FAITH OVER FAVORITISM | JEFF WALACE

Yes. Come on, church. Come on. If you

believe that he's worthy of it all, will

you give God the greatest pl praise in

this place? If you believe that he is

truly worthy of all the glory. Come on.

Can we just create an atmosphere of

praise in this place? He's worthy of all

the glory because he is the King of

Kings and the Lord of Lords. He sent his

son Jesus to die on Calvar's cross. Even

when we didn't deserve his love, he is

worthy of all the glory and the

honor that is due him. Come on, why

don't you just high-five your neighbor

and tell your neighbor, God is good all

the

time. Amen. You can take your seats.

Take your seats.

Hey, if we have not had the chance to

meet, my name is Jeff and um I have the

privilege and honor uh from time to time

of uh sharing God's word. But my biggest

joy is that I uh am a faithful member

here at LifeBridge Church. And I love

what the Lord is doing here at our

church. I love the fact that we get to

come together and sing songs like we've

just sang, to to hear God's word like

we're about to, but that we get to

fellowship with one another. And so it

is such a a joy and an honor to be with

you uh in my daytime job if you care. Um

I serve as uh the chief strate uh

strategic officer for nonprofit

organization called student leadership

university. We take Thank you for that

one person. Uh and so uh we uh take high

school students around the world and

teach them how to think, dream, and lead

at the feet of Jesus. Um but uh you know

we have friends over the last several

weeks we've been in this collection of

conversations entitled uh walk the walk

and I have loved uh this conversation

because we have been journeying through

the book of James and and last week we

actually concluded chapter one of the

book of James and and this whole

collection is really about helping us

understand who we are as followers of

Jesus Christ. And in chapter one, we we

realize that we were called to a a life

of faith where we're not just hearers of

God's word, but we are doers of God's

word. That our faith should not just be

heard, but it should be lived. Our faith

should be lived out in the way we endure

trials. Our faith should be lived out

the way that we resist temptation. Our

faith should be lived out the way that

we obey God's word holistically. And

then at the end, the conclusion of

chapter 1, James actually takes an

incredible journey as he paints this

incredible portrait of what pure

religion is all about. And James

concludes chapter one by really helping

us understand the importance of two

things. Number one, he talks about the

importance of taming our tongue. Can we

say amen to that? But then also number

two, he talks about the importance of

caring for uh the vulnerable. And in

essence, what I love about the book of

James is because what James is saying in

essence is that if we claim uh that we

are walking the walk with Jesus, then

our actions should reflect our claims.

Uh he's basically saying you can't talk

about it if you ain't trying to be about

it. And so, so that's what we saw here

in chapter one as he really kind of set

the precedent and the stage of what it

looks like to to to live out a life of

faith. Now, as we we turn our attentions

to chapter 2 today, uh James is going to

take a general uh principle and and

really kind of give us a very painful

specific uh charge. And and and what is

interesting about chapter 2, what we're

going to discover here in a moment is

that James, he takes a subtle yet

dangerous approach to understanding that

there is somewhat of a contradiction in

the Christian life. And that

contradiction in the Christian life is

known as the sin of favoritism. And

James is saying, "Okay, listen. I set

the precedent in chapter one. Now, it is

time for you to live out the test." And

I'm I'm going to put you to the test in

chapter two. And he's saying, "Hey,

listen. If you're going to walk the walk

uh that you of this Christian life, then

let's see how it impacts the way that

you treat and view people." And he's

saying that we're going to live out this

royal law. It's important for us to live

out the royal law in our relationships,

in our world, and also in the church.

And so now, as we move from chapter 1 to

chapter 2, we see James kind of take a

little bit of a shift, if you will,

because he moves from chapter 1 to this

general exhortation that he provides.

