for a church. If a church treats people differently based on their influence or position or tithe check, that really says all you need to know about the character of that church. They have sold their vision. They have sold their mission. They have sold their soul.

It’s not just about how we treat the people who can do something for us. It has just as much to do with how we treat the people who can do nothing for us.

Here at ACC, I can honestly tell you that we have adopted the phrase, “We don’t care.” And that is one of the most gracious, loving, God-honoring phrases we could possibly say.

We don’t care if you are a millionaire or you’re on food stamps. We don’t care if you drove here in a 2012 Lexus or a 1993 Oldsmobile. We don’t care how many commas are in your paycheck. We just don’t care. Because we will welcome you and worship with you and love you, regardless of any of that.

Don’t think you can walk in here and buy our vision, because you can’t. But at the same time, don’t think you don’t matter because you can’t be one of our biggest givers, because you do.

Partiality and favoritism have no part in God’s Kingdom because we are all sinners saved by grace. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

One thing I’ve learned about having young kids at home is they don’t really recognize the structures of power and influence. They see everyone equally.

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching the news and Ryan came in the room. He looked at the TV and said, “Who’s that?”

I said, “That’s Mitt Romney.”

“Is he one of those people that want to be the president?”

“Yes. He’s running for president.”

And then Ryan said this. I kid you not. He said, quote, “Daddy, why don’t you run for president? I’ve heard good things about the White House.”

I loved that. In Ryan’s world, there should be nothing stopping me from running for president. He doesn’t care that I have no experience, no supporters, no money, and no idea how to run a political campaign. He looked at Mitt Romney and he looked at me…and he saw no distinction. No difference.

There’s something beautiful in that kind of innocence. You can call it naïve. You can call it childhood ignorance. I call it a beautiful innocence. An innocence that has no partiality. No favoritism. But sees everyone equally.

That is a picture of how the church sees people. It doesn’t meant that we don’t recognize giftedness. It doesn’t mean that we don’t see where God has strengthened some people to do this and others to do that. We can’t carry this illustration to the extreme.

But it does mean that we see equal value in each person. We don’t see money, or the lack of it. We don’t see power and position, or the lack of it. We see people. Sinners, saved by grace.

Now let’s jump ahead to verse 8 in James 2. “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” (James 2:8-9, NIV)

Love your neighbor as yourself. James calls it the royal law. It is the royal law because it was given by the King and it is how He commands us to operate in His Kingdom. We also need to see that, if this really is the royal law, this isn’t some petty regulation. This is the very core of the Kingdom of God.

In fact, in Matthew 22, Jesus said this is the second most important command in all of Scripture. Starting in verse 37, “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV)

All the Law and Prophets hang on this. Everything you read in the Bible…everything the church is about…it all comes down to this. Love God. Love others.

When we show favoritism to someone based on what they have or what they can do for us, we smash this royal law to bits. And we have no right to claim to be the people of God, because we have absolutely rejected the law of love that is at the core of who God is and who we are supposed to be.

James says when we do that, we are lawbreakers. We break God’s royal law, and we deserve to be treated as law breakers.

And then he says something really interesting in the next verses. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.” (James 2:10-11, NIV)

This seems a little out of place at first, until you understand his point. Here’s the question…how many sins does it take to be lost? How many sins do you have to commit to completely separate yourself from God?

One. That’s it. God is the standard, which means the standard is perfect. All it takes is one sin, and we have entirely missed the mark.

That’s the point here. If someone claims, “At least I’m not an adulterer,” or “At least I’m not a murderer,” the question becomes, “Have you ever committed any sin? Yes? Then you are guilty of breaking the whole law. Because all it takes is one.”

Here’s the point. Sin is a great equalizer. Favoritism and partiality…it’s so stupid because we have all been equalized. We are all on equal ground.

Romans 3 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24, NIV)

We are all on equal ground because we’ve all sinned, and it only takes one sin to miss the mark. To fall short of God’s glory. To be completely separated from Him.

But that’s where Jesus comes in. We all can be justified freely by His grace. Forgiveness is available to all without discrimination or distinction. We are all sinners saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. That puts us on equal footing. Sin is a great equalizer. But thank God, Jesus is an even greater equalizer.

And that’s why we offer you a chance to respond to the gospel each week. Because up-and-outers and down-and-outers all need Jesus. We don’t look at you and see dollar signs. We don’t give a rip about money. We don’t care about your influence or power. We aren’t looking at what you can do for us. We are offering you Jesus, Who can do everything for you.

Or maybe you are already a Christ-follower, but you’re looking for a church where you can belong. We are committed to be a church of grace. A church where favoritism gets kicked to the curb. A church where doctors and ditch-diggers can worship side-by-side, because they are equal in the sight of God. If you want to be part of a church like that, come on.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: favoritism, James, partiality, What Jim Said