James 2:1-7 

¹My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. ³If 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,” ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

Favorite Son

You might have already heard that we have a favorite son. Obviously, our son is favorite son because we have only one son. Do you show favoritism in your family?

Are you aware that believers are instructed not to show “favoritism?” Can we have favorites, but should not publicly or openly show favoritism? We disobey godly instruction and commit sin, if we show favoritism; and, it has undesirable ripple effects.

There are biblical characters that showed favoritism, and caused animosity and hostility in their family. Jacob openly showed favoritism to Joseph among his children.

It had been narrated in Genesis 37: 3-4, ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him. ⁴When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

The Lord changed the name of Jacob to Israel; but that was not the reason his sons saw Israel favored Joseph. Joseph was firstborn of Jacob and Rachel. More than his other wives, Jacob favored Rachel. The ornate robe, that he made for Joseph, may have been made of exceptional materials that were very special in those days; the ornate robe of Joseph could have made him very popular and famous in their community.

A robe must have been very desirable and very comfortable outfit in those times especially, during winter season. The ornate robe that Israel particularly made for his favorite son Joseph could be comparable to a very nice, warm, comfortable jacket that North Americans wear during chilly winter months. You would like that jacket, for sure.

Do you have a winter jacket that others had envied, desired or coveted to have?

See? If your siblings have the best comfortable winter jacket, how could you not be envious when you can hardly endure the cold winter chill? Jacob was very wealthy; he could have afforded to buy each of his children similar ornate robes that he gave to Joseph. But, he did not. Did he intentionally show that Joseph was his favorite son?

Jacob had exemplified biblically that show of favoritism could cause undesirable hostility in the family. The other sons of Jacob were hostile to Joseph so that, they sold Joseph to slavery. Nevertheless, Joseph had faith that the Lord will take care of him.

Jacob had faith in the Lord; but, because his favoritism to Joseph had produced hostility in his family. Friends: The Lord had warned us not to show favoritism. There are undesirable and avoidable consequences to everyone affected by favoritism.

1. Believe

¹My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 

³If 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,” ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

When we show special attention to somebody, we show favoritism; when we show favoritism, we become judgmental by evil thoughts. To show favoritism publicly is evil in the eyes of the Lord. Favoritism is discrimination which can be ignored unnoticed even among communities of believers. Nobody is exempted.

Young and old people alike, everyone desire to be in a group, faction and clique.

Do we not favor our friends? Do we not favor our relatives over others when we have fellowship or conversation inside the church building? What’s wrong with that?

Showing favoritism can be interpreted as prejudice to others or partial treatment toward others. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not show favoritism while on earth. Actually, he welcomed everyone, even individuals who were considered outcast of society.

It says in Luke 5: 29-32, ²⁹Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

³¹Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  ³²I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The Pharisees and teachers of the law were very powerful, but they craved for respect in their community; and, they considered themselves righteous. When they asked Jesus and his disciples why they eat and drink with sinners and tax collectors, indirectly, they implied that they were very prejudiced against tax collectors and sinners.

Did the Pharisees and teachers of the law suppose that whenever they were present in community gatherings, tax collectors and sinner were not supposed to attend?

It was never a secret in those biblical times that tax collectors were dishonest; and, they were counted as sinners. Yet, the Lord Jesus Christ welcomed everyone who wanted to join him, even tax collectors and sinners.

How do you interpret what Apostle Paul had instructed in 2 Corinthians 6:14?

¹⁴Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Originally, why did Apostle Paul warn the Corinthian church not to be yoked together with unbelievers? The City of Corinth was the most progressive business center at that time; and perhaps, the Corinthian believers were very curious how unbelievers had prospered. Some Corinthian Christians may have entered the temple of “Belial.”

Worshippers of “Belial” may have believed that they prospered because they worshipped “Belial” in its temple. “Belial” was the “demon of lies, arrogance, idolatry and immorality.” So, because some believers in the church of Corinth were yoke with unbelievers, they had problems of faction, immorality, idolatry, arrogance, drunkenness, gluttony and more. Apostle Paul told them not to be yoked together with unbelievers.

The term “yoke” pertains to a device used to join or fasten together two or more oxen, horses or donkeys. Why would a farmer strap together pairs of oxen and place a yoke on their neck? When a pair of oxen is yoke together, it lightens or lessens the work load when plowing the field. They will not be over burdened when they pull a cart.

The yoke controls the pair of oxen to move in the same direction, activity or goal.

Likewise, we are warned “not be yoked together with unbelievers.” How is that?

The worldly lifestyle and priorities of unbelievers leads them to eternal darkness; and, believers should avoid worldly pattern of lifestyle; we should prioritize things and activities that would benefit us spiritually and eternally.

Yet, more Christians have become overly cautious in their interpretation of this godly command, “Do not to be yoked together with unbelievers” so that, they “Do not associate with unbelievers” whatsoever. They almost avoid unbelievers altogether.

War

The disturbing war between Ukraine and Russia had publicly exposed prejudice. How? Many Christians have flooded their social media account with: “Pray for Ukraine” What’s wrong with that? Obviously, they care much about the lives, health, safety and provisions for Ukrainians. When Christians choose to promote prayers for Ukraine only, would you consider that as prejudice? Does it show favoritism to pray for victims only?

