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Introduction:

Scripture: James 2:1-13

Key verse: 2:1, My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Lordof glory, with partiality

Topic: Prejudice

Outline: Faith is Respectful of Others

1) The Warning against Prejudice (2:1-4)a) The injunction (2:1)b) The illustration (2:2,3)c)

The instruction (2:4)

2) The Witness against Prejudice (James 2:5-8)a) Gods character (2:5-7)b) Gods command (2:8)

3) The Wrath against Prejudice (2:9-13)The Famous blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise

PBS Link

Jane Elliott changed her lesson plan on the morning after Martin Luther King Jr.

was killed. Whether she planned the exercise previous to April 5, 1968 or not, on

that day she implemented the exercise (also called an experiment) for the first

time. Steven Armstrong was the first child to arrive to Elliotts classroom on that

day, asking why "a King" (referring to Martin Luther King Jr.) was murdered the

day before. After the rest of the class arrived, Elliott asked them what others said

about Negros. The children responded with various racial stereotypes such as

Negros were dumb or could not hold jobs. She then asked these children if theywould like to find out what it was like to be a Negro child and they agreed.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/

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On that day, a Tuesday, she decided to make the blue-eyed children the superior

first, giving them extra privileges like second helpings at lunch, access to the new

jungle gym and five minutes extra at recess.She would not allow blue-eyed and

brown-eyed children to drink from the same water fountain.She would offer

them praise for being hard-working and intelligent. The brownies on the other

hand, would be disparaged. She even made the brown-eyed children wear

ribbons around their neck.

At first, there was resistance to the idea that brown-eyed children were not the

equals of blue-eyed children. To counter this, she used a pseudo-scientific

explanation for her actions by stating that the melanin responsible for making

blue-eyed children also was linked to intelligence and ability, therefore the

brownies pigmentation would result in lack of these qualities. Shortly

thereafter, this initial resistance fell away. Those who were deemed superior

became arrogant, bossy and otherwise unpleasant to their inferior classmates.

Their grades also improved, doing mathematical and reading tasks that seemed

outside their ability before. The inferior classmates also transformed into

timid and subservient children, including those who had previously been

dominant in the class. These childrens academic performance suffered, even with

tasks that had been simple before.

Detail:

1) The Warning against Prejudice (2:1-4)a) Text: My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord

of glory, with partiality.2

For if there should come into your assembly a

man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor

man in filthy clothes,3

and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine

clothes and say to him, You sit here in a good place, and say to the poor

man, You stand there, or, Sit here at my footstool,4

have you not

shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil

thoughts?

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b) The injunction (2:1) (anyone a member of a club?)ESV

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the

Lord of glory.

NASB

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an

attitude of personal favoritism.

NIV My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism

i) Addressed to Brethren! (also eg 1:19; 2:5; 2:14)ii) Note the appellations of our Savior:

(1)The Lord(2)The anointed (the Messiah)(3)The Lord of glory! (think of the transfigured Lord, or the resurrected

Lord, or Christ in the heavenlies!)(4)This is the faith we hold!(5)It is not our club it is His family!

iii)The verb: 2ndperson plural present active imperative: do not holdiv)respect of persons / partiality = . Also

(1)Romans 2:11, For there is no partiality with God(2)Ephesians 6:9, And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving

up threatening, knowing that your own Master alsois in heaven, and

there is no partiality with Him.

(3)Colossians 3:25, But he who does wrong will be repaid for what hehas done, and there is no partiality

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c) The illustration (2:2,3)i) Comments on Greek and English translations:

(1)gold rings = / hapax legomenon / gold ringed,adorned with gold rings

The clothing

ESV fine clothing

NASB fine clothes

KJV goodly apparel gay clothing

NKJV fine apparel fine clothes

(2)The clothing:(a)fine = . Also(b)Luke 23:11, Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with

contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and

sent Him back to Pilate

(c)Acts 10:30, So Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting untilthis hour; and at the ninth hour

I prayed in my house, and behold,

a man stood before me in bright clothing

ii) How had they shown partiality?(1)Racism was a deep seated issue among Jews of that culture. Example

Samaritan woman in John 4!