And now he goes to a direction where

there's kind of uh a direct

confrontation that he's presenting to us

as the readers. It is almost as if,

ladies and gentlemen, that uh James is

taking a mirror and he's putting the

mirror up to ourselves and he's asking

the question. He says, "Hey, listen. I'm

not really concerned about just what you

believe. I'm also concerned about how

you behave." So, it is how are you

behaving right now as a follower of

Jesus Christ? And so, so I got to admit,

um, as I was reading James chapter 2 and

James 2 · chapter mention

studying, we're going to look at verses

1 through13. And we're talking about

favoritism and partiality. And, and as I

began to read this text, friends, I

began to think about my unhealthy love

affair with Chick-fil-A. And that uh, to

be honest, you know, I I favor

Chick-fil-A. And so when anytime anybody

talks about Zach's or or or Popeyes or

Bojangles, I mean, I'm be honest, I toot

my nose up at it because um I I I I'm

partial to Chick-fil-A because I believe

that everybody from uh all parts of the

world and all walks of life should eat

more chicken. And um and so so but as we

read this this text, it's going to be

important that we really understand the

words in which James is sharing and and

how it really applies to our everyday

life. So let's look at James chapter

James 2:1–13

2 verses 1 through

13. This is what the word of God says.

My brothers and sisters, do not show

favoritism as you hold on to the faith

in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For

if someone comes into your meeting

wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine

clothes, and a poor person dressed in

filthy clothes also comes in, if you

look with favor on the one wearing the

fine clothes and say, "Sit here in a

good place," and yet you say to the poor

person, "Stand over there or sit on the

floor by my foottool." Haven't you made

a distinction among yourselves and

become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my brothers and sisters, didn't

God choose the poor in this world to be

rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom

that he has promised to those who loved

him? Yet, you have dishonored the poor?

Don't the rich oppress you and drag you

into court? Don't they blasphe the name

the uh the good name that was invoked

over you? Indeed, if you fulfill the

royal law prescribed to you in the

scripture, love your neighbor as

yourself, you are doing well. If

however, James says, you show

favoritism, you commit sin and are

convicted by the law as

transgressors. For whoever keeps the

entire law, yet stumbles at one point,

is guilty of breaking it all. For he who

said, "Do not commit adultery," also

said, "Do not murder."

So if you do not commit adultery but you

murder, you are a lawb breakaker. James.

And so uh verse 12 he says, "Speak and

act as those who will be judged by the

law of freedom. For judgment is without

mercy. For judgment is without mercy to

the one who has not shown mercy. Mercy

triumphs over judgment. Will you pray

with me?

Father God, I pray right here, right now

that you'll open up our hearts, open up

our minds, God, that we won't hear from

Jeff, but we will hear from you. And oh

God, I pray as we walk through your

word. That we make a commitment that we

will be not just hearers of your word,

but doers of your word. Not just hearers

of some part, but all parts, God. God, I

pray for a spirit of unity in this place

as we deep dive into what you would have

for us as citizens of heaven. In Jesus

name we pray.

Amen. In the summer of 1968, uh 63,

excuse me. In the summer of 1963, there

was a young lady who was an emerging

10th grader in high school. She was

embarking upon uh this journey because

with the sense of excitement because she

was too

years away from hopefully realizing her

dream of becoming an attorney. She

wanted to graduate from high school and

become the valadictorian and go off to

har uh Howard University and ultimately

become an attorney. And she's this young

impressionable uh little teenage girl

who was actually a part of this youth

council for the National Association for

the Advancement of Color People, which

is also known as the NAACP.

And this particular summer, the leader,

the president of the Savannah, Georgia

Chattam County chapter, WW Law, uh, who

is also known as Mr. Civil Rights, he

presented to the youth council at that

time that there is an opportunity for

some members of the youth council, if

they were interested, to join this new

movement that was uh, about the

desegregation of the schools in Chattam

County. At the time, this young emerging

10th grader, uh, she was, uh, a student,

a straight A student at Beach High

School in Savannah, Georgia. Beach High

School was on the south side of town.

And up until this point, she had never

made a B before in her life. And the

desegregation of the school system in

Savannah, Georgia was going to start at

Savannah High School. And so, full of

eager, full of zeal, full of excitement,

wanting to be the change that she wanted

to see in the world, she signed up. And

so her and 18 other friends of hers were

known and still today as the faithful 19

that will start the desegregation of the

school system in Savannah, Georgia. All

throughout that summer, once she made

that decision, her parents tried to

prepare her for what she would

encounter, but there was nothing her

parents could articulate properly that

would prepare her for what she

experienced. When it was the first day

of school, her bus with the other 18

friends were they were led by a police

escort to Savannah High School. Once

they got off of the bus, there were two

aisles of US marshals that were holding

back the mob of angry people who didn't

want these uh 19 individuals to um to be

a part of this new initiative and

movement. As this young impressionable

10th grade girl, she's walking around

and she's amazed at what's going on.

