No Partiality in the House of God

Today's sermon is going to be more instructional and not corrective. We'll go through a topic that is rather hard-hitting, and so I don't want to come across as though, I think you all have a problem and you need to hear this. Although, on the other hand, let it be, even though it's an informational-only sermon, let it be self-corrective. If you find an area that you need to work on, Passover is a good time of year to examine yourself, do self-correction. You don't always have to be corrected by the pastor. Sometimes, it's a matter of you finding an area in your life and you do the correction. The title of the sermon today is, No Partiality in the House of God. Partiality is making a distinction between one person and another. Based on external observation, that's partiality. We're of a different race, or a different economic status, or a different perceived power level. This person can get me somewhere, this person cannot get me somewhere, because this person is powerful, and this person has no influence whatsoever. We make distinctions between people based on external observation. An interesting... Let me expand this here. Hold on a second. I'm going to call an audible because I can't hardly read this. Oops. There we go. Make it bigger. Ah, beautiful. Okay. I'm going to read an article, Why Partiality is Wrong, from Bible.org, published May 29, 2013. You know, I forgot to write the author's name down, but it's a Baptist minister. Interesting article on partiality, and he starts it with this.

On one Sunday, he went to a local church. He had decided to see the pastor and asked for instruction on the way of salvation. But he entered the church... I'm sorry, when he entered the church, which consisted of white people, the ushers refused to give him a seat. They told him to go back and worship his own people. He left and never went back.

Quoting another article, he says, Christians have cast differences also. He said, I might as well remain a Hindu. So, this article quoted from the Daily Red, February 1979. And that ends the quote that I'm going to use for the article. Now, I would observe that a very young Gandhi was, perhaps not to be too critical of the man, immature. You don't judge an entire group of people by one usher at the door.

You know, maybe he was just a goober. Maybe he was just having a bad day. You don't judge Christianity by one guy at the door. But, nonetheless, you know, it does make the point very well that that person judged him based on the fact that he was this Indian guy. You know, he wasn't the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant stereotype that they were looking for at that particular congregation. At least, that was the perception of that usher.

And, therefore, he told him, hey, why don't you take a hike and go where you would be welcome. That should never be heard in the house of God. James 2 talks about showing partiality, making a distinction between people. In other words, treating some people well while completely disregarding others. I want you to note that James was very, very adamant about this topic, but at the same time, he was very affectionate. James wrote the words, quote, my brethren, end quote, 15 times in only five chapters. Right? It's a very affectionate term. My brethren, or sometimes he said, my beloved brethren.

He says that 15 times in the book of James. And what he's emphasizing in this book is, hey, we're family. And you don't treat family a certain way. You don't judge people on their outward appearance. They appear to be wealthy. They appear to be socially adequate. They appear to be, you know, of a certain race, a certain background. I can relate to those people. You don't do that in the house of God, because we're family. So let's go to it, and let's just read, because we're going to spend some time in James back and forth. James chapter 2 verses 1 through 5.

We'll start in verse 1. We'll just walk through it. James starts chapter 2 out with my brethren. Do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory with partiality. Now, note that he says the Lord of glory. Why does he say that? Glory is an attribute given to God. He is pointing out the deity, or supremacy, of Jesus Christ. And he's doing it for a very good reason. Because when we show partiality, we're actually treading on His deity, on His authority. We're stepping on Jesus Christ. So James starts this very affectionate plea with the Lord of glory. I want you to notice in Isaiah 42, verse 8, what a big deal, or what a big statement that James just made.

Isaiah 42, verse 8, he says, I am the Lord. That's the tetragrammaton, Yahweh. That is my name. And my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to carved images. Now, the context here was that no idol is going to turn into a God, and therefore have a shining face and become a spirit being. That's what Isaiah 42, 8 means. But notice he says he's not going to share his glory with anybody. You have to be a God-level being to have glory. Glory belongs to God.

