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DAMAGE 1 A Closer Look at James 2 1 13 and the Damage Caused by Favoritism in the Church The transliteration of the Greek word pros pol mpsia is partiality and respect of persons The New International Version Bible translates it in James 1 2 as favoritism The Thayer s Greek Lexicon defines the word partiality as thus The fault of one who when called on to requite or to give judgment has respect to the outward circumstances of men and not to their intrinsic merits Thayer s Greek Lexicon 2011 Strong s 4382 James 2 1 states My brothers and sisters believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism Other verses in the bible that concur with James are Lev 19 15 Acts 10 34 Romans 2 11 Gal 2 6 Eph 6 9 Col 3 25 and 1 Tim 5 21 James 2 9 sums up the gravity of showing partiality by stating But if you show favoritism you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers The depth of the seriousness of showing favoritism as a sin is further shown in 2 9 1 which compares it to breaking any of God s laws even that of adultery and murder When James speaks of favoritism he is mostly referencing the different socio economic classes of the Jewish Christians that he is writing to the rich and the poor It seems the rich in the 1st century had the same tendency toward judgment of the poor that the churches have today in this culture But favoritism can also envelop much more than the socio economic classes of culture in churches today such as nepotism cronyism and patronage James reminds everyone in vv 12 13 that mercy is to be shown to all and that we are to act as those who are also being judged According to Matthew Henry 1996 the summary of 2 1 3 is All professions of faith are vain if not producing love and justice to others Jas 2 1 I H Marshall S Travis and I Paul 2011 further sum up the book of James with the key word Integrity stated as a theme of James described as wholehearted consistent dedication to God s will for human living p 270 All 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 2 of these definitions hold true to being no respecter of persons in our daily life s as Christians David Guzik 2012 sums up what being a respecter of persons is about To show partiality shows that we care more for the outward appearance than we do upon the heart For the Lord does not see as man sees for man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart 1 Sam 16 7 God looks at the heart and so should we Kindle ed Jas 2 It is the observation of many that the American churches of today are consistent in their practice of favoritism by the very means in which they plan their functions and seek to build a larger congregation They do not seek out the homeless to attend their churches and sit in their pews rather they seek out the poor to deliver Thanksgiving turkey s to or take meals to If a homeless person that the church may serve on a Saturday should happen to attend their Sunday service the person is treated as someone who is not as intelligent as the church members are or as someone who cannot be effective in leading people to the Lord or effective in the congregation because they cannot tithe Their alleged kindness to the homeless one who has suddenly appeared in the midst quickly turns to an air of superiority in a condescending way that is supposed to demonstrate genuine love By the end of the service the homeless has to walk miles to their homeless camp because nobody offered them a ride and the chances are that person will not attend the service a second time This observation may seem harsh yet it has been witnessed time and again by many This is the example of exactly the kind of favoritism that James 2 1 12 is speaking about David Guzik 2012 states that this type of partiality shows a selfish streak in us Usually we favor the rich man over the poor man because we believe that we can get more from the rich man He can do favors for us that the poor man can t Kindle ed Jas 2 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 3 Another type of favoritism which is commonly practiced in churches today is that of nepotism A simple example of this may be seen in the praise band when a worship leader s or pastor s son or daughter is given the job of pianist or guitarist while the spiritually mature well versed and better musician is passed over The same type of nepotism is seen commonly in who is chosen as Sunday school teacher youth leader and many other leadership positions in the church Along the same lines of nepotism is the common practice of cronyism and patronage One of the most blatant forms of patronage involves manipulation by the church leaders particularly pastors when planning new programs and changes to the church This form of patronage is spelled out as if it is a positive and honest way to church planning strategy when in fact it is a manipulative maneuver to influence the minds of the followers in a church while overlooking the qualified potential leaders Aubrey Malphurs 2013 writes In many small churches and some large churches there is a patriarch or matriarch who is an empowered person Most often it is a man or woman who was born and raised in the church s community has been in the church since its inception and will be there until he or she dies What you must understand is that the typical small church have seen a number of pastors come and go over a short period of time typically every three to four years This person may or may not have an official leadership position but he or she exercises tremendous influence even if the church has a pastor Most often this person is spiritual and committed to the Lord but not always Pastors who serve small churches in particular need to be aware of the presence of a patriarch or matriarch and his or her importance to the church If the patriarch or matriarch is not for strategic planning it will not happen I advise any leaders who pastor churches with 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 4 these people to cultivate them spiritually meet with them at least once a week get to know them run your ideas by them p 57 This line of thinking in the modern church is going against what James 2 1 12 states about favoritism every bit as much as a fine clothed man sitting in a chair while he makes the poor man sit on the floor James 2 1 3 Verse 4 leaves no room for excuse in its