Who Get's the Best Seat in Church? | Dealing with Partiality in Church

It’s true; social status has certain advantages. Because a person has more than others, he or she may regularly experience preferential treatment in the world. An influential politician enters a restaurant and is immediately recognized and escorted to the best seat in the house. A wealthy attorney is given tickets to box seats at the home-field on the fifty years line. The successful businesswoman is given privileged information concerning a property deal that will bring her much profit when she resales. Unfortunately, there is a flip side to this treatment. The humble factory worker is told to sit in the corner of the restaurant, or worse, is turned away with nothing but a flimsy excuse for his stomach. The weathered farmer must pay top dollar for legal services from an attorney. And the single mom can’t get a realtor to call her back because her housing budget is too meager to bring any profit. Such things and much more are common in the everyday world where everyone is competing for an edge up to make their lives a little better. And, to an extent, we might understand why things are this way. We might excuse it on the grounds of a large number of people with needs competing with each other for the comparatively fewer resources and opportunities out there. Then, we might also acknowledge that some people are sly enough that they see partiality as the road to progress and success. Sayings like, “It doesn’t matter what you know, but who you know;” seem to suggest a measure of reality to the way the world works. In fact, there is a place for respecting authorities and building a network of trusted contacts and friends. But, ultimately, all such partiality is only necessary because we live and move in a fallen world where sin has darkened every kind of relationship. Because this is the case, the gospel of Christ transformed this dynamic through the power of God’s grace. James challenges us in this section to manifest this transformed life. Within the covenant community where the power of the gospel is on display, there is no place for partiality due to social and worldly status.