So James was establishing Jesus Christ's superiority. And then James, in the very next verse, back to James chapter 2, there is a hypothetical situation that literally could happen in any church meeting around the world. He gives the example of how a rich man is received and how a poor man is received when he comes to church. Or literally in the Greek, it's the synagogue. Because back in the day, in the first century, where did the Christian church meet in the synagogue?

Interestingly enough, James was not written to a Jewish audience. James was not written to a Jewish audience. If you go back to James chapter 1, James was written to the lost ten tribes who were scattered. It doesn't say lost, it says scattered. But clearly, it was written to church members in those lost tribes because of the content that is in James. So it wasn't written to church members in Judea. It was written to church members who were scattered abroad. And at that time in history, they were scattered all over Europe. Which means that if they were assembling in a synagogue, first century Christians in Europe were keeping the Seventh-day Sabbath.

You would not keep synagogue on the first day of the week. Anyway, so he gets into this hypothetical situation of a rich man and a poor man. He says in verse 2, You say to the poor man, you stand there or you sit here at my footstool. Don't even give him a seat.

Right? We don't need your kind here. Kind of like what happened to Gandhi the first time he walked into a Christian church. This is, I wouldn't say an extreme example. But, you know, there are lesser examples of this that are still partiality. We draw distinctions between people based on what they are or what they have. And not based on what they do. We'll get into the proper drawing of distinctions at the end of this sermon.

Right? But for now, let's focus on what James is talking about. Drawing distinctions between people based on what they are or what they have. Instead of what they do. And then in verse 4, James asks the convicting question. He says, have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges? Now he starts to tell us the problem.

Well, if we're a judge, and Jesus Christ is the Lord of Glory, and he's the Lord of Glory, he's the deity. James is setting us up that we are going directly against our Savior, Jesus Christ. He says, and you become judges with evil thoughts. Who is the author of that which is evil? Well, it's Satan the Devil. And if you read the accounts of Satan the Devil in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, you will find that the beginning of evil was Satan looking, or at the time Lucifer, looking in a mirror and looking at how beautiful he was. Evil is synonymous with selfishness or self-promotion. That's where it comes from. That's where it originated. Where Satan says, why can't I be God? And he went and tried to overthrow God. So pointing out the glory of Jesus Christ shows how immature we are to draw distinctions between ourselves based on things that really don't matter, like wealth or poverty. Things that are only temporary in this lifetime. Even the most powerful rich man on the earth is nothing compared to the glory of God and Jesus Christ. Do you remember the story of Nebuchadnezzar? Do you remember when Nebuchadnezzar looked out on his balcony and said, look at the great kingdom that I have built? And what happened to him? God struck him down with a beast for years. And then in Daniel 4 and verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar, the Gentile king, speaks and writes scripture in the Bible. It's recorded by Daniel that these are the words of Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king. Daniel 4 and verse 34.

The words of the earth are reputed as nothing. You know, we get sick and we ask God to heal us. Do you realize who we're going before when we ask Him to heal us? Right? Okay, so I've got this flu and it's lasted like three weeks now. And I would just rather not live. You realize that you are talking to the creator and sustainer of the entire universe. And we are just one of billions of little people on the earth. And the amazing thing is, is that creator cares that you are sick and honors and actually sent his son not just to die, but he was also what he was beaten. And by his stripes we are healed. He was beaten that our infirmities could be taken away. This huge, incredible God! And all of us, Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges, are nothing compared to Him. And yet he cares about each and every one of us. It blows me away. He can even hear us. Okay, seven billion people chattering on the earth. And then we kneel down and we pray, Father in Heaven. He says, yes, that's amazing to me. Two of my kids tried to talk to me at one time. Shut up! One at a time, please! Right? God can hear us all at the same time. And He cares! That's absolutely amazing. All inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, what have you done? He answers to nobody.