She's also a little fearful, not

realizing where she was. She veers over

to the right side of the walkway, only

to have her books knocked out of her

hand. As she dips down to pick up her

book, she catches the eye of one of the

angry uh students that was there who

held all kinds of insults to her and

Ashley sped in her face. She gets into

the classroom and now she wants to sit

in the front of the classroom, but she's

unable to sit in the front of the

classroom because of the school that she

was in. And so she begins to sit in the

back of the classroom. And at that time

as she is trying to be an astute

student, she had always um had AI's in

her in um uh in her academic career. Her

teachers at the time would mark out the

right answers on a paper and they would

mark it incorrect. Her mother at the

time was would so angry that she went to

the superintendent of Chattam County and

asked the superintendent if he could do

something about this injustice that was

taking place. the superintendent informs

uh this mother that hey, if you don't

like what's going on, you can go back to

Beach High School. Needless to say, this

moment, this year that she spent at

Savannah High School was way

overwhelming for her. So, she decides to

go back to Beach High

School. She goes back to Beach High

School because her de her GPA had been

greatly impacted because of the year

that she just experienced in Savannah

High School. she did not graduate

validictorian. And so what she decided

to do is she decided to forego her dream

of becoming um an attorney at Howard Law

School. And she actually marries two

weeks out of high school her high school

sweetheart. These two individuals, they

would raise a family of four children.

They would teach them the ways of of the

the world. And but they were a they they

were very intentional about teaching

their children the truths found in the

gospel. This mother was a spiritual

giant to her children. And even though

she had experienced great injustice, it

did not stop her from trying to teach

her children the importance of seeing

people through the lens of scripture,

not through the lens of culture. And so

she decided to send her children, she

decided to send her children to a

program that would allow students on the

south side to go to the north side. And

her youngest son at the time was very

much reluctant to do that. And so the

youngest son actually had to have a

conversation with his mother and and he

pleaded with his mother and asked his

mother,"Wh would you do this?" And the

mother would look her baby boy in the

eye and say, "Baby, listen. The Lord is

going to do something in your life that

is so significant and if I keep you

right here, then you're going to have a

single story perspective because I don't

want you to see the world exclusively

through the lens of thinking it's all

black." So the young man reluctantly

goes to this high school. And his eighth

grade year was horrible. His ninth grade

year was tumultuous. It wasn't until his

10th grade year, interesting enough,

that was the year that his mother

started at Savannah High School, that

there was a defining moment where he met

a young man named Mark Jackson. Mark

beca and and this individual, this son

became great friends and and Mark would

spend some time on the south side and

and this young man would spend time on

the north side and they began to forge

this great friendship and they realized

that there was beauty in the midst of

their diversity. There was unity in the

midst of that. And so as as as this

young man would metriculate through high

school, his mother uh was so proud of

him. And and even to this day, she still

has served as a spiritual giant to

remind uh everyone as she comes in

contact the importance of being a bridge

builder and a reconciler. And so has her

son. And I and and the the the the

mother would tell this son, "Hey,

listen.

Your job as a follower of Jesus is to

first and foremost to only see the heart

of a man, not the face of a man. And to

this day, they continue to move forward

with that heart, that posture, and that

disposition. I want to show you a

picture of who they are and where

they're doing in their life. That's my

mom.

And I tell you that because as we look

at this story that James is articulating

and showing us in the book of James,

it's important that we recognize that

man in this space that my mom was

teaching, it was actually kind of a

little bit of the

reverse. Her position to me and my

brother and and two sisters was that I

didn't want you just to lean to one side

and think that that one side was okay

because God has given you brothers and

sisters from all walks of life. And so

we talk about this whole idea of walking

the walk. We cannot just talk about it,

friends. We got to be about it. And

we're talking about the importance of

what it means to embody the heart of

Jesus in every aspect of our lives. Now,

let me just pause for the calls because

I see some of you having the the sense

of clutching your pearls and having a

little This ain't that kind of talk.

This is not a talk where we're going to

be like, you know, we recognize the

culture that we're in. So, here's what I

need for us to understand. I need for us

to just breathe and trust your boy.

Okay? And so, we're we're not having

that conversation.

