Class Lesson September 9, 2018

THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE 

Moving is hard. In addition to packing your belongings and boxing up your memories, you also have to acclimate to new surroundings. A new grocery store. A new traffic pattern. Even a new local news team on TV. Everything is new and nothing is familiar. 

That won’t last forever. What is new will eventually become familiar. Things will become comfortable as you adjust to your new normal. We all love familiarity because what is familiar is comfortable. 

That kind of familiarity and comfort can be good when we are adjusting to a new home, but it’s dangerous in the life of a Christian. 

We naturally gravitate to the people we know best and who are like us. It’s easier to interact with people with whom we share a common interest or background. But a problem arises when those friendships drive us to overlook or ignore others, or worse, to show preferential treatment. Jesus, on the other hand, loves all people the same—and we’re called to do likewise. We must learn to embrace everyone with open arms.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? 

James 2:1-4 

1 My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, 3 if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” 4 haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 

The Book of James was written to Christians who were undergoing persecution. James wrote this letter not only to encourage them to remain strong during those difficult times, but also to remind them that faith and obedience is linked together. 

It’s in this context that James addressed the issue of partiality. These Christians claimed to believe the gospel and follow Jesus, but apparently they were not treating people equally in their congregations, especially regarding wealth. According to James, this was an evil thing to do. This is true for at least three reasons: 

1. Partiality neglects the image of God in fellow humans. When we show favoritism to one person or group of people over another, we are—whether we realize it or not—subtly neglecting the truth that all human beings have been created in the image of God. Because all of us have been created in God’s image, every one of us is worthy of honor and dignity. When we remove some of that honor and dignity, even if it seems like a small thing, we are doing more than exercising our preference for one group or another. We are denying the image of God in the neglected party.

2. Partiality sees others as objects to be used. Why might we show favoritism? In James’ illustration of the rich man and the poor man in the fellowship, the reason is simple: we can get something from the rich man. By showing favoritism, we might receive: some of his money, a greater reputation because we are associated with a person of prominence, or his approval which would increase our self-esteem. Whatever the case, we are hoping to gain something from him, which means we are using that person rather than serving and loving him. 

3. Partiality sets us up as judge. Favoritism is a big deal because it puts us in the place of God. We are determining someone’s worthiness based on some preconceived notion because of the person’s clothes, money, reputation, or whatever. But we are not equipped to make this judgment. Indeed, only God can look at the heart. When we show partiality, we are putting ourselves in the place of God. We are judging the worth of another.

James 2:5-7 

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 Yet you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you? 

We might be tempted to think partiality is not that big a deal, but we only think that when we fail to see the heart behind such actions. James has already helped us see that “evil” is not too strong a word to use when describing favoritism. In addition to the evil of treating other people as objects rather than as fellow image-bearers, partiality is also wrong because it runs contrary to the heart of God.

When you begin to consider God’s posture toward humanity, an important word comes to mind: grace. Because of His great love for us, God has assumed a posture of grace toward human beings. When we adopt an attitude of favoritism, we are neglecting God’s heart of grace in at least two ways: 

1. Favoritism makes assumptions based on external appearance. God’s grace is not based on how much money we have, how educated we are, or how polished our appearance is. When we show favoritism based on these external qualities, we are implying that someone is either closer to or further away from God’s favor. Such an attitude runs contrary to the very definition of grace. 

2. Favoritism focuses on what we receive rather than what we can give. Perhaps in James’ day, the thinking was that by showing favoritism to these seemingly important people, the congregation might receive financial benefit. In either case, the focus is on what the church might receive. This, too, runs contrary to what grace is: a gift freely given with nothing expected in return. 

If we want to adopt the heart of God, then no place remains for partiality and favoritism. We must recognize that it is only by grace that we have been welcomed into His family—and we are to extend that same grace to others.

James 2:8-10 

8 Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 9 If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

Perhaps the most obvious reason why partiality and favoritism are wrong is because attitudes like these are inconsistent with love. And love is the language the Christian should speak above anything else. 

Love God. Love people. That’s it. If we do this, then we are doing everything. James called love “the royal law prescribed in Scripture.” But as James also pointed out, the opposite is also true—if we fail at love, then we fail at everything else. To show favoritism is to be guilty of all. 

Many times we don’t understand how strong our vertical relationship with God is related to our horizontal relationships with others. We know we’re supposed to love each other, but a lot of the time doing so seems to be a sheer act of will. Such an attitude entirely misses the connection between our relationship with God and our relationships with others. 

