Faith Without Favoritism

James 2:1-13Naturally, we all have people that we just love being around. People that we identify with, people that we think highly of or look up to. We all have "my kind of people." If that's the case then we all have "not my kind of people." People we disagree with, people that grind our gears, people that in our flesh we look down on. In this passage, James is about to confront us with a hard truth: Playing favorites has no place in the life of a follower of Jesus. This isn't a side issue, it's a Gospel issue. The main point being that the Gospel should be the lens in which we view all other people.1.Playing Favorites James opens bluntly, favoritism and faith in Jesus do not mix. James gives us the scenario of a rich man and a poor man who come to a church service appearing as polar opposites in how they are clothed. The rich man receives the best seat and the poor man sits at the feet of the church leaders. The problem isn't in noticing the difference in appearance, it's treating them differently because of it. James calls this "making distinctions among yourselves and becoming judges with evil thoughts." It's placing value on people based on externals. James says the gospel gives us no right to treat them differently. 2.Royal LawJames roots this in what he calls the "royal law" which is "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." When we play favorites we aren't just being impolite, we're breaking God's law of love. James reminds us if we break this law we're guilty as if we breaking all of the law. Favoritism isn't a "lesser sin" - It's rebellion against the God who commands us to love.3.Sowing and Reaping The way we treat people will be the measure God uses when he evaluates our lives. That's the sowing and reaping principle: plant mercy, reap mercy; plant judgement, reap judgement. (James 2:12-13) "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment."