Lets get right to it!
Read the Text
James 2:1-13 NLT
James 2:1 (NLT)
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
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James jumps right in on his next point! Favoritism
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Faith and favoritism are as different as night and day
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Partiality, that is, judging someone instead of looking at the heart, is directly contrary to the character of God.
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To have faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, means following the example of Jesus who brought good news to the poor. It means imitating the character of a glorious, impartial, generous God!
The impartial and just nature of God is a leading theme of the New Testament.
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Peter tells Cornelius that God does not show favoritism but accepts those who fear him from every nation (Acts 10:34–35)
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Paul agrees that salvation is for Jew and Gentile, since “God does not show favoritism”(Romans 2:11)
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Masters are to treat their slaves well because they have a Master in heaven who shows no favoritism (Ephesians 6:9)
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Slaves who do wrong will be punished by the Lord Christ, without favoritism(Colossians 3:25)
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Even when the enemies of Jesus seek to trap him, they have to admit he is impartial, literally, that he does not “see people’s faces” (Mark 12:14)
Jesus demonstrates that there is no room in faith for favoritism! We must work hard to treat all people equal. Let me make this perfectly clear, we are talking about corporate worship and family fellowship.
We will have close friends that we do life with, that trust is given to over time, Jesus had a enter circle. But when we are all together or we have a setting of open worship and teaching we cannot show partiality because of what you can do for the church or for any other reason! James is talking about class distinction among the church.
James 2:2–3 (NIV)
2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”
What Favoritism is and is not!
Quote: “Christians do not choose their brothers because they are rich, powerful, or good looking. All are chosen by grace to be children of God. That is what makes them brothers. If the relationship is made by God, the brothers must not break it through partiality and prejudice.
What favoritism is not
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We don’t hang out with all of our family all the time!
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Jesus had his close inter circle
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John was Jesus favorite (John 20:2)
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But he didn’t make decisions based on who he liked more
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Trust is built over time, and we take it quickly
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We have to have to have boundaries
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We don’t have to invite everyone to everything
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Certain groups are gender specific
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Certain groups are age specific
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Certain groups are for creation kids of situations (single, divorced, married, ect…)
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And if you are inviting your close friends, we can.
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The world has no boundaries!!
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People think we should be everything to everyone
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We are not all going to be best fiends!!
What Favoritism is
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Excluding people from corporate activates for any reason
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Worship
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Fellowship
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Small groups
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Bible studies
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Talking about a fellow brother or sister badly
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Not asking “certain” people to functions of the church
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Use an example!
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Showing favorites because of what they can do for you or the church
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Giving people any special treatment
We of all people should know how wrong this is! We are here because “traditional church” would never let us fully in. they would treat us like outsiders! We have all been treated this way and Jesus would never stand for it! Jesus loves you sin, filth and all! So we should love our brother the same way
Quote: As a Jew, James thoroughly understood the motivations and attitudes of exclusion. Perhaps nothing was as much of a stumbling block to Jews coming to Christ as was the knowledge that to do so was to embrace the Gentiles as well. And yet, despite such overwhelming psychological and sociological barriers, this is precisely the point where the early church made its decisive break with Judaism.
James 2:4 (NIV)
4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Showing favorites is a huge hindrance to the spreading of the Gospel!
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The early Church knew it! (The Jerusalem Counsel)
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God makes no distinction between us
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We have to follow gods example
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John 13:34 is our motto!
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And 15 years ago the men that started Cowboy Churches knew it!
From the CC training book
Non-judgmental Approach
Matthew 9:12–13 (NIV)
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
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Accept but don’t compromise!
“Non-judgmental approach – The church will foster a non judgmental atmosphere in all it does, accepting people just as they are, just as Christ himself does.”
Elimination of Barriers to the Cowboy Culture
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Muddy boots, spit-tunes, & hats...
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Altar Calls and offering plates...
Matthew 19:14 "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as these."
“Elimination of barriers to the cowboy culture – The church will do all that it can to lower or eliminate the barriers preventing the Gospel of Jesus Christ from reaching the western culture.”
Practice of Biblical Christianity
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Kingdom Minded –Eternal value.
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Matthew 18:15-17.
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God hates dissention in the church – body of believers...
“Practice of Biblical Christianity – The church will practice biblical Christianity according to Matthew 18: 15-17. This will be practiced by the leadership and the congregation.”
James 2:5–7 (NLT)
5 Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?6 But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name* you bear?
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Why beat up on the rich??
Matthew 19:23–26 (NLT)
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 24 I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
25 The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.
26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
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The point Jesus was making was that money, and possession’s easily become a barrier to the sense of dependence upon God, and dependence upon God is absolutely necessary to enter the Kingdom.
Close
James 2:8–13 (NLT)
8 Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”* 9 But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.
10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. 11 For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.”* So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law.
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