But it is important, however, for us to

understand that if we're going to be

followers of Jesus, then we must embody

what Jesus uh commands us and we must

live the life as Christlike individuals.

And what do we know about Jesus? We know

that Jesus interacted with a leper who

was unclean. We know that Jesus had

fellowship with a Samaritan woman even

though he was a Jew. We know that Jesus

dined with people who would betray him

like Judas even though he knew what he

had done. And to walk the walk, friends,

means that that we must lead with love.

We must extend mercy and we must reflect

an impartial grace that God has bestowed

upon us. Dr. Martin Luther King would

say, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would

say that an injustice anywhere is a

threat to justice everywhere. And now,

as we think about showing favoritism,

understand that we're not just talking

about race in our culture today. We're

talking about social economics. We're

talking about class. We're talking about

age. We're talking about disability.

We're even talking about Windir versus

Apakka, right? Because we live in a

world, we live in a world, if we're

honest, that sometimes people can walk

into the body of Christ and feel like

they don't belong because of the way

people treat them. And sometimes it's

not about what we say that makes people

don't feel welcome. It's about our

disposition, our energy, and how we look

at them. And so James, he really kind of

helps us understand the importance of

not living in a place of favoritism.

Because if we're if we're honest, if

there is an injustice within the church,

whether it's through indirect favoritism

or overt overt uh discrimination, it is

a direct contradiction of the gospel.

And James chapter 2 invites us not to

James 2 · chapter mention

merely just read this ancient rebuke,

but to to receive this present day call.

So there's four there's four insights

that I believe that we can learn from

this text that I want to just share with

us today. The first truth that we see as

James opens up this passage is we see

the problem with partiality. That's the

first thing. The problem with partiality

and we see that through verses one

through four. And the problem with

partiality is what we know is that faith

and favoritism they don't mix. We can be

followers of Jesus Christ, but we live

in a place of favoritism. And as James

is addressing this text right now, what

he's doing is he's addressing the social

and spiritual issues that were deeply

embedded in the customs and the culture

of the Greco Roman society and world

that had favoritism based on wealth and

social status. In James, what he's doing

is he's warning against favoritism. He's

saying that it's it's important for us

to have this conversation. It is

necessary because there were Christian

communities that were not immune to the

class-based prejudice that shaped the

society and world around them. And

though we're talking about uh this and

we're seeing this through the lens of a

Greco Roman society, I believe that it

is prevalent in 2025. Think about this

guys. Here is something. You probably

didn't even know this. Have you ever

walked into uh a shoe store? I'm a shoe

fanatic. I love shoes. And if you ever

walk into like a foot locker or a Champs

or a finish line, there is a person

there so slick about it. There's a

person right there at the door and they

have a little microphone right here and

a little walkie-talkie and the first

thing they do is they peep your shoe

game. Now, if you walk in there with

some Crocs, you're like, "He's broke. He

ain't got no money. He got Crocs

on." But you walk in there, true story,

check it out. Go to the mall and just be

do it. Do it. And you walk in there with

some like Jordan retro 3es. was like,

"Oh, got money. Make sure somebody gets

on them." And they're they on them. And

so I like to go in there with Crocs

on, ask for a whole bunch of different

sizes from different shoes and then be

like, "I'm good. Peace out." Right

ladies, this happens as well to you when

you are going to like say you're going

purse shopping. I can, you know, I can,

you know, connect with this because my

wife does it often. Now, if you walk

into there is a difference. If you walk

into Louis, Gucci, Prada, Tory Burch, or

Eel Laroo, you know, or any of these

other places or Hermes or or or

Christian New York, if you walk in there

with a bag from Target, you ain't

getting no sparkling water on the

tray. Try it. Walk in there just a

busted bag. Just walk in there with your

busted

bag. They ain't f to talk to you. They

be like, "Oh my gosh, now you need to be

on the other side, the H&M side." You

know what I'm saying? And

so because it's so embedded in our

culture and we don't even realize it.

Think about this. I love I love living

in Windermir, you know, but let's be

honest. There is a rich side of

Windermir and there's a poor side of

Windermir, you know, it just depends on

which way you go down Chase Road. Like

now I

live on the poor side of Windermir,

right? But people who don't know that if

you're outside of the Windermir bubble,

you know what I'm saying? You tell

people, "Yo, I live in Wait a minute."