wording to those who do this have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts Patronage nepotism and cronyism then leads to judging others and evil thoughts It splits and separates the children of God who are in church to serve and have community Church is the one place in the world where Christians and non Christians should be offered a safe haven to grow and mature in the Lord and to have the needed support of other Christians as we go out in the world to witness and lead others to Jesus However the judgment in church has turned churches in to places of control for the sake of wealth and power out of which can arise spiritual abuse Christian sociologists Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope produced a study of Christians who have quit going to church referred to as the dones and dechurched and asked the questions of why they have continued their Christian life outside of the church body They state They wanted community and got judgment They wanted to affect the life of the church and got bureaucracy They wanted conversation and got doctrine They wanted meaningful engagement with the world and got moral prescription Packard Hope 2015 EBook Packard and Hope 2014 further state When judgment creeps in to a social group or community and isn t combated the end is near EBook Even simple things in church has turned into social clubs and vehicles of favoritism For instance lady s sewing circles lady s tea and socials men s prayer breakfasts etc These have 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 5 become social circles that breeds clicks which results in leaving many out of fellowship They also often breed gossip circles as well as elitist groups who judge themselves to be leaders and superior therefore resulting in harsh judgment of others Scripture is quoted to each other like weapons of control instead of love and encouragement to fellow church members If someone that may think differently and does not follow the norm for the group instead of being welcomed they are turned in to a wallflower and eventually get the message that they are not welcome James 2 12 13 state 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 Unfortunately in many churches today the act of mercy takes a backseat to a brutally calculating business whose primary goal is to strategically plan church growth in order to fill their bank accounts The law that gives freedom is the freedom from sin spoken by Jesus in John 8 34 36 Jesus replied Very truly I tell you everyone who sins is a slave to sin Now a slave has no permanent place in the family but a son belongs to it forever So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed Church leaders and members need to take a second look at who they are in Christ and what freedom and liberty in Jesus means Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire Thus by their fruit you will recognize them Matthew 7 19 20 This can be said not only of Christians within the church but of the fruit produced by the church is well Does the church produce a place of safety and equal acceptance of all Does the church desire to grow spiritually and not by their membership quota If they are then they are not harming others by practicing favoritism within their midst But if observationally their desire is for large numbers and a big 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 6 pretty building they are most likely practicing the favoritism which James warns us of Matthew 5 7 states Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy So often as Christians it is easy to begin to distinguish between sins Is the sin big such as committing murder or adultery is the sin small such as telling a white lie Christians read about sins in the bible that are truly a big deal and ignore the sins which we do not believe will cause harm Commonly it is thought that favoritism cannot cause harm and is a small sin Yet favoritism can and does cause harm in various ways As discussed above favoritism can cause harm by creating judgment clicks gossip etc Another way which favoritism may cause harm is by overlooking the chosen leaders of God and replacing them with the church favorites This hurts the entire congregation those who are being used as well as those who are not It can cause spiritual trauma to those who are in leadership places that do not belong there and vice versa James 2 13 adequately sums up the conclusion vv 1 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful Mercy triumphs over judgment John MacArthur 2005 states the following about v 13 The person whose life is characterized by mercy is ready for the Day of Judgment and will escape all the charges that strict justice might bring against him because by showing mercy to others he gives genuine evidence of having received God s mercy Kindle EBook Jas 2 13 We all need to rethink the sins that we think are small All sin is equal to God and he hates sin Each and every Christian within the church communities should reevaluate the path their church is on how they have achieved their goals and what goals they wish to obtain Favoritism is widespread and unfortunately the depth and types are not well thought out More 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 7 attention needs to be paid to this church problem and mercy needs to become more evident in each of us 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved

DAMAGE 8 References Henry M 1996 Matthew Henrys commentary on the whole Bible Complete and unabridged in one volume Logos EBook ed Peabody MA Hendrickson Publishers Guzik D 2012 Commentary on James and 1 2 Peter Kindle ed Santa Barbara CA Enduring Word Media MacArthur J 2005 The MacArthur bible commentary Kindle Version Retrieved from https www amazon com b ref sr_aj node 133140011 ajr 0 Marshall I H Travis S Paul I 2011 Exploring the New Testament 2nd ed Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press Packard J Hope A 2015 Church refugees Sociologists reveal why people are done with church but not their faith Kindle ed Life Tree Media Malphurs A 2013 Advanced strategic planning A 21st century model for church and ministry leaders Grand Rapids MI Baker Books THAYER S GREEK LEXICON Electronic Database 2011 Strong s Greek 4382 pros pol mpsia respect of persons Retrieved 28 Dec 2016 from http biblehub com greek 4382 htm 2016 Bonnie C Clark All rights reserved