At the same time, my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom and my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, and I was restored to my kingdom. And excellent majesty was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, this is verse 37 of Daniel 4, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, all of whose ways are justice, and those who walk in pride He is able to put down. Do you know that when we draw distinctions between people, when we show partiality between men, we are challenging that God, the sovereign God of heaven, the King of heaven. When we make a distinction based on status or perceived power, we show partiality, we're taking away from the glory of Jesus Christ. We're robbing Him of that glory, because He's put His name on us. He gave us everything, including our salvation and eternal life. We turn around and we spit on it. We spit on that salvation, on that sacrifice, when we show partiality. Now again, this is not a chuau. I have not noticed great partiality in the Austin congregation. I have congregations that need work on this, and they will have a little bit more strong language than I'm giving here. I ask you, don't get cocky about it. Examine yourself and make sure that this is not in your repertoire of thinking. 1 Corinthians 4 and 7. You know, we all do this to one degree or another. We make judgments about other people, based on outward appearance. Examine yourself. 1 Corinthians 4 and 7. Paul talks about a very similar topic here, making distinctions between one another. He says in 1 Corinthians 4 and 7. Who makes you differ from one another? And what do you have that you do not receive? In other words, what do you have that didn't come from God? Who do you think you are?

Continuing on. Now, if you indeed did receive it, in other words, if God gave it to you, why do you boast as if you had not received it? As though it came from your own hand. You know? Just polish those fingernails.

When we make distinctions between people based on outward appearance, we usurp Jesus Christ's authority and sovereignty. He will come to the earth in judgment. Now, James made the point that we judge when we show partiality. We judge and we say, you're worth my attention and you're not. We make a judgment and that's not your job, nor is it my job. It belongs to Jesus Christ Himself and out of His own words, John 5, verse 26 and 27.

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to do what? To execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. The Father gave judgment to Jesus Christ. And when we judge on outward appearance, we actually judge things we can't know or see. These are things that only God can see, because we're judging the worth of a person. 1 Samuel 16, verse 7. Samuel is supposed to pick a new king. Saul has failed and God has completely rejected him. And so Samuel goes and follows God's instructions and lines up the sons of Jesse. God is going to show him the next king from the sons of Jesse, and he sees the oldest and he's tall and handsome and he's a strapping guy. And he says, Surely a king is before me. And nope, it was the little runt out in the field that nobody even thought to be king. The Father didn't even call him out of the field to come line up to see who would be selected as king. He was too young, too ready. He wouldn't be the king. God's criticism in 1 Samuel 16, verse 7. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance nor at his physical stature. Talking about the older brother. Because I have refused him, for the Lord does not see as a man sees.

Oh, we're not even qualified to judge. For a man looks at the outward appearance. How much money do you make? How much status do you have? What ethnic background are you? Right? That's how we judge people. But the Lord looks at the heart. You and I don't even have the ability to look at the heart. You know what bugs me when people say, Oh, he's got a good heart. Oh, you have a good heart. You're a servant's heart. How do you know? How do you know? Jeremiah 17, verse 9 describes the heart. Yes, that was a Tim Hawkins joke. Jeremiah 17, 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

We don't know their heart. We know what they put on when they come to church and bow or curtsy and say, How was your week? Oh, fine. How was your week? Oh, it was a good week. Such and such happened. Or, you know, how do you know their heart? You don't! You have nothing to judge by. God does. Right?