(2)Deference to the wealthy(3)Distain towards the poor

iii)In what other ways could respect of persons be shown?(1)Race(2)Nationality(3)Education

d)

The instruction (2:4)i) By showing partiality they have become judges with evil thoughts

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2) The Witness against Prejudice (James 2:5-8)a) Text: Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this

world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to

those who love Him?6

But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the

rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme

that noble name by which you are called?8

If you really fulfill the royal law

according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself,you

do well;

b) Gods character (2:5-7)i) Consider that God made man in his own image!

(1)Considering race categorization its recent(2)

The word "race", along with many of the ideas now associated withthe term, were first coined during the age of exploration, a time of

European imperialism, exploration

(3)Consider that the English used to regard the Irish as inferior! (Bothwhite)

(4)There is a recent NYTimes article entitledWhos White? (review ofbook The History of White People

(a)Some ancient descriptions did note color, as when the ancientGreeks recognized that their barbaric northern neighbors,Scythians and Celts, had lighter skin than Greeks considered

normal. Most ancient peoples defined population differences

culturally, not physically, and often regarded lighter people as less

civilized. Centuries later, European travel writers regarded the

light-skinned Circassians, a k a Caucasians, as people best fit only

for slavery

(5)Answers in Genesis has a very helpful book calledOne Blood: TheBiblical Answer to Racism

(6)Acts 16:26, And He has made from one blood every nation of mento dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their

preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/books/review/Gordon-t.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/books/review/Gordon-t.htmlhttp://www.amazon.com/One-Blood-Biblical-Answer-Racism/dp/0890512760http://www.amazon.com/One-Blood-Biblical-Answer-Racism/dp/0890512760http://www.amazon.com/One-Blood-Biblical-Answer-Racism/dp/0890512760http://www.amazon.com/One-Blood-Biblical-Answer-Racism/dp/0890512760http://www.amazon.com/One-Blood-Biblical-Answer-Racism/dp/0890512760http://www.amazon.com/One-Blood-Biblical-Answer-Racism/dp/0890512760http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/books/review/Gordon-t.html

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ii) The poorHas God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faithand heirs of the kingdom

(1)Discuss: Whats so special about being poor?(2)Think of poor nations (like Haiti) or poor people you may know(3)They have to be rich in faith because they have nothing else!

iii)The danger of wealth:(1)1 Tim 6:9, those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a

snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in

destruction and perdition

(2)1 Tim 6:17, Command those who are rich in this present age not tobe haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who

gives us richly all things to enjoy(3)Matthew 13:22, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of

riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful

(4)Luke 12:21, the danger of lay*ing+ up treasure for himself, and is notrich toward God

(5)Hebrews 13:5, Let yourconduct be without covetousness; becontent with such things as you have.

c) Gods command (2:8)i) The Royal law: If you really fulfill the royal law according to the

Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself,

ii) Quote from Leviticus 19:18

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3) The Wrath against Prejudice (2:9-13)a) Text: but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the

law as transgressors.10

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet

stumble in onepoint, he is guilty of all.11

For He who said, Do not commit

adultery,also said, Do not murder.Now if you do not commit adultery,

but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.12

So speak

and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.13

For judgment

is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over

judgment.

b) Explicitly: if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by thelaw as transgressors (9)

i)

A sin that violates Gods character!ii) And His commands!

c) Like adultery and murder!i) Adultery violates the covenant of marriage and dishonors the spouse!ii) Murder destroys the image of God as born by a personMurder takes

away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have (Western)

iii)These are regarded as big sins in our circles and yet often times thereis tolerance for sin of partiality

iv)Here James puts the sin of partiality in the same category as adulteryand murder!

d) Law of Liberty (Cf James 1:25, But he who looks into the perfect law ofliberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the

work, this one will be blessed in what he does)

i) Our relationship with Christ is not a lawless existence!ii) Our relationship with Christ brings tremendous liberty (Galatians 5:1,13)iii)But also accountability will give an account before the Lord of Glory!

e) RBP comments:i) The scars of racism are evident in Bible-believing churches todayii) Churches have also shown favoritism to the upper middle class while

ignoring the plight of the homeless, the abused, the downcast, the

needy