We love others not because we force ourselves to do so, but because we are truly in touch with the measure of God’s love for us. Since that’s true, the opposite is also true: we fail to love others because we fail to believe or understand the fullness or completeness with which we have been loved by God. 

When the temptation to show favoritism rises inside us—when we know our tendency is to always favor one group over another—we would do well to remind ourselves that we are all on level ground at the foot of the cross. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). Not even that person or group we tend to favor, and certainly not us. God Himself does not show favoritism; instead, He is building His kingdom from unlikely places and sources. And that should be our attitude.

LIVE IT OUT

We must break out of the huddles of familiarity we have created for ourselves and reach out to any and all God brings our way. Choose one or more of the following applications. 

• Pray. Pray specifically that God would bring you in contact with someone who looks, talks, or thinks differently than you. 

• Change seats. When you gather this week to worship or in your group, intentionally sit somewhere different. Sit next to someone new and engage him or her in conversation. 

• Go someplace new. Don’t just wait for someone different to come your way; be proactive and go out of your way to meet someone new. Go to a different area in your community for some everyday task like buying groceries. While you’re there, engage someone new in conversation. 

It’s always easier to surround ourselves with people who are familiar, but we must remember that God loves everyone the same, so we must learn to embrace them all with open arms.

Hope to see you on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan

Teacher Notes:

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

Our second lesson is called Open Arms for good reason. Welcoming others goes beyond a friendly handshake.

For there is no partiality with God.

Romans 2:11

A dirty and poor woman walked into a church. Everyone looked at her with shame including the pastor. She approached the pastor and asked him a simple question; what must I do to become a member of this Church. The pastor looked at her with un wanting eyes. Trying to get rid of her he said you must go home and read the whole Bible in one week. Thinking she won’t fulfill the challenge; but the woman returned in a week and said to the pastor. I have done what you asked me. The pastors face look aggravated and annoyed by her. You have one last task he said. You must go home and pray 6 hours a day until God gives you an answer. So, she left but this time she didn’t return. A couple months later the pastor was walking through town and ran into this women. The moment was awkward. The pastor looked at her and asked with hesitation. So did God give you an answer? She smiled and said yes. He told me don’t worry about getting into this church. I have been trying for 20 years.

We naturally gravitate to the people we know best and who are like us. It’s easier to interact with people with whom we share a common interest or background. But a problem arises when those friendships drive us to overlook or ignore others, or worse, to show preferential treatment. Jesus, on the other hand, loves all people the same—and we’re called to do likewise. We must learn to embrace everyone with open arms.

James 2:1-4 

My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 

Why do people so quickly make value judgments based on external appearances?

Treat all people the same.

• Showing favoritism is incompatible and inconsistent with the claim that we follow Jesus Christ.
• We are to avoid making judgments about people only on the basis of appearance.
• When we show favoritism for one person over another we are making ourselves judges over them.

What emotions do you experience when someone accepts you with open arms?

Accept all equally. (vv. 1-4) James instructed believers not to show favoritism or unfair partiality toward others. The church should be the one place where distinctions don’t exist, whether it is status, ethnicity, gender, age, appearance, affluence, or popularity. James warned that favoritism is sin (v. 9). We think favoritism is a small sin, but James reminded us that if we break one of God’s laws we have broken them all (James 2:10). Instead of favoritism, we are to treat all people in the same manner. We need to look at everyone through the eyes of Christ. If we want to be like Christ, we can’t play favorites.

According to James, this was an evil thing to do. Three reasons: 

1. Partiality to one person or group of people over another, we are—whether we realize it or not—subtly neglecting the truth that all human beings have been created in the image of God. Because all of us have been created in God’s image, every one of us is worthy of honor and dignity. When we remove some of that honor and dignity, even if it seems like a small thing, we are doing more than exercising our preference for one group or another. We are denying the image of God in the neglected party.
2. Partiality sees others as objects to be used. Why might we show favoritism? In James’ illustration of the rich man and the poor man in the fellowship, the reason is simple: we can get something from the rich man. By showing favoritism, we might receive: some of his money, a greater reputation because we are associated with a person of prominence, or his approval which would increase our self-esteem. Whatever the case, we are hoping to gain something from him, which means we are using that person rather than serving and loving him. 
3. Partiality sets us up as judge. Favoritism is a big deal because it puts us in the place of God. We are determining someone’s worthiness based on some preconceived notion because of the person’s clothes, money, reputation, or whatever. But we are not equipped to make this judgment. Indeed, only God can look at the heart. When we show partiality, we are putting ourselves in the place of God. We are judging the worth of another.