Who are we to make distinctions between ourselves? We become judges with evil, in other words, self-serving hearts. That's why we do it. When we make distinctions with other people, we're serving ourselves. And we're not loving our neighbor. We're being very selfish. And selfishness is the opposite of God's loving character. Love your neighbor as yourself. So when we group together with either the haves or the have-nots, you know, I find it amazing that some people identify with the have-nots, and they judge those who have. Right? Ugh! Who do those people think they are with education and money? We're so much better than them. Why? You're still judging on outward appearance. Right? You're still being selfish. It works both ways. No matter what station you are in life, you will group with kind those people who are like you and judge everybody else. Ugh! At least I'm not like that guy. All those pretty clothes and perfume. Smells like a flower when he walks through. A group that shows partiality is a group that shows no conversion. Right? They're Christian in name only. These people do not reflect the character of God, nor will they be in the kingdom of God. Yeah, I said it. Matthew 5, verse 44-46. This is how we are to be. Sermon on the Mount. Basic stuff. Matthew 5, verse 44. But I say to you, Jesus said, Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you. In other words, just because they're different from you, even if they are against you, your and my job is to love them. Why? That you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Now, Greek, in the Greek language, there is gender involved, so that word sons includes daughters.

That you may be the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes the son of God, listen to what God does. Listen to how we are supposed to be. He makes the son rise on the evil and on the good. He sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, if you love people who are like you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? You know, what I always like to say is you don't get to pick your family. You don't. You're born into it. You get what you get.

You have no choice in who you get as a family member when you're born. You're just born. Your brothers, your sisters, your parents, your grandparents, your aunts, your uncles, that weird uncle. They're all chosen for you. Oh, everybody's got one.

Likewise, you don't choose who God calls you. He chooses. So not only are we usurping the judgment of Jesus Christ, we're also telling God He made a bad choice.

When we show partiality to people, we won't hang out with people that He brought to us. We're telling God you're wrong. How can a little ant tell the Creator that He's wrong? But we do. And we do every time we show partiality.

God is very involved in who He calls. How involved is He? John 6, verse 44.

John 6, 44. No one, no one can come to Me, Jesus said, unless the Father who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up in the last day.

You didn't pick the Church. God picked you. God called you. And He called everybody else in the Church. And if you say to another person, I'm not hanging out with you, because you're a and list any one of the external criteria, then you're telling God He made a bad choice.

The next verse in James 2 exclaims that. That it's God who chooses. James 2, verse 5. Let's go back. We ended in verse 4. Let's pick it up in verse 5.

Listen, James said, my beloved brethren. He reminds us. We're family here, right? Listen, my beloved brethren, has God not chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He promised to those who love Him?

Now, it's not that you need to be poor in order to be a Christian. That was not James' point. James' point was people were despising the poor and selfishly sucking up to the rich. What an insult to God! The God who called the poor. The vast majority of people in the Church are not rich.

But that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the rich. Now, James does go on to say, use your head. Isn't it the rich people that drag you into court? Now, again, James is not criticizing wealth. What is he criticizing? The lack of compassion. The lack of love. The opposite of what we're supposed to be doing in the family of God.

You know, it's like you take out a loan and you miss a payment. And the rich banker that loans you the money, what's he going to do? He's going to come after you, he's going to sue you, and he's going to either take your stuff or throw you in jail, depending on how big the debt is. There is a lack of compassion with those who have wealth. It's the lack of compassion that James is talking about.

And his point is, God chooses who he will call. And if he chooses to call somebody who's different from you, you go, oh, thank you! Here's a new family member. I'm going to learn to love him or her, no matter how different that person is from me. And I will grow and become more like God as a result.

Because you know what? God knows what he's doing. We're mostly poor in the church. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26 through 29. We're not all poor. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 26. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world. To stay foolish? To stay ignorant? No. Why did he call the foolish things of the world? The things that the world looks down their nose at?

That's us. Why did God do that? And God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are.

Why? That no flesh should glory in His presence. God just wants to give us a reality check. He's the creator of the entire universe. He has life within Himself. You know, when He was in the burning bush talking to Moses, what did He say? Moses said, Who do I tell Him? Who sent Me? He said, Just tell Him I am that I am. I'm the one who exists. The rest of you depend on Me. I don't depend on anybody. That's what that means. I am that I am. A Jewish commentator, and I forget who it was, I should really get my quotes down before I just quote things off the cuff, nonetheless, stated that I am is related to the word Yahweh.

