The Folly Of Favoritism – B

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Today on Real Life Radio.

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As Christians, when you and I go out into the community, are we in such a way, are we holding the faith of Christ with the heart to evangelize the world? Or are we holding our faith as Christians to associate with a certain group? We need to judge our hearts, ourselves. We need to be careful because we’ll ruin what God wants to do through us.

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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. Looking for real answers in real time? JackHibbs.com is your go-to destination for resources on faith, world events, and everything in between. Explore Happening Now, where Pastor Jack Hibbs takes a timely, no-nonsense look at today’s biggest issues, blending biblical insight with the latest headlines. Now, whether you’re curious about the world around you or you want guidance on a personal level, Pastor Jack has you covered. And by the way, don’t miss the Real Life Network. It’s packed with relatable, family-friendly content that really speaks to everyday challenges and triumphs, offering something really valuable for every member of your family. Now, if you’re new to the faith, you want to refresh your perspective, start with that tab that says Know God, an accessible, welcoming space to learn and reflect and find your footing. Now, whatever your path, jackhibbs.com has the tools and the insights and the encouragement that you need. Tune in, log on, find something real. Once again, the website jackhibbs.com. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues his series called The Book of James with a message titled The Folly of Favoritism. Now, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, James was a letter that was sent to those Jews who chose to follow Christ. And as new believers, James wanted them to know the dangers of favoritism. you see in christianity there is a great danger in showing favor to the wealthy and they’re not to be shown any sort of preference because of their money while the poor are shown less respect simply because they lack wealth so today pastor jack teaches us that partiality damages the cause of christ We often rush to judgment based on appearances. When we meet those who appear to be wealthy, we gravitate towards them in hopes of benefiting from their riches. Now, in his message called The Folly of Favoritism, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.

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I remember walking into Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in June of 1977. I didn’t go there for the right motive, I’ll tell you that. I walked in there with the wrong motive. I didn’t even know it was a church. They didn’t have a cross out there. What’s a dove anyway? It’s like some, you know, bird farm or what was this thing? I didn’t know what it was. I’ve never known. Walked in there, sat down. Oh man, there’s like 3,000 young people. My, this is cool. And I got to tell you, I drove my car up there and I was making a lot of money and I’m thinking, you know, well, this is great. People have Bibles. That’s kind of weird. No, well, anyway. And I was doing great monetarily. I was young. I had money. Things were happening. And hey, I had the world by the tail, I thought, until Greg Laurie got done with that message that night, and I found out the world had a bite of my tail is what was going on. And the fact of the matter was, when he got done preaching a message that night on Revelation chapter 20, verse 11, which is about hell, I got saved at the end. I knew I was in trouble. Greg Laurie said, if you’re doing this, doing this, doing that, and doing the other, you’re not going to make it. And I said, aye, aye, aye. And I got up and I went forward. And I got to tell you, when I first sat down, I’m thinking, this guy playing the piano, why doesn’t he get a haircut? And then from my seat, I could tell that he had no shoes on. And in fact… In this one song that he was singing, you put this love in my heart, he drug his toes across the keyboard. He had an Afro out to here. And I thought, this is a sick guy. And then when he got done, this guy comes out and they, welcome Pastor Greg. Pastor Greg? What am I in here? This guy comes out with hirachi sandals on. I don’t know if I’m saying that right, hirachi, or however you guys say it, I don’t know. But he had sandals on. And he had a hang ten shirt on with the big feet. Remember when I said hang ten? And he had long hair and a big full man shoe. And he went down like this. That was Greg Lurie. And he was a hippie. And I’m thinking, this place is nuts. And Greg Laurie goes, let’s give Keith Green a wonderful welcome here. You know, that was the guy, Keith Green. Everyone goes, oh, you know, this is nuts. I got to tell you, if I would have known in advance there would be this Afro bearded maniac playing on the keyboards and a hippie giving a message from the Bible, I wouldn’t have gone in there. Because my concept of church was stained glass, steeple, robes, sleeping, boredom. And I was terribly convicted, but guess what? I was there on Thursday night. I was there Saturday night. I was hooked. Because it wasn’t the focus of the things, it was the focus of Jesus. He was the issue. He was the glory. In James 2, 1, the Bible tells us here in the original that we are not to hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory. with partiality. Jesus is the glory. It is him. He is the one. He’s the bread of life. He’s the light of the world. He is the living water. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. He is the glory. Colossians 1, verse 27 tells us that it is Jesus who is the glory. Hebrews 1, verses 1 through 4 tells us that Jesus is the expressed image of God, his glory. The glory is Jesus. You see, partiality undermines and robs God of his glory. Partiality is dangerous. It doesn’t only undermine the faith, it steals and robs the glory from Christ. Well, how does that happen? Because if you and I have someone as an idol, on the throne of your heart. Well, I don’t have an idol but God. Well, let me clarify it this way. Who do you think about the most? That’s your idol. That’s the definition of an idol. Whatever occupies your attention. If it’s not Jesus, it’s an idol. Whoever’s on the throne is our God. And when we give someone, because of partiality, attention, worship almost. I mean, it’s like they’re up there. We’ve knocked Jesus down. We’ve put them up, enshrined them, and we pay them the attention. We’ll come to this more clearly in a moment, but the fact is it’s dangerous. It’ll destroy a church if somebody idolizes somebody in the fellowship. If the pastor is being envied by people or idolized by people, that’s why it’s very, very dangerous for a minister or an evangelist or somebody who’s in the public eye. I think it’s very, very dangerous for them to be driving vehicles that are outside the realm of the congregation or to be wearing clothes outside of the realm of the congregation. I got to be honest with you. If you come over to my house, and this is not to puff me up at all, You see what I’m wearing? This is dressed up for me. I spent 12 years wearing a tie, and I’m out of that thing. This is dressed up. This is Sunday. But I got to tell you, in several hours from now, I’m going to have my thongs on with my shorts and a tank top. Oh, that’s the way I would come here if I could. As Christians, when you and I go out into the community, are we in such a way, are we holding the faith of Christ with the heart to evangelize the world? Or are we holding our faith as Christians to associate with a certain group? We need to judge our hearts, ourselves. We need to be careful because we’ll ruin what God wants to do through us. You know, a church can become like this. Church can be stuffy and it can become cold. I’m sure that when the church started, it didn’t want to have a goal like that. Well, what’s the vision of this church? Well, in about seven, eight, nine, ten years, we’ll become the most snooty, uppity bunch of people in the community. That’s what we want to do. No, I’m sure it’s not that way. It just kind of happens. Little fellowship, hardly any money. It’s humble. You watch, boy, as a pastor, you’re watching every little penny. You got to just make sure, you know, we can get that cheaper across the street. Let’s go over there. You’ll watch everything. Then a church grows. More money comes in. You’re able to get seats. They’re not metal anymore. They got padding on them. Beginning of the world, money’s coming in. You don’t have concrete floor anymore. You put carpet down. You have air conditioning. You gotta be careful. It’s not wrong to have a more comfortable place to worship, but what happens is, does your heart become too comfortable? Do you become sleepy in the hearts? Does the ministry slip into this thing about, well, you know, let’s get this, let’s get that, let’s get the other, and you got a warehouse of junk that you’re not even using anymore because of silly decisions? Listen, be careful. You can quickly, as a church, enter into the realm that we’ve made it, we’ve somehow arrived. Well, you say, yeah, I knew a church like that, or I go to a church like that, or whatever the case might be. Listen, the danger is it started out, are you listening? It started out with a heart. That’s where it started, in a heart. And it undermines the faith of Christ and it robs the glory. It robs the glory. In Matthew 25, verse 31, the Bible says, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his throne of his glory. It’s very important that we realize that. So the dangers of showing partiality in verse 1, number 1, is that it undermines the faith of Christ. Number 2, it robs the glory of Christ. The third thing we see in verse 1 is that partiality hides the truth. from our view. It hides