They're like, "What?" Oh, man. You say,

"For real." Honestly, I was talking

about a punk. You say you live in Apka.

The response, they're like, "Oh, for

real?" You know, lock your doors, hide

your wife. And uh

so, it's in our culture. Y'all pray for

me. And

uh but the truth of the matter is

friends is that James says in verse

number four he says to favor the rich

while shaming the poor is to become

judges with evil thoughts. And so we see

right here he starts off when he talks

about the funnel. When we funnel down

this text he talks about in the

beginning the problem of

partiality. And in the first century

church there was a there was a shame

honor culture that dominated the society

and culture and that was the values

there and that a person's clothing and

seating and association it all reflected

and reinforced their social status and

rank and rich individuals often given

places of of high honor in public

gatherings while poor the poor were

expected to be silent and invisible and

even absent. And this mentality even

seeped into the early church. And so

what James is doing is he's addressing

this truth here even directly in verses

two and three when he says that there is

a rich man with fine clothes he's

offered the good seat then the poor man

with the bad clothes he's saying either

you stand over there or you can sit at

uh the foot of my stool and some

scholars believe that what James is

doing here in this text he's actually

referencing Christian gathers modeled

after gathering in the synagogue where

there was designated seats to honor the

wealthy and the prominent members of the

culture and society. And we see this all

throughout scripture. Acts

Acts 10:34–35

10:34-35 says Peter, he spoke, he says,

"Now I truly understand that God doesn't

show favoritism, but in every nation the

person who fears him and does what is

right is acceptable to him." He Paul

says in Romans 2:11, he says, "For there

Romans 2:11

is no favoritism with God." So here is

the truth. Here are some alternate

insights that we must consider as

followers of Jesus. Number one, we got

to understand that favoritism, it

pollutes our

faith. Favoritism pollutes our faith

because it stains the purity of our

gospel witness. When we show favoritism

and we say to to people like, "Hey,

you're you're not a part of the

spiritual elite," then what that does is

it stains our go it stains our witness.

But not only does favoritism pollutes

our faith, but it also corrupts our

perspective. It causes us when we show

favoritism and partiality, what we show

is we show that we value the things that

God himself don't even

value. You're valuing status and

stuff. God values spiritual death,

holiness, and faithfulness.

So favoritism says to somebody you're

worth you're worth more while it also

says to others you're not worth anything

and that's not how God sees people and

that's not how we should see people. So

what's the application? The application

to that is that a church that honors

status over substance lose sight of the

heart of the

savior. And we must never lose sight of

the

gospel. So we see James starts off by

talking about the problem of partiality.

But then we move down to the second

thing which is the principle of the

kingdom. When we look at verses 5

through 7, he's talking about the

principle of the kingdom. And kingdom

principles are really countercultural.

Can we say amen to that? See God his his

principles are different from human

expectation.

See, during this time, during this this

Greco Roman time, wealthy individuals

often acted as patrons who funded public

projects and supported others in

exchange for loyalty and honor. So,

basically, you know what? They were

sliding people some money under the

table and so they would get preferential

treatment. It reminded me and it

reminded me of a guy, I won't say his

name, but I have a friend in Atlanta

because, you know, from Atlanta,

everybody in Atlanta think they going to

be a rapper. And so um and so I had a

friend who really cannot he's not good I

mean and um and I'm like hey man you

need to be like an accountant and uh and

so so so but there was a radio station

um V103 in Atlanta and what he did was

he took his his his his uh his song to

the radio station and he actually paid

the DJ money to play his song. So his

song was getting spins not because it

was good, but because there was this

this money exchange that gave him access

to something that he really didn't

deserve. And that's kind of the

equivalent of of what James is trying to

get us to understand that the principles

of of the kingdom are countercultural.

And and he's referencing this patron

client system that really was carried

over into the church where leaders of

the congregation were shown favoritism

because of their financial portfolio.

and the church was guilty of showing

them favoritism because the church

wanted to see if they could get

something out from that individual. So,

I feel bad for all of the, you know, the

rich people in the room because I do

know people pull on you and and that's

what the church was doing. So, shame on

the church. So, I want to make sure we

understand that this is a this is a a

360 degree sin issue that we're talking

about. It's not just that because we're

in a this we're in a a high social

economic, you know, bracket that it's

all about showing favoritism to our

friends. It's about those of us who are

trying to get at them because of what

they got, not trying to see the heart of

who they

are. It got quiet in here

quick. Thank you, Luke. All right. And

so here is what was happening during

this time. during this time friends that

the poor were socially

disenfranchised and had a disadvantage

and they were seen as morally

inferior. So we see that there was

spiritual cynicism that was taking place

because of the spiritual elitist. So

what is the alternate insight of that is

that we have to understand two things.

