James doesn't stop with simply explaining why prejudice or favoritism is wrong.He moves on to give an illustration of what it looks like in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 2.He writes, “For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool…’”Picture this scene in your minds.The church has gathered together. They’ve come to worship. And in enters a man who is obviously very wealthy. You know he’s wealthy because he is wearing gold rings. Literally James calls him a gold-fingered man. So don’t think wedding ring, think Mr. T. A man whose hands are just loaded with rings. And the reason he is wearing so many rings is to let you know that he is rich. The gold ring was a status symbol in James’ day. Kind of like driving to church in a Mercedes Benz. Somebody has a Mercedes Benz you know they are pretty wealthy. Somebody walks in with gold rings all over his fingers you know he’s got some cash. It’s funny, sometimes people lease expensive cars to look like they are wealthier than they really are; and that even happened in James’ day, you could rent these gold rings to look like you were wealthier than you really were. Things haven’t changed all that much.But he’s not only wearing gold rings, he’s also got fine clothes. This boy’s got some duds on. If you look at this phrase in your Bibles you’ll probably see a little 2 right by it, and you check down in the footnote and you see that this word fine literally means bright. He’s wearing literally a shiny garment. This guy is just emanating wealth. Brightly dyed clothes were very expensive so you can imagine that he’s wearing the Armani suit, the brightly polished shoes, one look at him and you know, boy’s got bank! He looks like he just walked off the cover of GQ.Immediately after he makes his entrance, a poor man shuffles in. He’s wearing dirty clothes. You smell him before you see him. Picture the typical homeless person, his clothes are all mismatched, he’s got holes in his outfits, he’s got dirt under his fingernails, he hasn’t shaved in weeks, he doesn’t look like he’s taking a shower in a few days. O.k., maybe years.So how do they respond?James says ‘you pay special attention to the one who is wearing fine clothes…’ You know who catches your eye. You are sitting there getting ready for worship and immediately your face is lifted. I mean here you are a refugee living in a foreign land, you’ve got no real connections, you are suffering, and in walks your ticket out. You’ve got to make sure that man feels comfortable, that he has a good time, you need him to come back. He’s got so much to offer the church. Imagine if he just started to tithe!In the synagogues of that day, there were only a few benches to sit on. There were a couple up front and then probably some that were scattered around the outside walls. Most people were standing. But you know what to do. This guy needs the good seat, he needs to be able to hear what’s going on. So you say to him, “You sit here in a good place…”Now there’s nothing wrong with giving a good seat to someone. The problem is why they did it. You find out their motives real quickly, look how they treated the poor man. “and you say to the poor man, ‘you stand over there, or sit down by my footstool…” You can just hear the brusqueness in their voice. “You, yeah, you over there, or you know what even better, here’s my footstool, yeah, what I put my feet on, why don’t you sit under that.” The NASB reads by, but the preposition literally means under. Could you hide yourself? Could you try to stay out of the way as much as possible? I mean it’s kind of distracting, it’s embarrassing, the smell and all.That’s favoritism. That’s what it looks like. Making decisions about people on the basis of external factors alone.Now try to put yourself in the place of the people who originally received this letter. Can’t you hear the excuses the people in the church might give? This seems like such a minor issue. We’re just looking out for the good of the church. Nobody is going to be attracted to the gospel because of that poor man, but if we can just get that rich person to attend, then think of all the people we can help.And perhaps you are looking at these verses and you are thinking, what’s the big deal here, why you getting all worked up James?But what James is pointing out is: although you think this is a minor issue in reality it is a major issue, because that action - showing favoritism - flows out of a much deeper and more significant problem, a problem in your heart. It’s not just a what you do problem, it’s a why you do it.Favoritism reveals something about you.This is what you have done, James explains, when you show favoritism you have made distinctions among yourselves and you have become judges with evil motives.That word distinctions? It’s the same term used back in chapter 1 to mean ‘facing both ways.’ When you show favoritism as a believer you are facing both ways, you are professing your commitment to to Christ, but in reality you are actually committed to the world’s values. You are thinking like the world thinks, and valuing what the world values. As Joseph Mayor explains, when you show favoritism, “you are divided…? You have made distinctions among yourselves. You have not a single eye, but you are influenced by worldly considerations. You look to the world and not Christ only.”You ask many worldly people about this passage, and they say this makes sense. It only makes sense to show some special consideration to the rich person, because the rich person is going to be able to do something for you that the poor person cannot. But the point here is that we are not non-Christians. We live our life by a totally different set of principles. We’re believers, and that changes everything.God is impartial and He wants His people to be. The way Christians and the world evaluate people ought to be drastically different. Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:17, “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty and the awesome God, who does not show partiality or take a bribe.” Jehoshaphat explained to the judges of Israel, “Now then let the fear of the Lord be upon you, be very careful what you do, for the Lord your God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.” (2 Chronicles 19:7) Since God is impartial we ought to be. Leviticus 19:15 lays it down, “…you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” God’s people are to be radically different than the world around them in the way they treat others. We as a church should stand out as completely different than the world, we should be a unique place, a haven, where there is no partiality.God’s perspective on the rich and poor is completely different than the world’s. Because what does God’s wisdom say about the poor man and about the rich man? 2:8, “Love your neighbor as yourself…” Love them both sacrificially regardless of what they can do for you. When you show your contempt for the poor, you are showing contempt for God. Because God tells us back in 1:27 that pure and undefiled religion is this to visit orphans and widows in their distress. God is concerned about the poor. True faith and favoritism do not mix.Favoritism reveals that you’re trying to live for both worlds, this one and the one to come. And what’s Jesus say about that? No man can serve two masters. Either he’ll love the one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other. When you make judgments about people based solely on external factors, you are proving you are not concerned about what God is concerned about, and the world’s wisdom is really what is dominating your behavior. You are serving the wrong master.And James says when you do that, ‘you become judges with evil motives.’ Favoritism is listening to the world’s wisdom, but it’s also sheer unabashed pride. Because when you show favoritism you are setting yourself up in God’s place as a judge. The Bible says there is only one Lawgiver and judge, but when you are partial, when you make decisions about people based on external factors alone, you are saying, I am judge. I get to make the call here, who deserves kindness and who does not.And you are not just a judge, James says you are a judge with evil motives. That word for evil is the strongest word James could have chosen. Your motives are not just wrong, or even evil, your motives are actively wicked. You are being motivated by the same things that motivate the world.Now stop here because I know some of you may be thinking I don’t have a problem with favoritism to the rich.But really, think about this, what is at the root of this kind of favoritism? Why show favoritism to the rich? It is because you are looking to that person for what you can get out of them. I will be kind to the rich person because he can give me something. But I will treat the poor person with disdain because he’s got nothing for me.That’s why this verse is so convicting.You look at it at first and you think what’s this got to do with me, I don’t really care about a person’s money but really the problem is deeper than that, and it’s a problem we all struggle with: When you respond to people on the basis of what they can do for you, you are being motivated by worldly values. This is not about respect, this is not about friendship, this is about what’s in it for me? That’s how the world makes evaluations about people. And that’s evil.To live as the world lives is not just unwise or a poor decision, it’s wicked. We’re so in to minimizing our sins and our actions. C’mon it’s not that big of deal. James you are going overboard. What’s so wrong with looking out for yourself? It’s not that bad.Don’t fool yourself about sin. Don’t fool yourself about worldliness. Don’t rationalize your sin, don’t try to put a spin on why you are preferring the rich over the poor, your motivation is absolutely evil. God says when you think about life from a selfish perspective, when you make an idol out of this world and what it has to offer, and when you become proud and think you have the right to make these judgments, that’s not just a mistake, that’s not just a minor little problem, that’s not just a faux paus, that is not just inconsiderate, that is evil. That’s evil. Faith and favoritism do not mix.We are involved in a battle. And one of the enemies we fight is the world. We must resist its influence. Just because we are a church, just because we have gathered together, just because we say our faith is in the Lord Jesus doesn’t mean we automatically are not going to be affected by the world’s values.Here James is writing to a group of professing Christians and he says you are doing this and this is wrong, you have evil motives. You are coming to church, you are listening to sermons, but your heart is wrong, and your motives are evil.That means as individuals and a church we have to do some serious self-evaluation. We can’t just assume that because we wear our suits and dresses and look nice on Sunday that we are thinking about things the way God does. One test, are we allowing the world's standards of what is important to impact how the way we relate to people?