Show No Partiality

James 2:1-7
March 28, 2021
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Partiality is okay when it comes to many things in life. When it comes to sports, there is nothing wrong with having a favorite team or player that you love and root for. Here in the Chicagoland area, some show partiality toward the Cubs while others show partiality toward the White Sox. And that’s okay. Because that is what sports is all about. When it comes to food, there is nothing wrong with having a go-to list of favorite meals and drinks and restaurants and menus that you like. When you are deciding with your friends where to go to eat or when you order whatever it is that you usually order at Starbucks, you are showing partiality. And that’s okay. Because that is what food and drink is all about. And the list goes on and on. Married couples have their favorite TV shows. Gamers have their favorite Super Smash characters. Grandparents have their favorite memories. We show a lot of partiality with many things in life. Partiality that is not sinful or dishonoring to Jesus.

But when it comes to church members, when it comes to fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, partiality is wrong. It is sin. And it brings great dishonor to Jesus.

Partiality is basically defined as the giving of preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another. And partiality in the church can be expressed in many different ways. It can be expressed as church politics. It can be expressed as discrimination and racism among church members. It can be expressed as bias and unfairness in church decisions. It can be expressed with church cliques or church families or church nepotism or church ministry departments or church events. It is quite startling to think about all the ways that partiality can be shown in church.

James gives an example of a rich person and a poor person in the context of perhaps a time of worship or a time of fellowship or a time of church discipline before a church court. A man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes in. On the outside, he seems like a man of high status. And so good attention is paid to him and he is given a good place to be at. A poor man wearing shabby clothing comes in. On the outside, he seems like a man of low status. And so bad attention is paid to him and he is given a bad place to be at. This is sad. Two men are treated differently. They are treated differently because of money. And the poor man is devalued and disgraced in front of everyone. This stuff really happens in real life. Perhaps this partiality is happening in our church today.

Dear Highland, this cannot happen. This must not happen.

Partiality in the church is a terrible thing in the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reasons why are made clear in today’s passage. When we show partiality at church, we make distinctions among ourselves and we become judges with evil thoughts. And when we show partiality at church, we blaspheme the honorable name by which we were called.

First, when we show partiality at church, we make distinctions. This is wrong. This is so wrong because every single individual who has repentance and faith in Christ is saved and forgiven by him and loved and cherished by him. Jesus makes no distinctions among us. He does not divide us into categories. He does not rank us on a list. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ does not show partiality toward us. We were all once sinners, all spiritually dead in our sins, all disobedient children of wrath, all set on a path toward hell. But we are all now saints, all born again by the same Spirit, all covered by the same righteousness, all forgiven fully of our sins, all atoned for and substituted for, all united to one being, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). We are one body and one family. Have we made distinctions among ourselves? and become judges with evil thoughts? We must not make distinctions here at Highland.

Second, when we show partiality at church, we become judges. This is wrong. This is so wrong because God and God alone is the true and rightful judge over everyone. Who are we to elevate ourselves above other church members and take the place of God? Jesus is the head and king of the church. He is the judge over his people, not any one of us. Have we made distinctions among ourselves and become judges? We must not become judges of one another here at Highland.

Third, when we show partiality at church, we are evil in our thinking. This is wrong. This is so wrong because evil thinking is all about disunity in the devil. It is about satanically going against one another. This is not the way of Christ. Our God is holy and righteous. Our God is completely without sin or evil. Have we made distinctions among ourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? We must not be evil in our thinking here at Highland.

Fourth, when we show partiality at church, we blaspheme the honorable name by which we were called. We dishonor and profane the name of Christ Jesus. This is wrong. This is so wrong because it denies Jesus - it goes against everything that he is and everything that he did for us. It is arrogance and pride before our Shepherd. It is rebellion and treason against our King. Have we blasphemed the honorable name by which we were called? We must not do this here at Highland.

Dear Highland, this cannot happen. This must not happen. The reason why is simple but profound. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory.

When James writes these words, he is saying something very rare. The phrase “Lord of glory” only shows up in the Bible here in James 2:1 and one other time in 1 Corinthians 2:8. And so these words are meant to pop out and have important meaning. Here is what is arguably the absolute center of today’s passage: Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory.

This is huge. Glory is in view here. And glory is the antidote for partiality.

Partiality is fundamentally rooted in worldliness. Partiality happens when we look at our brothers and sisters in Christ through the lens of the here and now and see what is merely outward and temporary and of this present age. Money, status, poverty and wealth are all things that belong in this old and fading world. But they have no bearing on our future glory that is to come. Our future glory is all about the big picture, the things that are ultimate and eschatological. And Jesus is the Lord of glory.

Jesus will come once more in judgment. He will bring a consummate end to sin and to death. He will make all things new. And we will be resurrected and exalted in the new heavens and new earth. We will be glorified and exalted. Every church member who is elect and saved in Christ will have this final glory.