It's not the word Yahweh, but it's sort of the first person way to say Yahweh in Hebrew. In other words, in the burning bush, God said I am. But if we say it back to Him, we say you are. Essentially, that's what Yahweh means, is you are. And it means the self-existent one, or the eternal. We often say the eternal instead of the Lord, because it's a more accurate definition of that name, Yahweh. He is. That no flesh should glory in His presence. Here, He's the self-existent one, and we're telling Him, I don't think You made a good choice with that person You called.

Who are You? Partiality causes us to judge in place of Jesus Christ and to be unthankful to God, whom He has chosen in the body. And why? Judging on outward criteria like wealth, status, power, race, gender, oh, you know women, women are, fill in the blank, whatever your prejudice is, all men are dogs or pigs. Pick your detestable animal. Irrelevant. Right? What is that? It's glorying in the flesh. Right? It's putting trust in who and what you are instead of putting trust in God. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 10. Paul really hit the Corinthians. They were a mess.

Okay? The Corinthians were an absolute mess. So we get a lot of good lessons from them, and we can learn from it so that we don't repeat those mistakes. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 10. Now I plead with you. Paul says, I'm begging you people, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you speak the same thing. That there be no divisions among you, that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Whose judgment? God's judgment. That's how you do that. One person gets to be the judge. One person gets to make the rules, the rest of the people follow the rules, and we all get along. It's when we all set ourselves up as judge. When there's division. Don't judge people in outward appearance. As we saw in 1 Samuel, we don't know what's in people's hearts anyway. So does that mean don't judge?

You know, there's two ditches in this road. One ditches, don't judge on outward appearance. And people do that. We all do it. And the other is, well, I'm just, I'm not going to judge at all. I'm so tolerant and such a pleasant person that I don't judge anybody for anything. Brethren, you can be so open-minded that your brains fall out. There are things to judge.

There are judgments that we need to make, but they're not based on status or wealth or any other external thing. And we can't know the heart either. So we can't judge on external things that we can see, and we don't know what people's motivations are. So how do we judge anything? Based on Watts, 1 Corinthians chapter 6.

1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 1 through 11. So this is the same letter that we just read. We're just going to go a little bit further, a little deeper into the letter. He's still chewing the Corinthians out. Right? And he was just telling them not to be, not to have division with each other.

And in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 1 he says, Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints. You have a disagreement among you and you go to court and you don't take it to the elders of the church?

What? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Wait a minute. We're going to judge? We're supposed to judge? I thought we weren't supposed to judge. No, we are supposed to judge. We're simply not supposed to judge on outward appearance, nor are we to judge matters of the heart.

Reading on. And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Oh, we don't judge each other. We judge matters. We judge actions, conflicts between us. That's what we're supposed to judge.

That's an important distinction to make and to know, because people will tell you, don't judge me. Oh, you're just judging me now. Just had a conversation with Tannen Lomson. What were they saying?

There was some argument. Oh, yeah, it was on Easter. It was on keeping Easter. And there was this whole debate on Facebook, not in the church. It was in the Christian community at large. Did you know that Easter is pagan? And do you know it's common knowledge that Easter is pagan now? So if we get out there and we start preaching the gospel and say, hey, by the way, Easter is pagan, everybody would go, yeah, I know. We're barking up the wrong tree, trying to tell people it's pagan now. Everybody knows it's pagan. The argument now is, so what? Don't judge me. You're judging me. And the answer to that is, I'm not judging you. I'm warning you. God's judging you. God said, don't do it. And if God said, don't do it, I'm your brother, I'm going to warn you. Don't do it.

We are to judge matters. Verse 3, do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things that pertain to this life, conflicts between us. If you then, having judgment concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? In other words, are you really going to take your brother in court with lawyers to judge a matter of Christianity? What is wrong with you people? Paul is saying.

Verse 5, I say this to your shame. It is so that there is not wise among you, not even one who is able to judge between his brethren.