Certainly, there are no winners in wars. Both invaders and those they invade can be victims. Both sides will have fatalities and casualties. Both attackers and victims need the Lord. The Lord Jesus himself said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” He exemplified godly response to hostility. He prayed for his tormentors in Luke 23:34, ³⁴Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

Our Lord Jesus Christ declared that, his tormentors did not know what they were doing; how about the invaders who attacked their victims? Can you conclude that the invaders do not know that what they are doing can cause them eternal condemnation?

As we continue to pray for the victims of invasion, we also pray for the invaders so that, they may realize their mistakes and come to repentance and have faith in Christ.

And, do not forget what Apostle Paul declared in Romans 2:6-11, ⁶God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” ⁷To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.

⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. ⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹For God does not show favoritism.

At the end times, how many Ukrainians and Russians would approach you and thank you that you prayed for their souls, their salvation?

The aftereffect of war is very undesirable. Invaders and victims have lost lives; and, worldwide economy is also affected somehow. How about believers? We also face spiritual battles. How? We desire godly lifestyle but worldly lifestyle invades our mind. When we prioritize worldly lifestyle, we become more anxious until we mess of life.

So, what shall we do make messy life into message? How can we triumph over trials? How can we have victorious fullness of life and not become victims of worldly pattern of lifestyle? We can only experience the fullness of life in Christ Jesus.

It says in Galatians 5:16-21 ¹⁶Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

 ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Our natural tendency is to gratify the desire of the flesh. We can have victory over our natural instinct when we walk, live and guided by the Holy Spirit of Christ. Pray to be filled and empower by the Holy Spirit and have godly wisdom on Christian lifestyle.

It’s arguable! Believers may not want to promote prayers for invaders because they don’t want their good intention to be wrongly interpreted. They anticipate hostile disagreement from particular groups. So, it is safer for Christians to pray for victims.

Here is a reality that we need to be aware of. Dissension or disagreement can cause factions among believers, even in church settings. Factions can cause envy. Envy, dissension, faction are related to immorality, idolatry, witchcraft and the likes. When there’s favoritism, there’s faction, selfish ambition, hatred, discord and impurity.

Showing favoritism can attract impurities that gratify the flesh. So, we have to always pray to be filled by the Holy Spirit. Beware! Natural instinct can gratify the flesh.

2. Beware

⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

Prejudice against the poor may have been very obvious among the first century Christians, especially, among Christians with Jewish backgrounds. Why did first century Christians show favoritism to rich people? It’s not literally mentioned. The rich exploited Christianity, they blasphemed and mocked the name of Christ, and they even dragged Christians into court. Yet the first century Christians gave special attention to the rich.

Bible students suggested that in the first century Christianity, chairs and pews inside church buildings may have been rented out so that, the rich who have money may pay larger amount for special chairs or special places in church buildings; and with no money, the poor could just sit on the floor, if they want to attend worship services. Chairs for rent could be their means to collect revenue to support church programs.

Tickets

Renting chairs or seat is a multi-billion business nowadays. Professional sports rake billions of dollars annually from sales of seats for live performance and games. If you wish to watch live games of your favorite sport, you’ve got to buy your ticket. Your ticket will identify where you should be seated when you watch games in-person.

And, special seats are reserved to anyone who can afford. If you cannot afford high prices of live games seats, you cannot personally watch inside the stadium. Such is a possible reality when the first century Christians had shown partiality toward the rich.

Maybe unknowingly, Christians in our generation are not very much aware that they publicly show partiality to the rich and prejudice against the poor. How?

Have you heard of churches that require online payment for seat reservations? If you want to attend worship service at a particular church and listen to their famous preacher, you have to reserve your seat. Well, they have reasonable financial reasons. They need money for the rent of their building or mortgage of their beautiful building, and not to mention the luxurious lifestyle of their preacher.

It is also possible that the first century Christianity and previous generations of Christians had considered such approach to collect operational finances for the church.

We do not discount the passion of many church leaders to promote their church. And, to generate more income for their church, there are many creative ideas that have been commonly acceptable among Christian communities. Churches have built their gymnasiums to be rented to sports games, live musical performance, school graduation or political campaigns. Many churches have performed concerts to generate income.

Do you think God is pleased with those ideas to generate income for the church?

So, how should Christians live as servant of God? It says in 2 Corinthians 6:3-7:

³We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. ⁴Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; ⁵in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; ⁶in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; ⁷in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left.

Strategies to promote the gospel of Christ and our involvement in the ministry are useful, But, we should be very much conscious that God decides when he wants our ministry to grow and be productive. It says in I Corinthians 3:7, ⁷Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

The Lord will eventually test and evaluate if our lifestyle and involvement in the ministry are worthy to be rewarded or we just wasted away our chances and efforts.

We pray that the Lord transforms us completely into faithful servants of God so that as faithful servant of God, we would focus on our mission purposes that he has called us into, and what is our purpose that God has called us into.

God called us to be obedient and testify to the transformation he has changed in our life; and whenever the Lord bring us to the person he has prepared to listen to our testimony, we will not have prejudice against others, even hostile individuals. But instead, we should be ready to share the good news of salvation and explain the gospel of Christ to anyone that God may bring to our attention.

The celebration of the Lord’s Supper reminds us of our mandate to share the good news of salvation to every person that God had chosen to be saved.

Particularly, those he had chosen to become members of our church.

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