This means that if you are rich right now in this world, you are actually truly poor. The reason why is because your wealth is nothing compared to the glory and exaltation and royal inheritance and heavenly treasures that you will receive in the kingdom and the world that is to come. It is fascinating that the rich man in the illustration of today’s passage is not called a rich man. He is just called a man. Some of you may be rich right now in this world. But you are not ultimately rich at all. Because you will have final glory.

And this means that if you are poor right now in this world, you are actually truly rich. The reason why is because God has chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom. Some of you may be poor right now in this world. But you are not ultimately poor at all. Because you will have final glory.

The rich man may walk in with his gold ring and fine clothing and therefore have a worldly glory. But Jesus is not the Lord of that kind of glory. The poor man may walk in with shabby clothing and therefore lack worldly glory. But Jesus promises to both the poor believer and the rich believer an eschatological glory that far surpasses anything that is of this old and fading world. All believers have a hope of this glory. Our eternal hope is the heavenly riches of the new heavens and new earth.

And so here is the bottom line. Partiality happens when we forget all of this gospel truth. Partiality and worldliness go hand in hand. Because partiality is not about the glory of Christ Jesus. Jesus is the Lord of glory.

Therefore, dear Highland, please receive the discipline of your heavenly Father. If you look at a poor church member and all you see is a poor church member, or if you look at a rich church member and all you see is a rich church member, then you are foolish and deceived. You lack wisdom. You are being put to the test. You are under trial. You are slow to hear God’s word. You are like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror and then goes away and at once forgets what he was like. You are not religious.

When you look at a poor church member or rich church member, this is what you should see. You should see a saint who was once a sinner dead in his or her sins. You should see a new creation. You should see a child of God who is fully united with Christ and fully loved by him. You should see a fellow pilgrim who will end up in the same kingdom and glory as you. You should see a brother or sister in Christ who has no earthly money or worldly treasures that will last. Let there be no partiality here at Highland.

Do we show partiality here at Highland? I think so. I struggle with it. And I believe that many of you struggle with it too. There are a lot of things that are unsaid. But our Lord Jesus Christ knows everything. He loves our church. And he calls our church to grow and change. This is a wake up call for us. This is a time to grow in wisdom.

Here are some things that we need to do or clean up.

First, let us be more self-aware and sensitive to partiality. There are many ways known and unknown in which partiality can happen. And unity is often fragile and taken for granted. Let us ask God to show us the truth about how we really doing with partiality.

Second, let us know church history and avoid common mistakes that happened in the past with regard to money and church members who are rich and poor. One thing that a lot of churches tend to struggle with is the unwritten idea that it’s good and smart to put rich church members into the session as ruling elders or into the diaconate as ordained deacons - all at the cost of neglecting or barring poor church members who are just as qualified to become elders and deacons. This idea is born out of practicality. If elders or deacons have money to give, then the church will be financially stable. This is a devastating mistake. Scripture does not make wealth a prerequisite for becoming an elder or a deacon. And at the end of the day, this is connected with partiality. Another thing that a lot of churches tend to struggle with is the idea that it’s good and smart to try to keep and hold onto rich church members overall. This idea is also born out of practicality. If we keep and hold onto church members who have money to give, then the church will be financially okay. At the end of the day, this is connected with partiality. Yet another thing that a lot of churches tend to struggle with is the idea that it’s good and smart to compare one another based on how much money is given for offerings and tithes. This idea is born out of sinful pride and competition. Scripture tells us that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. At the end of the day, this too is connected with partiality.

Third, let us consider other ways in which partiality can take place, ways beyond money, ways beyond wealth or poverty. Church history is again helpful here. There must not be discrimination or racism in our church. There must not be toxic cliques or groups that hinder loving fellowship and unity.

And - here’s the elephant in the room - there must not be self-made barriers between English-speaking members and Korean-speaking members, between brothers and sisters in Christ who are of different cultures and generations. I look forward to the day in which many of us in “EM” get to know better other church members in the “KM.” I look forward to future English-speaking deacons and elders who will think about and care about not just our English-speaking members, but also our Korean-speaking members. I look forward to us really loving everyone, every single member of our church, equally, no matter who they are, no matter where they come from, no matter how they are socioeconomically, no matter what they have done, no matter if they don’t root for your baseball team or like what you like to eat. Our Lord Jesus Christ does not show partiality. Let us not show partiality as well. We are not equal in terms of our bank accounts, our languages, our cultures, our spiritual maturity. But we are equal in terms of how we are loved by God. Let us show love equally to everyone here at Highland.

Jesus loves us. As we go through the book of James, it is becoming clear that we all have a lot to think about now and a lot to do right now. May God give us all grace as we grow, as we love one another, and as we wait for Jesus’ return.

Soli Deo Gloria