But brothers go to law against brother, and that before the unbelievers. You know, I've had the wonderful opportunity of working with lawyers. Before they asked me to join the ministry, I was a marketing consultant for lawyers. I know tons of lawyers, and I know some of them that are actually Christian. Probably less than 1%. Oh, now they're all professing Christian, per se. But, oh, the atheistic beliefs, the far left liberal ideas. You would take a matter to them between the church? Paul is saying the same. It must have been the same back then. Paul is saying, you have got to be kidding me. Are you kidding me? You're going to go to a lawyer when you're supposed to judge. Verse 7, Now therefore it is already an utter failure for you that you go to the law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? You should take the loss before embarrassing the church by going to court.

Well, he stole my rake. He never returned it. It's been three years. Buy a new rake! That's what he's saying. What's wrong with you people? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? No. You yourselves do wrong and cheat. And you do these things to your brethren. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, Paul says. Neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. There's very specific there. What things are we to judge? What things do we make decisions on? Well, things that pertain to this life. Whether or not a matter is righteous or unrighteous. That is what we are supposed to judge. Whether or not someone is wealthy, poor of a different race or ethnic background, different customs, different styles of living is irrelevant. God chooses who we will choose. And Jesus Christ is our judge. You know, in the future, you and I are actually going to assist in the actual judging of people's hearts. We need to learn to make righteous judgments now. There's two ditches on this road. One of them is judging on outward appearance and the other is not judging at all. Matthew 19, verse 28. You know what? We don't have time to go through too much of that. Just read it. Matthew 9, chapter 28, Revelation 3, verse 21. That's Revelation 3, verse 21. And Malachi 4, verses 2 and 3. Malachi 4, verses 2 and 3. It talks about how we will judge people in the future. But I'm short on time and have to run back to San Antonio for their men's club and women's club. And it is South by Southwest. Traffic is not going to give me an easy way to go. I need to cut this a little shorter. Because I'm so wordy. I should have already been done by now. How will we judge? Specifically, according to the Word of God, how will we judge? Well, God set it up from the very beginning how we're supposed to judge. Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 15. Now, anytime we go back to the first five books of the Bible, we're talking about the basics. We're talking about the fundamental beginning of religion. We're not talking about advanced, you know, non-concrete abstract concepts here. We're talking about concrete, fundamental principles. Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 15. You shall do no injustice in judgment. None! You are not supposed to show any partiality when judging a matter between your brethren. Reading on. You shall not be partial to the poor. Oh, we'll let it go because he's poor. Nonsense! The law of God applies to every human being, and external factors have no play in it at all. Well, they're poor. Well, they're rich. We wouldn't want to go against them because we might lose their money. Nonsense! The law of God applies no matter what the external criteria may be. Nor honor a person of the mighty, it says. So you shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty.

In righteousness, you shall judge your neighbor. Basic fundamental principles using the law of God as our standard. We judge matters of righteousness, not people, not status, not wealth, not race. But whether or not a matter is right or wrong before God, that's what we are to judge.

And you know what? When we do that judgment, we should not be quick to judge, and we should not be harsh. God is so, so patient with you. How many of you, let's see a showing of hands, how many of you in the past month have been struck by lightning? No? Me either. You know why? Because God is incredibly patient. How many of you, and I don't want to see a show of hands, deserve to have been struck by lightning in the past couple of months? I will keep my hands down too, even though they want to fly up in the air. You're still alive. You know, you should leave your brothers and sisters alive too. That's the point I'm trying to make. Judgment is not to destroy other people, but rather to help them.

It's not for making distinctions between people, and it's not for separating us, but rather to help people make it into the kingdom of God. That's the purpose for keeping judgment. That's why we don't lose our minds and say, well, I won't judge anything right or wrong. Well, that's very selfish also. That's very self-protecting.

