Playing Favorites

“My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory.” James 2:1 (CEB)

I have been doing a study of the book of James these last few weeks and this particular verse has just stuck with me. It really has gotten me to thinking about my attitude and what my response would be in a situation as is described in the verses following this passage.

James goes on in verses 2-4 to pose the question of how differently would a poor person; dressed in dirty rags be treated in comparison to a wealthy person dressed in fine clothes. How would I, how would we, as the church family react and treat them should someone like them should come to church?

James teaches that if one is treated differently than the other, we have shown favoritism and are evil-minded judges! Whoa! This is really an example of loving your neighbor as yourself. He goes on to say that when we show favoritism we are committing a sin! This really hit home with me.

Unfortunately, many, including Christians, struggle with wanting to feel more important than others. Philippians 2:3 tells us “Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves.” (CEB)

So, how do with live a life without partiality? There are three points to doing so and scriptures to help guide us.

· Asking God for direction – Proverbs 3:5-6

· Freely giving – Romans 8:32, Proverbs 3:27

· Life of Faith - Asking God to show us how to be impartial and to reveal any ways we’ve been guilty of it. When confronting situations where we can choose how we respond to people, ask God to lead and lean on His understanding over our own.

Paul writes in Romans 2:11 that God does not have favorites. Jesus died for ALL! If Jesus showed no partiality or favoritism, how much more should we do the same? We can, but only through His grace.

“I can do all things through the power of the One who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13