Second only to Jesus, James is arguably the master of vivid illustrations. In this passage he paints a picture easily imagined by habitual worship attenders. Two people from two different backgrounds enter into the gathered assembly. Those in a position to welcome these two persons will be tempted to treat them differently based upon appearance alone. James calls this behavior a sin and warns the church against it. Check out the passage in James 2:1-7:
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.
2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes,
3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,”
4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?
7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
Favoritism is Incompatible with Faith
James says that Christians must not hold their faith in Christ “with partiality.” This word “partiality” is in a plural form so it could be translated as “favoritisms.” In other words, there is more than one way to show favoritism. James addresses primarily the matter of showing favoritism to those who appear especially wealthy, but there is more than one way to show favoritism. We may play favorites with respect to those who are more attractive than others, more powerful than others, or more influential than others.
We may discriminate against others on the basis of education, gender, race or ethnicity. Again, there is more than one way to show partiality, to show favoritism.
One of the reasons favoritism is incompatible with faith in Christ is because drawing attention to a special characteristic or status of others is, in essence, ascribing a kind of glory to them. The word “glory” carries the notion of weight and worth. So when we show favoritism to certain people we are saying, “This person carries a lot of weight,” or, “This person has clout, or this person is really influential.” Glorious.
Yet note how James identifies our Lord Jesus here. He describes Him as, “the Lord of glory.” Literally the Greek reads “Jesus Christ, the glory.” Favoritism is incompatible with your faith in Jesus Christ, the glory.
Jesus Christ is the glory of God. He is the glory. Man is not the glory. Christ is and God will not trade His glory with another (Isaiah 42:8). Paul says in Colossians 1:15 that Christ, “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” And the writer of Hebrews declares that Jesus Christ is, “the brightness of [God’s] glory and the express image of His person (Hebrews 1:3).”
Showing favoritism to another person, then, is a way of ascribing glory to another when all glory belongs to God. Favoritism is incompatible with faith. But how easily a spirit of favoritism can creep into the church!
Favoritism can Infect the Fellowship
This is James’ concern here as he describes the aforementioned illustration of two different visitors entering the church building: “a man with gold rings, in fine apparel” and another person described as “a poor man in filthy clothes.”
Stop for a moment and consider your own immediate inclination. Were you in a position to welcome these two visitors, who would you be more likely to approach first? Be honest! Would you be more likely to greet the man richly attired who is presumably also personable and influential? Or would you be more likely to reach out to the shabbily dressed man? Each must answer for himself, but James seems to suggest that most of us would treat the rich man more graciously than we would the poor man.
Favoritism occurs when we focus merely upon the externals. In a memorable verse, the Lord told the Prophet Samuel: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).”
Of course, James is not saying that it is wrong to honor others. It is certainly appropriate to give up a seat to honor someone, an elderly person, a special visiting friend, or a military serviceman, for example.
In some cultures, ministers are honored with front seats in worship assemblies. I recall the first time I witnessed this on a mission trip to South America. Perfectly happy to sit comfortably in the back or midway among the pews, our host insisted that I sit right up front. He even moved women and children out of the way to make room. I remember feeling awkward and cringing as I tried in vain to refuse the honor. But the host insisted—as did the women and children! They were delighted to honor me with a special seat up front.
Honoring others in this fashion is not what James has in mind. James is talking about our wrongly esteeming others merely on the basis of physical appearance. In the illustration provided, no one deserves special treatment on the basis of his wealth.
William Barclay helps us imagine this “man with gold rings” who visits the assembly. He writes: “The more ostentatious of the ancients wore rings on every finger except the middle one, and wore far more than one on each finger. They even [rented] rings to wear when they wished to give an impression of special wealth. “We adorn our fingers with rings,” said Seneca, “and we distribute gems over every joint.”
So let’s imaginatively personalize James’ illustration in the context of the contemporary church. Here’s this guy, we’ll call him, “Mr. Bling” and he’s probably married to “Mrs. Bedazzle.” So Mr. Bling comes into the sanctuary and the ushers are tripping over themselves to get to him. And they’re like, “Hey, I’ll seat you right up front in the special seating.” But to the poor guy they say reproachfully: “You, sit over there!” Or, “I’ll tell you what: why don’t you just sit right here next to my feet. I need a footstool and if my feet fall off the stool, you can put them back up for me.”
This behavior seems unimaginable to many Christians, yet James pushes us to consider our biases and prejudices.
When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, Jesus was not impressed with the man’s externals. In fact, Jesus instructed the religious seeker to go and sell all that he had if he truly wished to follow Him (Luke 18:18-23). Jesus let the man, described by Luke as “very rich,” walk away. I can’t help but imagine that Jesus’ disciples were beside themselves: “Jesus! That man has all kinds of money! What great influence we would have if he were part of our group!”
This is the sort of thinking we must be vigilant to guard against. There is no place for favoritism in the church. It is incompatible with the faith and we must not allow it to infect the fellowship. There is yet another main concern in the passage:
Favoritism is an Insult to the Family
James uses a term of endearment when addressing the church. He refers to them as, “My dear brethren.” He has in mind the entire church family, brothers and sisters (cf James 2:2, 5, 14). This phrase “My dear brethren” is a reminder that Christians belong to a greater family, Christian brothers and sisters who love one another and will be there for one another in good times and bad.
The majority of Christians in James’ day were poor (though cf James 5:1-6). So James is teaching that the church is dishonoring their own family by showing favoritism to the rich. After all it is the rich, James declares, “who oppress you and drag you into the courts.” James is talking about rich unbelievers here. It is the rich non-Christians who were taking believers to court, needlessly litigating against them in an effort to exploit them. The actions of the rich were an insult to God. As James asks rhetorically, “Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?” The “noble name” is the name of Christ, the name by which Christians were known.
So when Christians were showing favoritism to the rich they were, in essence, aligning themselves with those who were generally known for slandering Christ. James is not saying that it is wrong for Christians to be wealthy. He is simply pointing out that it was generally the wealthy of his day who were on the wrong side of the Christian faith. It’s as if he is asking, “Why would you rather be aligned with unbelievers who are known for bringing shame upon the name of Jesus?”
Before we explore further this problem of favoritism, let’s conclude by thanking God for His adopting us into His family apart from our externals. He did not choose us to be part of His family because of anything that would impress others. In the words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth:
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,
so that no one may boast before him (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Here is a reminder that Christians have nothing of which to boast before God! Imagine if God did choose us on the merits of our special status or worth. How many of us then would qualify as Christians? Consider this: What if God chose us merely based upon external appearances or abilities and we didn’t have what was required: enough money, enough influence, the right gender, the right skin color? Who of us would be saved?
Thankfully, God did not choose us on the basis of externals. He chose us on the basis of the perfect work of His Son Jesus Christ. And though there is wonderful mystery in the doctrine of election, this much we know: “whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life (John 3:16).” No matter our influence, background, socioeconomic condition, ethnicity, or gender, we may repent and believe in Jesus Christ and be saved from our sins.
What About You?
- Given that James calls favoritism a sin (James 2:9), how will you treat others this week in your neighborhood, workplace, or school?
- Do you really think of fellow church members as brothers and sisters? Do you treat your spiritual family members the same way you treat physical family members? Or do you treat them differently?
- Of Jesus, Paul writes: “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).” What does Paul mean?
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