You can draw up in a little cocoon and say, well, I'm not going to judge anybody, and you're not taking any risks of being judged yourself when you do that, but you're also helping nobody, and you were called to help other people. So making judgments is not the same thing as condemnation. Condemnation belongs to God. Making a judgment whether a matter is right or wrong is actually supposed to be done to help other people. We need to be more like God. God is ready to forgive, ready to yield, and quick to show mercy. Now, let's go back to James 2, but we're going to drop down to verse 12.

So speak and so do. James 2, verse 12. 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. When we judge matters of right and wrong, it's in order to restore relationships back together. That's our motivation.

That's why it's so important not to lose your mind and say, I don't judge anything, so that we can show mercy, and there is a certain amount of risk involved. Partiality leads to a double standard, and it causes great division in the church. I have literally seen it in my lifetime. The double standard, where the rich are accepted in the getaway with sin, and the poor are unacceptable and judged harshly without mercy.

Oh, that person's always asking for help, who I detest hearing that statement.

From people who need help, make that statement. They might need help in one area, but you're blind to the fact that you need help in another area.

We show partiality. Stop judging.

Deuteronomy 16, verses 18 and 19. Don't judge according to outward appearance, and don't judge the heart.

Deuteronomy 16, 18-19. You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates. It is important to have standards.

And people who are around to say, no, you can't do that. There's a standard.

So God, from the very beginning, said, appoint judges.

You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates, which the Lord your God gives you according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

But you shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. There's no distinction between people.

The only thing we use to judge by is the law of God. That's it.

Nor take a bribe for a bribe, blinds the eyes of the wise, and twists the words of the righteous.

You know what? That word bribe covers a lot. It's not just money. Because in the church we don't really have a money relationship, do we?

No, we don't. But what is the currency in the church? Oh, it's status. Isn't it? Well, I have this job in the church. Who are you?

That's our currency in the church. It shouldn't be, but it is. Right?

And so we deal in status. And so how would you give a bribe with that kind of currency?

Well, by sucking up and not loving, but trying to promote yourself. That's how we do it.

And you know what? That creates a literally a toxic environment. Now, this congregation doesn't do that.

So again, remember, I'm not chewing you out. I'm just explaining. But I have literally seen a toxic environment where people start competing with each other to get close to the people who are in charge.

And mistreat and disregard everybody else. And then you have the loveables and the unloveables, which is the same as the haves and the have-nots.

Oh, we do it in the church. Yes, we do. And we ought not to. Such things should not be heard in the house of God.

We are to judge righteously the actions of others, making no distinction for their station in life.

Love is to be the overriding principle when we're making such judgments.

I want to end with Colossians chapter 3, starting in verse 10, and then we'll go to Colossians chapter 3 verses 10 through 14.

Colossians 3, 10 through 14.

And have put on the new man who has renewed in the knowledge according to the image of him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew.

There's no such thing as have or have not in the church. Circumcised or uncircumcised?

Oh, we've got the polished Christians and the not so polished Christians. The halfway Christians. Not in the house of God.

Barbarian, Scythian, slave or free? Literally the have and the have not.

But Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, Paul says, hey, wake up, you are special. You are very special people.

As the elect of God, holy and beloved. You are so special. God loves us. Put on tender mercies.

Kindness, humility, meekness or teachability, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

That is the ultimate goal of Christian activity. The reason why we come.

So I ask, why would we bother coming to church if we are going to hang out with some and disregard others?

What a waste of time! It is a beautiful day. You could be golfing.

Don't waste your time by coming to the house of God and show partiality to people.

Show love, the love of God among us. Let us be unified, be one. No partiality, which means there is no distinction between us.

Just righteous judgment according to the laws of God. Oh, there will be conflict. Oh, be realistic.

Whenever two people get in the room, there are three opinions. There is going to be conflict. That's okay. We use righteous judgment in order to restore relationships with each other, which leads us to love one another.

So partiality has no place among us. It is unacceptable in the house of God.