“But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors” (James 2:9). Partiality is a sin. The Bible is clear on the subject, but…what is partiality? What does it look like, and if we struggle with it, how do we overcome it?
Partiality is the attitude of unfair preference or approval towards someone. In James 2:1, some versions of the Bible will even use the phrase “personal favoritism” to describe this attitude of partiality (NASB 95). At the beginning of chapter 2, James would give us an illustration to show what personal favoritism looks like. In James 2:2-3, two men walk into an assembly. The first man is rich and the other is poor. One is dressed in expensive jewelry and fine clothes while the other is in dirty clothes. The brethren greet the rich man with a place of honor, but the poor man is given the footstool. According to James, this judgement based on appearance and pocketbook is unfair preference, making these brethren “judges with evil motives…” (James 2:4).
With this in mind, we must ask ourselves, “Do I show partiality? If so, in what way?” Is it appearance, personality-type, position, age, or race? The list could go on. If your answer is yes, think about James’ words in James 2:1: “My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.” Paul would say it this way in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the eyes of Christ, there is no unfair preference or approval toward certain individuals. There should not be in our eyes either.
How do we overcome partiality? The answer to this question might be the easiest to give, but the hardest to live. In James 2:8, quoting the words of Jesus and the writer of Leviticus, he said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39). Brethren, demonstrating an attitude of unfair preference or approval towards someone is a sin. If we want to overcome this problem, we must think of others and love them with the same quality of love we desire from others. May we treat each other with such love and impartiality.
-Bryce Mayfield