Impartial Faith

We live in a very partial world. We have favorite foods, favorite restaurants, favorite sports teams, and favorite music. But what when we show favoritism toward people? What if our favoritism is based on wealth, race, appearance, or status? In James 2:1–13, James shows us that this kind of favoritism is not just inappropriate, it’s a serious sin. As followers of Jesus, we are called to reject the partiality so common in the world and to extend impartial love to all people equally. True faith, James teaches, doesn’t only love the lovable, it loves everyone with the same grace we’ve received. This kind of radical, impartial love is a core expression of obedience to God’s Word, the “royal law” to love our neighbor as ourselves. Real faith shows real love to real people.