James 2:5-7 

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? Yet you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court? Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you? 

Why is partiality inconsistent with the heart of God?

Partiality is inconsistent with God’s Heart.

• We are to avoid acting in ways that become divisive to the congregation.
• In Christ, even the poorest can be rich in faith.
• We become heirs of God’s kingdom by His choosing and giving us faith, not by our standing before others.

Respond to all gracefully. (vv. 5-7) In James’ day, a two-class societal system was present—rich upper class and poor lower class. Christians generally were of the lower, poorer class. James contrasted the rich and the poor, making a theological point. The rich will be made poor because their wealth will not save them. The spiritually poor will be made rich because they will inherit the riches of Christ’s grace. By the way, God has always had a special place for the poor. Christianity offered much to the poor and demanded much from the rich. The poor are often forgotten and marginalized. But those that mattered to no one else mattered intensely to God. Maybe that is one reason why so many poor people flooded the early church. As it relates to treating people, we need to address people with grace. We need to treat them the way God has treated us. He looked past our flaws and mistakes and loved us with unmerited favor.

If we want to adopt the heart of God, then no place remains for partiality and favoritism. We must recognize that it is only by grace that we have been welcomed into His family—and we are to extend that same grace to others.

James 2:8-10 

Indeed, if you fulfill the royal law prescribed in the Scripture, Love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

What does it really mean to love your neighbor?

Love is consistent with God’s Heart.

• Attitudes among Christians are to be shaped by the royal law revealed in Christ and founded on love.
• Partiality that leads to rejection of an individual or a people is sin in the sight of God.
• A sinner is the person who disregards the law of the Lord, even just one.

Love all reciprocally. (vv. 8-10) James referred to the royal law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Jesus affirmed this statement as a part of the Great Commandment.) It’s a royal law because if we obeyed this law, we wouldn’t need all the rest. We are to treat others as we want others to treat us. I read about a junior varsity cheerleader, Hannah, who wanted to be on the varsity squad. Her best friend, Melissa, a varsity cheerleader, practiced with Hannah every day to help her make the varsity squad. After the tryouts, Hannah discovered that she did make varsity, but Melissa didn’t make it. Melissa had gone the extra mile to help Hannah make the varsity team so they could cheer together. Hannah wanted to swap places with Melissa. Hannah drove to Melissa’s house. She wanted to comfort Melissa that night, so she slept on the floor next to her bed. Hannah knew the best thing she could do was to be near her friend during this difficult time. When you swap places with others to feel how they hurt, you’ve taken the first step toward loving your neighbor as yourself.

Love God. Love people. That’s it. If we do this, then we are doing everything. James called love “the royal law prescribed in Scripture.” But as James also pointed out, the opposite is also true—if we fail at love, then we fail at everything else. To show favoritism is to be guilty of all. 

Many times, we don’t understand how strong our vertical relationship with God is related to our horizontal relationships with others. We know we’re supposed to love each other, but a lot of the time doing so seems to be a sheer act of will. Such an attitude entirely misses the connection between our relationship with God and our relationships with others. 

We love others not because we force ourselves to do so, but because we are truly in touch with the measure of God’s love for us. Since that’s true, the opposite is also true: we fail to love others because we fail to believe or understand the fullness or completeness with which we have been loved by God. 

LIVE IT OUT

This lesson is one that gets close to us – or is it just me? Most of us are guilty of showing favoritism toward certain people at the cost of rejecting others. Those of us who would not commit the “great” sins can easily succumb to this one. We don’t like the way a person smells. We dislike a person because of the color of his skin. We refuse help to a person whose clothes are dirty and whose hair is long and unkept. On the other hand, we may avoid the person who appears snobbish, dresses fashionably, and flaunts her money. Whomever, how sad it would be if we denied them our witness for Christ only on the basis of their appearance and outward conditions.

When we open our arms to all people, equally, gracefully, reciprocally, and mercifully, we will treat people as God intended.

We need to be aware of how we treat each other in God’s house because it is an extremely serious matter. To harbor a snobbish attitude towards our brothers and our sisters has no place in the house of God. It is a SIN! Sins committed without awareness are a problem for many people today. We just move forward without thinking about what we are doing or we have done it for so long it just does not seem like a sin anymore but it still is. Christian believers should never show partiality towards one another, there should not one snob in the sanctuary at any given time. And if there is, he or she should go on bending knees pleading with the Lord for forgiveness and then repent. Amen.

