Common-sense faith teaches us to avoid favoritism
The book of James offers us a lot of common sense that is surprisingly uncommon in our Christian circles. James wrote to his church members and said, “Show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1). Apparently, there were issues among some of the early Christians because some people were given seats of honor and other privileges while others were being told to “stand over there” or “sit at the feet” of others (James 2:2–3). James called them out because they were playing favorites, saying, “Have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:4). James would “call out” today’s Christians for making the same mistakes.
This passage always makes me wonder how Christians in earlier generations could have possibly thought it was okay to tell other people to sit in the back of the bus or even prohibit them from entering a school, a restaurant, or especially a church. James’ words in this verse are abundantly clear, but the church was just as guilty as the rest of the world about their treatment of others. The church, God’s children, have always been guilty of those same sins. I often think of the verse from Jesus’ parable, “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matthew 20:16). Who will be favored in heaven?
Heaven is going to be surprising in many ways. I like to imagine heaven as a place where God tells everyone there, “You are my favorite.”
Until heaven, we need a common-sense approach to having “favorites”
Partiality is part of our human nature. We have lots of friends, but a few best friends. We have people we like or respect and others we deeply love and admire. Our actions tend to reflect our feelings, which is why James’ words are difficult to apply authentically to our lives.
James seems to encourage the impossible when he writes, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ’You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:8–10).
I must admit, I read his words and think, “Can you please define what you mean by neighbor?” or “Is it okay to assume if you didn’t use the plural, “neighbors,” we have some wiggle room here? Truthfully, sometimes, I picture Jesus rolling his eyes at some of my thoughts. Actually, I can picture some of my readers doing the same!
Is it even possible to keep from having favorites? I know I haven’t mastered James’ teaching yet. But, if I’m teaching others what James meant, I always point out his words above. The point James was making is the same point Paul was making in the book of Romans, chapter 3. We shouldn’t play favorites because we aren’t able to judge anyone better than another. We shouldn’t honor people for things that God wouldn’t honor. We also can’t judge a person to be more valuable than another. Why?
We aren’t allowed to judge because we aren’t perfect. We all have a different set of values, usually borne from our own preferences and priorities. But there is no possible way we can judge if a person is good, better, or best because we judge everyone while having our own set of sins. Paul told the church that “all have sinned and fall short,” and Jesus taught the parable about not pointing out the splinter in a person’s eye while having a “log” in our own eye. We aren’t allowed to judge because we aren’t perfectly able to judge. Only God has that right because only God is right all of the time.
How do we have favorites but not show favoritism?
The answer to that question will keep us from a whole lot of sin and a whole lot of heartache in this life. One of the best things each of us can do is consider the moments when we were treated to a “choice seat” and also remember the moments when no one even noticed we were there. We have all experienced both sides of that coin. Remembering how we felt in those moments will help us not to cause those feelings in others. We aren’t helping someone if our actions cause them to feel more worthy than they genuinely are. In the same vein, we don’t hurt people if our actions allow them to know they are as worthy as the next. We are all just a bunch of sinners, tripping our way toward heaven. The point is trying not to fall when we trip.
Everyone who enters the church ought to find a welcome spot somewhere, actually everywhere, in the building. James told those first-century Christians, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:12–13). The word James uses for “mercy” is the Greek word eleos, meaning loving-kindness. That’s equivalent to the Hebrew word hesed, which means the unconditional, steadfast mercy God extends to us.
We are called to freely offer the unlimited grace and favor poured into our lives through our saving faith in Christ.
How can we choose to show favoritism when our perfect God has chosen our sorry, sinful selves to be his children? How can we offer limited mercy when we have received unlimited hesed from our perfect, loving heavenly Father?
But how can we have favorites without showing favoritism? We cannot offer hesed, unconditional, steadfast love, from our fallen human natures. We can only offer what we have received from God.
The next time you want to show favoritism. . .
Our human natures will always want to play favorites, but our Spirit-led souls can do better! Pray for hesed. Pray until you know you don’t have the merciful love you need to give until God provides it. Pray until you are genuinely asking God to create in you his clean thoughts and his character. Pray until you look at your least favorite person and realize your own set of flaws probably places you in that unfavorite category with someone else. Pray until you open your heart to receive the love and mercy God has called you to give. Only then will you be able to show favoritism like God does. Imagine a moment on earth, like every moment in heaven, when God tells your least favorite person that he or she is his favorite. Imagine when you choose to offer hesed to another, and God finds favor with you as a result!
Don’t just hear James’ teaching about favoritism; change your own actions as a result
This blog post should come with a warning label. I’m always amazed at how God makes certain I have learned a lesson by providing an opportunity to live the lesson myself. Actually, that is what James teaches next! Chances are, we will each have the chance to offer God’s mercy to someone this week who we might have been inclined to walk past before James went to preaching at us. What do you want to do when that happens?
If you pray and then offer God’s love and grace as a result, you will really enjoy next week’s blog post. If you don’t, then next Wednesday, you might want to wear steel-toed shoes before reading. James will bruise toes when he tells us to “be doers of the word, not hearers only.”
Thousands of Christians read this blog post each week. What if we all commit to sharing hesed instead of showing favoritism to our neighbors? We can give people a glimpse of heaven while still on earth. I pray that James has provided common-sense faith that will motivate all of us to live with uncommon faith. May we all find favor with God and favor with man. That’s the example Jesus set for each of us. Then, Jesus died, rose, and sent his Spirit so that each of us could live as his example to others.
One day in heaven, we will tell Jesus, “You’re my favorite!” Let’s prove that by the way we live now.
