If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. — James 2:8–13 (NKJV)
Wow. James is still making a big deal about partiality. It’s not exactly one of the seven deadly sins, right?
Right. The “marquee” sins don’t need much explanation or emphasis; everyone knows not to do them. Just as how James went down an unusual path when he said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials,” he’s sending out an unexpected message.
That leads to a secondary point worth mentioning—this is advanced teaching. He’s not giving the beginner’s lessons—the ones that are obvious to most folks—he’s on to the advanced stuff. This isn’t milk; it’s solid food.
Duly noted.
So, in this advanced lesson, note that the people we might show partiality towards (or against) are our “neighbors.” So, the “love your neighbor” bit isn’t only about the folks that live on your street.
James’s point here is, “if you show partiality, you commit sin.” Do not miss how strongly James is saying this. Partiality is the antithesis of loving your neighbor. James is implying that it’s on the level of adultery and murder.
Wow.
James uses a bit of sarcasm to make his case. His example is pretty silly—someone who thinks he’s hot stuff because he doesn’t commit adultery, even though he’s a murderer.
That’s ridiculous. James is poking fun at our tendency to excuse our weaknesses while exalting our strengths. We all do this, even if we don’t realize it.
Those of us who show favoritism likely think favoritism is a minor sin compared to marquee sins like adultery and murder.
But it’s not.
This is one of those bits of Biblical teaching that we all memorize and can dutifully recite when asked but don’t really take to heart.
Are all sins really equal?
No, and James isn’t saying that. What he is saying is that favoritism is one of the big ones.
If that seems extreme, consider this—“What separates the major sins from the minor ones?”
How they affect others. If there’s no victim, it isn’t as bad.
That’s true in civilian law—as it should be—but it’s not the only key in the kingdom of God. How your sin affects others is still one of the keys, but for a related but curiously different reason.
Sin that impacts others acts like a force multiplier. A sin that impacts others can spawn sin in them in a sort of chain reaction. That makes it worse than other sins because of its impact on God’s glory. One sin can be the mother of countless more.
I see. It’s sort of a different scoring system.
I suppose you could say it that way.
But there’s another major factor, the sin’s relationship with the root of sin—pride. C.S. Lewis’s description of pride explains this elegantly.
“The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the ultimate anti-God state of mind.”
Partiality is very close to pride because it lacks the obvious causes. You don’t have to wonder why people steal or commit adultery. Temptation and selfishness explain them easily.
But partiality lacks those kinds of motives; it’s roots are deeper, closer to pride. Why favor someone with worldly status, if not to boost your own?
Yeah, I guess it is kind of creepy when you think about it.
So, partiality scores high on both points—maybe not as high as murder or adultery, but still pretty high. It has great potential to lead to a whole host of other sins, thus doing a lot of damage.
Partiality obviously impacts others in a way that can embarrass the LORD, plus irritate them in a way that can trigger their sinful nature. Plus, its connection to pride is strong.
So, it’s worse even than one might guess.
Yup. This kicks up a level tomorrow.