"What does the Bible say about favoritism?"

Favoritism is partiality or bias. To show favoritism is to give preference to one person over others with equal claims. It is similar to discrimination and may be based on conditions such as social class, wealth, clothing, actions, etc.

The Bible is clear that favoritism is not God’s will for our lives. 

1. Favoritism is incongruent with God’s character: “God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11). All are equal before Him. Ephesians 6:9 says, “There is no favoritism with him.” Colossians 3:25 teaches God’s fairness in judgment: “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.”

2. The Bible teaches Christians are not to show favoritism: “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism” (James 2:1). The context concerns the treatment of rich and poor in the church. James points out that treating someone differently based on his financial status or how he is dressed is wrong. The Old Testament provides similar instruction regarding favoritism. Leviticus 19:15 teaches, “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.” Exodus 23:3 likewise commands, “Do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.” Justice should be blind, and both rich and poor should be treated equally before the law.

3. The Bible calls favoritism sin: “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). Favoritism is a serious offense against God’s call to love one’s neighbor as oneself.

4. Church leaders are especially charged not to show favoritism. Paul commanded Timothy, a young church leader, “I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism” (1 Timothy 5:21).

5. It is difficult to avoid showing favoritism. Even Christ’s closest followers struggled with bias against people different from them. When the apostle Peter was first called to minister to non-Jewish people, he was reluctant. He later admitted, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34). The fact that James specifically addresses the sin of favoritism implies that this was a common problem within the early church.

Favoritism is a problem we still deal with. Favoritism and partiality are not from God, and Christians are called to love. As humans, we tend to form judgments based on selfish, personal criteria rather than seeing others as God sees them. May we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and follow His example of treating every person with God’s love (John 3:16).

When we think of the attributes of God, when we think of what God is like, His characteristics, the elements of His nature, what makes up His person, we think of holiness and we think of justice and we think of wisdom and omnipotence and omniscience and omnipresence. We might think of immutability that is that God does not change. We might think of eternality. We might say sovereignty. We might list His love, His grace, His mercy, His faithfulness, His goodness. And you could probably think of more than just those.

But there is another attribute of God that we don't very often talk about and yet is very often spoken of in Scripture and that is God's impartiality. God is absolutely and totally impartial in dealing with people. And in that way, He is utterly unlike us. We are very partial. 

We tend to put everyone in some kind of stratified category, higher or lower than other people. It has to do with their looks. It has to do with their wardrobe. It has to do with the kind of car they drive, the kind of house they live in; sometimes it has to do with their race, sometimes with their social status, sometimes outward characteristics of personality. 

All of those things with God are non-issues. They are of no significance at all. They mean absolutely nothing to Him.

A person's education, a person's economic status, a person's looks, a person's wardrobe, a person's social relationships, a person's job, a person's fame, prestige, a person's earthly honor, all of those collectively and individually mean absolutely nothing to God. They are non-issues.

In 2 Chronicles 19:7 it says, "There is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons."

To put it simply in Old Testament terminology, man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. God is not interested in your bank account, your wardrobe, your jewelry as any kind of commendation of your character.

So, how we react to people is a test. And if we are like God we will not be favoring certain people because of their status, education, money, fame, prestige, looks or whatever. There's no place for favoritism in the heart of God and there's no place for favoritism in the heart of His people and therefore there's no place for favoritism in the church.

Favoritism

Favoritism is ultimately about self. It’s about what – or who – we prefer: what’s nice for us, what makes us look good. And all this is at the expense of someone else. It’s about being self-centered – and self at the center means Jesus isn’t.

Favoritism, however, isn’t always as obvious as in the description in today’s passage (vs 1–4). It could be a subtle maneuvering to avoid someone; or being ‘busy’ clearing up so as to avoid conversation; or claiming we’re needed for one ministry so as not to have to be involved in a less preferred one.

What does God call this? Sin (v 9).

The Old Testament commandment to love your neighbor as yourself resonates strongly in much of Jesus’ teaching, especially in the story of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25–37). He put the needs of the unfortunate traveler way ahead of his own convenience – putting himself out for someone who, in different circumstances, might have treated him (a Samaritan) just like a poor man (v 3).

The way to overcome the self-centered behavior of favoritism is to remember the mercy we have been shown by Christ, and to seek to demonstrate it in all our dealings with others. Not always easy – but definitely a triumph (v 13).