Number one, God honors those who are

humble but then number two God humbles

those who are halty. those who think

well of

themselves. So the application there is

that if we're going to walk the walk,

our walking the walk means that we're

aligning with kingdom values, not

cultural hierarchy. So as we move from

understanding the problem with

favoritism and partiality, we understand

that there is the principle of godly

kingdoms or kingdom values. But we also

see in verses 8 through 11, James talk

about the priority of love. The third

thing is the priority of love. What's

what is he talking about? He's talking

about the royal law which is the the

royal law reigns over all laws. And

Jesus uh not Jesus but James he's

rooting his teaching in the royal law

which first is introduced to us in

Leviticus 19 and 18. It says we got to

love our neighbors as ourselves. And

this command is is royal because it's

coming from our a our royal and holy

God. He is giving this command and it is

govern it should be a command that

governs all of our relationships and we

should obey this command with dignity

and unity amongst believers. See

favoritism violates the royal law and it

makes us lawb breakakers. And I love how

James he he brings this parallel where

he's saying, "Hey, listen. Uh, for those

of you who are thinking that there is

this kind of sin that's better than that

kind of sin, and you try to rationalize

your sin, he's debunking all that." He's

like, "You break one, you break them

all." And he's saying, "Hey, listen.

There isn't such a thing as respectable

sins." Because if we're honest, let's be

honest, we know how to rationalize some

sin, right? Like, you know, I just cuss

a little bit. I don't cuss a whole lot,

right? I cheat on my taxes, but I don't

murder

anybody. And uh and and so what what we

do is we live in a world where we we

think and that's why James, we think

that it's okay to rationalize sin. And

James is like very clear like you break

one, it's the equivalent of breaking

all. We don't get the privilege, ladies

and gentlemen, to pick and choose what

part of God's word we want to

obey. Either we obey the whole council

of God or we obey nothing at all. There

is no in between. There's no ambiguity.

There's no uncertainty. It's all or

nothing. And James is saying, "Hey,

listen. Listen. We have to beware of

rationalizing our respectable sins."

He talks about the importance of loving

without discrimination. We see that all

throughout scripture in Matthew 22 and

37:39. He says, "Love uh your Lord your

God with all your heart." This is the

greatest and most important commandment.

And the second is to love your neighbor

as yourself. So the royal law, ladies

and gentlemen, is we have to understand

that man, when we show favoritism, it's

not a misstep. Favoritism is not a

misstep. It is a sin.

And so James is getting us to

understand, hey listen, we got to make

sure that we are operating under the

umbrella of the royal law. So what is an

alternative insight to consider is that

number one that love is the law of the

Lord. Our actions, how we respond to

people. We should respond to people not

through the lens of culture but through

the lens of the gospel which should

compel us to love the least of these,

the lost and the unlovable. We got to

love them. Now, there is a difference

between loving people and condoning

their bad behavior. That's not what I'm

saying. We welcome everyone in this

place, but we don't condone their bad

behavior. But we can't also we can't

also say we're expecting to be a

God-honoring witness, but yet we're not

even trying to invite people into this

space. We got to show love at all costs.

See, the application for us is to

understand that we serve a God who

doesn't grade sin on a curve. He doesn't

grade sin on a curve. And and and so if

if we claim to love God, but we're

mistreating his people who are created

in the imo day in his image, then we've

committed sin against God. But here is

how he ends in verse 12 through13. He

talks about the power of mercy. That

mercy, my friends, mercy must be our

default response, not judgment. See, as

citizens of heaven, we are not to judge

people, but we're to show mercy. Why?

Because mercy is the evidence of the

salvation in our own lives. And the

reason why we show mercy, friends, is

because we've been shown mercy

ourselves. Because we were at some

point, we were once sinners in need of a

savior. And God extended mercy to us.

