December 11th, 2024
This is part of a series entitled, "When Double Is Trouble."
“Have you been a victim of workplace discrimination?” Over the years, I’ve heard this line in commercials offering legal services, partly because those lawyers are specialists in the area, and partly because many incidents of violence, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace go unreported. In one survey done in 2023, “only 58% of employees reported the poor behaviors they experienced or witnessed, meaning that 42% of inappropriate workplace behaviors were not reported.”[1] A 2022 Gallup poll also found that almost half of workplace violence and harassment victims had never told anyone about their experience.[2] These are troubling statistics!
Here's another question: have you ever been a victim of church discrimination? I’m not talking about religious discrimination, that is, being mistreated for your faith. “Church discrimination,” in this context, is what might be labeled “favoritism.” You know the scene: you walk into the worship service or a church activity and someone greets you glibly, “Hi, how are you?” But before you can answer, they spot someone else coming in, slide past you, and begin to gush over them, “Why…hello! It’s so good to see you! How have you been? Please, come sit with me today!”
It’s not always quite that obvious, but it happens. Sadly, it occurs more often than we’d like to “report.” I’m not suggesting that we set up a department to handle “favoritism complaints,” but this is an area where Christians need to do better.
The 1st century church struggled with this issue too. In James’ epistle, he directly confronts this two-faced duplicity in chapter 2, verses 1 through 13. The most powerful statement in the entire section may be the first verse. “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.”
In a 2002 article on this passage, expositor and theologian J. Ligon Duncan wrote this, “If you wanted to deny the faith, how would you do it? You wake up one morning and you decide you want to deny the faith. How do you go about doing that? Do you renounce your membership? Do you write a book or a pamphlet criticizing the central tenets of the Christian faith? Do you join the local atheist club? Well, James, in this passage, tells you one way that you can deny the faith. Try showing favoritism towards some and bias towards others. James counts that as fundamental denial of the gospel. Think of it. To show favoritism is a denial of the faith and of the gospel.”[3]
In James 2, the contrast is given between the rich and the poor. One has a “gold ring” and “shiny clothing,” while the other is poor, destitute, and “filthy.” The former is invited to a privileged position, but the latter is hidden away or left standing in the corner. Discrimination like this happens in many other ways as well. We may favor someone because they are popular, or because they make us feel good, or because they can benefit us in some way, or because they’re more like us.
The word James uses to describe this literally means, “receiving somebody according to their face.” One commentary notes, “it is a tendency of human nature to favor those we serve to profit from the most.”[4] Sadly, partiality creeps into our lives if we’re not careful, ruining relationships within the church and turning others away from the Gospel we profess.
The first verse of the chapter, though, is enlightening. James teaches that favoritism and professing Christ are essentially incompatible. You cannot “hold” both at the same time. A few verses later, using the same word for the double-minded doubter in 1:6, James writes that the one who shows partiality is also “divided among yourselves” (James 2:4). Being two-faced comes from being double-minded!
But when we allow Christ to lead us and give the Holy Spirit free reign in our hearts, we’re transformed from the inside out. When Jesus Christ, “the glorious One,” fills our vision, we treat every person with dignity, respect, and love.
Let’s do our part to end church discrimination. Put to death the sin of partiality and be a “whole person,” loving God and loving others.
[1] https://www.hracuity.com/resources/research/workplace-harassment-and-employee-misconduct-insights/
[2] https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/406793/global-study-workers-experience-violence-harassment.aspx
[3] https://thirdmill.org/articles/jl_duncan/jl_duncan.James2.1-13.pdf
[4] Blomberg and Kamell, James (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), 109.
“Have you been a victim of workplace discrimination?” Over the years, I’ve heard this line in commercials offering legal services, partly because those lawyers are specialists in the area, and partly because many incidents of violence, harassment, and discrimination in the workplace go unreported. In one survey done in 2023, “only 58% of employees reported the poor behaviors they experienced or witnessed, meaning that 42% of inappropriate workplace behaviors were not reported.”[1] A 2022 Gallup poll also found that almost half of workplace violence and harassment victims had never told anyone about their experience.[2] These are troubling statistics!
Here's another question: have you ever been a victim of church discrimination? I’m not talking about religious discrimination, that is, being mistreated for your faith. “Church discrimination,” in this context, is what might be labeled “favoritism.” You know the scene: you walk into the worship service or a church activity and someone greets you glibly, “Hi, how are you?” But before you can answer, they spot someone else coming in, slide past you, and begin to gush over them, “Why…hello! It’s so good to see you! How have you been? Please, come sit with me today!”
It’s not always quite that obvious, but it happens. Sadly, it occurs more often than we’d like to “report.” I’m not suggesting that we set up a department to handle “favoritism complaints,” but this is an area where Christians need to do better.
The 1st century church struggled with this issue too. In James’ epistle, he directly confronts this two-faced duplicity in chapter 2, verses 1 through 13. The most powerful statement in the entire section may be the first verse. “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.”
In a 2002 article on this passage, expositor and theologian J. Ligon Duncan wrote this, “If you wanted to deny the faith, how would you do it? You wake up one morning and you decide you want to deny the faith. How do you go about doing that? Do you renounce your membership? Do you write a book or a pamphlet criticizing the central tenets of the Christian faith? Do you join the local atheist club? Well, James, in this passage, tells you one way that you can deny the faith. Try showing favoritism towards some and bias towards others. James counts that as fundamental denial of the gospel. Think of it. To show favoritism is a denial of the faith and of the gospel.”[3]
In James 2, the contrast is given between the rich and the poor. One has a “gold ring” and “shiny clothing,” while the other is poor, destitute, and “filthy.” The former is invited to a privileged position, but the latter is hidden away or left standing in the corner. Discrimination like this happens in many other ways as well. We may favor someone because they are popular, or because they make us feel good, or because they can benefit us in some way, or because they’re more like us.
The word James uses to describe this literally means, “receiving somebody according to their face.” One commentary notes, “it is a tendency of human nature to favor those we serve to profit from the most.”[4] Sadly, partiality creeps into our lives if we’re not careful, ruining relationships within the church and turning others away from the Gospel we profess.
The first verse of the chapter, though, is enlightening. James teaches that favoritism and professing Christ are essentially incompatible. You cannot “hold” both at the same time. A few verses later, using the same word for the double-minded doubter in 1:6, James writes that the one who shows partiality is also “divided among yourselves” (James 2:4). Being two-faced comes from being double-minded!
But when we allow Christ to lead us and give the Holy Spirit free reign in our hearts, we’re transformed from the inside out. When Jesus Christ, “the glorious One,” fills our vision, we treat every person with dignity, respect, and love.
Let’s do our part to end church discrimination. Put to death the sin of partiality and be a “whole person,” loving God and loving others.
[1] https://www.hracuity.com/resources/research/workplace-harassment-and-employee-misconduct-insights/
[2] https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/406793/global-study-workers-experience-violence-harassment.aspx
[3] https://thirdmill.org/articles/jl_duncan/jl_duncan.James2.1-13.pdf
[4] Blomberg and Kamell, James (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), 109.
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