1 - Gather Together Without Showing Partiality Toward Names
WHAT ARE YOU PARTIAL TO?
What are you partial to? If parents are not careful, they will be partial to one of their children over the others and it will cause trouble. Consider Jacob with his son Joseph. Jacob made him a coat of many colors, but not the others. Joseph was the son of his old age. This contributed to the hatred Joseph's eleven other brothers had toward him, and so they sold him as slave and lied to their father about it!
Now James charged his brethren with the sin of showing partiality (Ja 2:9). Specifically, they elevated rich disciples over poor disciples. Partiality is discrimination. It happens when one thing is lifted up over another. It is personal favoritism (Ja 2:1). It happens when a distinction or division is made between two or more things that should not be distinct or divided (Ja 2:4). It happens when special attention is given to one thing over another thing of equal value or worth (Ja 2:3). It honors the one and dishonors the other (Ja 2:6). It makes the one who is showing partiality a judge with evil motives; not impartial (Ja 2:4). This is a weighty subject.
Now the solution to this sin is the same in any situation. Do the proper thing to equalize, not elevate, one thing over the other. You need to completely de-elevate whatever you have lifted up. You need to quit giving special attention to it by your words or deeds. You need to take it off of your personal and affectionate “favorites” list. You must stop making discriminatory distinctions between two or more equivocal things.
There is another way that disciples show partiality and therefore sin. This lesson will expose it. Are you showing partiality? Carefully think about whether or not your church is committing this sin, specifically in the way that it is dividing itself from other churches.
PARTIALITY DIVIDES CHRIST
Not only did James charge brethren with showing one type of partiality (Ja 2:9), Paul exposed another type of partiality that was occurring within the church in Corinth. They were showing partiality toward certain names and the result was that they were becoming divided. So he asked them:“Has Christ been divided?” (1 Cor 1:13)
We must ask ourselves that question. Or better yet, have we wrongly divided Christ? How are we incorrectly dividing Christ? Are we continuing to wrongfully divide Christ? Are we then being divisive? Are we showing partiality in the way that we divide ourselves from others? Is God happy with the way that we are dividing the churches? In which way does God want us to divide ourselves? Is there a way to do so that does not show partiality?