And so, how is it that we get the

extension of mercy, but we're not

willing to extend that to others? And

so, when we when we refuse to ex extend

mercy and we we do judgment

instead, then we what we're revealing is

that we have a graceless

heart. I love this climax where where in

verse 13, James says, "Mercy triumphs

over judge uh judgment." And he closes

this this section reminding readers that

all believers will be judged by the law

of liberty, which is the word of God

that has set us all free. And so so if

you judge, then you will be judged.

That's why I'm be honest. I'm going to

speak truth to life. I'm going to tell

you, hey, this is wrong, but I'm not

going to judge you. The Lord knows I

don't want to stand before my heavenly

father. He said, hey, man, listen. You

were so judgmental. You were so

ferocitical in your thought, man. not

depart from me you person of iniquity

because I don't even know

you. So we must recognize this truth

that we are not to show judgment but to

show mercy. See a church showing mercy

to others demonstrate that we understand

again that we've received it ourselves.

I love what the Bible talks about mercy

all throughout scripture. In Micah 6:8,

Micah 6:8

the Bible says that mankind, he has told

each of you what is good and what uh

what is the Lord's requirement of you to

act justly, to love uh faithfully, and

to walk humbly with your God. Matthew

Matthew 5:7

5:7 says, "Blessed are the merciful, for

they will be shown mercy." Matthew 9:13

Matthew 9:13

says, "Go and learn what it means, I

desire mercy and not sacrifice." And

then Luke 6:36 and 37 says, "Be merciful

Luke 6:36

just as your father also is merciful. Do

not judge and you will not be judged."

See here is here is the alternate

perspective friends is that

mercy must be modeled and not just

mentioned. A lot of times we are good

with hearing God's word. We struggle

with applying God's word, especially

when application is

uncomfortable and especially when

application is

countercultural. But the shest evidence

of a saved soul, friends, guess what?

It's a compassionate heart. What's your

heart like? See, I believe that a

merciful church is filled with people

who have a compassionate heart because

the people of God remember the mercy

again that they've been shown. So if if

if if there's just three of you taking

notes, here's four quick recaps that I

want to share with you to understand

what James is saying here in chapter 2.

Number one, we know this that faith and

favoritism are mutually

exclusive. Faith and favoritism are

mutually exclusive. True faith honors

all God's people equally. So number one,

faith and favoritism are mutually

exclusive. Number two. Number two, the

gospel. The gospel uplifts the poor and

humble. This is countercultural. So the

gospel, the gospel is for the poor and

the humble, not just the the rich and

those who have it all together. But then

number three, partiality we've already

talked about, is a sin. It violates both

the law and the love ethic of Jesus.

Partiality is a sin. And then number

four, God's law is a unified whole. And

what that means is we can't have

selective obedience. We can't be

selective in what we choose to obey and

what we choose to

ignore. Friends, can I just tell you at

the end of the day, we're called to walk

in mercy. We're called to walk in love

and we're called not to show favoritism.

See what is important for us to

understand what James is doing here is

he's challenging modern believers to

examine their attitudes especially

towards the marginalized and to remember

that the church must reflect this

impartial love of Jesus Christ because

partiality here is here's what is so

important and you can drop this on X is

that partiality is not just socially

dangerous it's theologically

devastating it's not just socially

dangerous it's theologically devastating

when we show faith

spiritism. Why? Because it disrupts our

witness. It impacts people who are lost

in a ditch, in a gutter, who is stuck in

their sin and addiction. It impacts

their ability to see the church as the

hospital for the hurting. to see this

place as a safe place because people

wonder if I'm going to be judged, if I'm

going to be talked, talked about, are

people going to look at me funny? Oh,

but when we get a chance to make up in

our minds that we're going to be a

church who will welcome all but make

sure that we do everything in our power

to make sure they don't stay where they

are.

That's when you get the people with the

GEDs next to the folks with the PhDs.

Those who are unemployed sitting next to

the one who has their own business. When

you got black, white, Latino, Native

American, Hispanic, rich, poor, broke,

busted, and disgusted all on the same

aisle worshiping the one true Jesus.

See for us

friends for

us there is no other option as followers

of Jesus but to reject the mindset and

the attitude of

favoritism. See true faith true faith is

not merely

professed. It's practice.

