We may not want to admit that we play favorites, but we do. We may not admit that we show respect for the clean, the rich, and the famous, but we do. We likely won’t admit that if the president of the United States were to stop by on Sunday, or maybe some noted movie star, that we would treat them with more attention than the poor smelly person that came the same day, but likely we would.
James begins this lesson by saying, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality” (James 2:1). Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines the word this way. “partiality, 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, and so prefers, as the more worthy, one who is rich, high-born, or powerful, to another who is destitute of such gifts:” As Christians we need to see this, and eliminate it from our life, and our services. The value of every soul is exactly the same, no matter how the soul is dressed.
God is no respecter of persons, and neither may we be.