It's

practice. I pray that we'll be a church

that will won't just talk the talk, but

we'll walk. We'll we won't just talk the

talk, but we'll walk the walk. I thought

about closing. I'm'll be honest. I'm

going to tell you up front cuz I love

you and I'll never lie to you. What I'm

about to ask is going to be a little

awkward for some and I recognize and

it's not. You don't have to. Please

understand you don't have to. But I'm

asking for us all to stand right now.

And here's how I would love for us to

end that if we could rather you just

want to be shoulder-to-shoulder, you can

hold a hand, you lock arms, you can just

kind of, you know, um uh just be next to

somebody, but if we can just hold and

connect to the person right next to us,

and even if that means we're crossing

the aisles, that's what we want. And so

we can just cross and just come together

as a unified body. We can just kind of

reach and connect with one another. I

know that's awkward. I'm

sorry. And here's what I'm going to

ask. I'm going to ask is every head is

bowed, every eyes closed. First and

foremost, if you would pray for your

brother and sister whose hand you're

holding. You don't have to know them.

You don't have to know what they're

going through. but that you will pray

that the Lord will be a lifter of their

head and encourager of their soul. That

they will feel valued and welcomed. That

they will know that they're the right

men and women for the moment. That

they're safe right here and that

whatever they're going through that they

have a brother and sister in you who's

interceding on their behalf. So, will

you just pray for them?

Secondly, while you're praying for them,

the second thing, if you will begin to

pray for our

church, that you will pray that this

church will be a place that is known

around the world as a safe place for

people to gather from all walks of life,

knowing that no matter what, we will

never compromise the integrity of the

gospel. We're going to preach the

gospel. We're going to preach truth to

life, but that no one walks in this

place and not feel welcome. So that you

pray for our church that this will be a

place that is known that that's the

reputation that we

have. And then thirdly, will you pray

for

yourself? If there is the sin of

partiality or favoritism or

discrimination that has been in your

soul, be honest with yourself. Because

here's the truth. The sovereign, all

knowing, allloving, all powerful God, he

already knows. If there is sin in your

heart right now, but there's been this

moment where you've just kind of walked

on the other side of the street, not

physically, but spiritually and

proverbally, man, that there's sin in

your heart, that there would be a spirit

of repentance that would be in this

place. So, three things I want you just

to be praying right now. Pray for that

hand that you're holding. Pray for this

house, our church. And then pray a

spirit prayer of repentance. If there is

any sin in your own heart, just begin to

pray right now.

[Music]

Father God, we come into this place

right here, right now with bowed heads

and humble hearts, God. And I'm asking

right now that you will hear the hearts

of your children right now. God, as

they're holding hands of their brothers

and sisters, God, that there are real

fervent prayers that are going forth on

behalf of their brothers and sisters.

God, I pray right now for this house,

God, that this will be a house of unity,

a house of oneness, God, that we are all

connected under the banner of the

gospel. And so, Father, I pray that

everyone who comes in this place, they

will

understand that this is a place of

belonging. They recognize that this is a

place that is the hospital for the

hurting. Anyone that is going on going

through anything, God, I pray that there

is no sense of feeling like they cannot

come in this place. But then God, I also

pray for the sin in the heart of anyone

in this place. God, if there is anything

within us that is not of you, will you

remove it? Oh God, God, we pray that you

will forgive us for those moments where

we've discriminated, we've marginalized,

we've

dismissed, we've connected more so to

affiliations and tribes than we have

your gospel. Oh God, will you forgive us

of that

sin? Will you forgive us of our sins?

And will you heal the land? And so God,

if there is a prayer

of repentance, God, I pray for also a

spirit of

reconciliation, not just within our

local body, but God, even in the

corporate and global body. God, we want

more than anything else. We want to see

revival in our nation. We want to bring

people back to the feet of the cross,

God. So God, we speak prayers of

restoration, healing, and unity right

now over our country. We love you and we

honor you in Jesus name. And all of

God's people said, "Amen." Amen. Amen.

Come on, can we give God a hand clap of

praise in this

place?

God is

good. And in the spirit of unity, in the

spirit of unity in this place,

regardless of where you come from,

regardless of socioeconomics, regardless

of ethnicity, can we just now in this

moment, once in our lives, church, can

we together worship the King of Kings

and the Lord of Lords, who is the one

true God in this place?