the truth from our view. If you and I are partial, and we are, did you know that? That’s what James is telling us. Every one of us are partial. We show favorites toward people. Maybe it’s we only listen to them. Maybe somebody can be telling you one thing, and somebody comes up and says exactly the same thing, but you receive it from them and not from the other. That’s partiality. They say exactly the same thing. It’s not that they say something different. Exactly the same thing. Why did you receive it? Because you hold them in a place. The same flip-flop of that is somebody can say something about someone that you can receive from and then no longer you can because you’ve received the view of partiality. It messes up the way we think and see. Do you understand? Do you see how that is? Somebody can walk up and now I’m going to think about a name that nobody would have in this place. I would say if somebody came up to you and said, did you know that Hephzibah… Ma’am, I’m sorry. No, I’m kidding. Did you know that Hephzibah was a prostitute before she came to Christ? And then 10 minutes after that, somebody comes back or maybe it’s the same person says, I’m sorry, did I say Hephzibah was? Oh, it was, you know, some other name. What are you going to do for the rest of your life when you hear the name Hephzibah or see Hephzibah walk in the church? Oh, nice to meet you. And you’re mine. Hi, nice to meet you. It’s good to see you. She was the one that was confused and labeled a prostitute. That’s in your head. Oh, did you hear that? John is a… And then it’s not true. It’s in your head now. It’s in your heart. It pollutes the way you see. You and I fight this. You and I don’t fight it enough. Because you and I will hear something from someone and we will form an opinion before we ever go ask if the person that’s being discussed, if it’s true or not. It goes all around town, but you need to go to the person and say, you know, so-and-so said this, is that true? Why? Because in your own heart you can form an opinion and it skews the way you think. You’ll become partial to either reject them or if it’s positive in a twisted way to accept them. He’s got money, I like him. It’s dangerous, it destroys a church. Partiality skews or hides our true view. It’s damaging, it’s dangerous.

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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

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in acts chapter 10 verse 34 remember peter goes to joppa he remember he’s the apostle peter jesus has long been ascended into heaven the holy spirit’s living inside of peter it’s so amazing acts chapter 10 there peter is in joppa and remember he’s hungry he’s very hungry remember he goes on top of the roof on that beautiful little sea town he goes on top the roof And he’s going to catch a nap because they were probably cooking lunch down in the house. And being on that part of the coast there, they’re probably cooking fish tacos. I’m sure they were cooking fish tacos. And Peter’s there waiting. He’s waiting. He falls asleep. He’s hungry. He falls asleep. That’s a good way to pass the time when you’re hungry is sleep it off until they wake you up and say, it’s dinner. That’s a little thing that I do. So he’s there sleeping and in his sleep, the Lord descends in front of him a big sheet and Peter looks inside the sheet and he sees all unclean things that God has created. Well, Peter was a Jewish boy. Peter is hungry and he’s Jewish. No problem. But then he looks in the sheet and there goes a lobster walking by. There goes a pig, goes right by in his dream. There goes a snail, goes right by. There goes whatever’s unclean, goes right by. And Peter’s looking at and he’s thinking, boy, am I hungry. What? I’m a good Jewish boy, so I can’t eat pork chops today. And the Lord says, Peter, stand up, kill and eat. I like how the Lord speaks to men. Stand, kill, eat. Stand, kill, eat. Peter goes, no, Lord. Lord says, stand, kill, eat. Peter goes, no, Lord. The third time, in a vision, the Lord says, Peter, stop it. Get up, kill it, and eat it. Don’t call anything that I’ve made unclean. Kill and eat. And then Peter in Acts chapter 10 is saying, you know what? I perceive that God wants to save Gentiles too. Could it be? Peter was thinking with partiality. The Jews thought in those days that Jews were the ones to go to heaven and Gentiles were made to be presto logs for hell. That’s what was taught by the chief rabbis. It’s true. The chief rabbis believed and they taught that Gentiles were going to be presto logs for hell’s flames. We just stoked the flames of hell. That’s who we were. And Peter goes, God is saying that he even wants Gentiles to be saved. I’ve perceived this. It was like a major revelation to Peter. Isn’t that amazing? You see how he even had partiality in his heart? And you and I struggle with it every day. We’ll see how much in a moment. The second point is this. Partiality damages the cause of Christ. Partiality damages the cause of Christ, verses two through four. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings and fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and you say to him, you sit here in a good place. And you say to the poor man, you stand there or you sit here at my footstool. Have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Verse three says, Partiality damages the cause of Christ, first of all, jot it down, by appearance. Appearance. The appearance, it affects the way we see things. The appearance. Look what it says. For if there should come into your assembly, the word assembly, actually in Greek, is the word synagogue. That’s Greek, synagogue. It’s the synagogue. The early church met in synagogues. Synagogues had worship with the Jewish community on Saturdays. And according to church history, the early church used the synagogue on Sunday mornings because that’s when they could rent it from the local rabbi. So they would use the synagogue. And James uses the word synagogue here. And so they come together, he says. And in your gathering comes one… Listen, the Greek word… In comes one who is golden fingered. In those days, when someone was very wealthy or of nobility, they wore rings on their fingers, brother. I mean everywhere. They had rings. They could move their hands like this, but the rings were… separated at the joint so the knuckles can move. Their hands were covered in jewelry. Listen, this will make sense to you in a moment. You ever seen a movie where they have even jewelry from the wrist up to the elbow? And then from the elbow up to the shoulder, like the Pharaohs and really big guys you’ve seen in movies, you know, Charlton Heston, all that kind of stuff. Have you seen all that? That was a show of power and of wealth and of education. Now listen, you’re sitting here in the church in the early days, a bunch of Jewish believers who had come out of Judaism and have made Jesus your Lord Messiah. And then also in the church, there were a bunch of slaves, Gentile slaves. That’s what made up the church. The Jews had been kicked out of their families and out of their jobs. They didn’t have any money. And the slaves, they had nothing. That was church in the early church. Rarely. in the early days were nobility coming to faith in Christ. Now James is saying, and it must have happened there in that time, James says, into the church walks a man of noble or wealth in his blood, and he comes in. And if the ushers or the people or the entire church corporately together says, ooh, look, You have just begun to sin, you and I both. That guy, he’s what? No kidding. Wow. Don’t tell me you don’t do that. You may never say it out loud, but it’s in your head. Jerk, I find that highly offensive. Oh, yeah, watch this. Let’s say you know that Mr. J just gave a million dollars to Calvary Chapel, which he didn’t, whoever Mr. J is. I’m making this up. And we would like to be showing our gratitude and gratefulness on this Sunday. Mr. J, will you stand up, please? He’s just given a million dollars to the building project. Let’s remember to praise the Lord. Now, you might say, well, okay, fine. Just as Mr. J leaves the sanctuary, he’s parked by you. I want to see what kind of car he drives. That’s in your thoughts. What kind of car does he drive? Look at his shoes, man. Those are nice shoes. That guy, that’s the guy. Honey, did you hear what he said? That’s the guy right there. That’s the guy. Gave him a million bucks. He’s on a building project. Let’s follow behind him with a net and see if anything falls out of a loose change or anything like that. You think like this. That’s the guy. Oh, you’re Mr. J? You’re the one that gave, I mean, yeah, come on in. It’s in your mind. You know it’s true. Mommy, what are you looking at? That’s Mr. J right over there. See him? It’s twisted. It’s us. It’s our nature. Now, there’s reports. It’s funny because this just proves the point. There’s reports. There are reports that Jim Carrey has been attending Calvert Chapel Costa Mesa. Really? I think we’re going to go. Maybe we’ll see him. In fact, let’s just cut the service. Let’s go see if he’s there. I remember when Bob Dylan used to go to Calvary Costa Mesa. Did you know that? He came, but his people didn’t. It wasn’t communicated clearly. And Bob Dylan, somebody assumed that his people, that in his entourage, that somebody would save him a seat. That didn’t go well with Pastor Jack. We’ve had men known for their political careers come in here. What if Pete Wilson would come in here and there’s a sign that says, reserve seating, right here. And you’ve parked and you’ve done your thing, you’ve checked your trial, then you’ve come in here and you sit down and you want that seat. You walk in here and it says, reserve seating. And then you see Pete Wilson come in and he sits down. I think that stinks. I think Pete should find his own seat. Why? You know what? He’s a minister ordained by God. He’s governor because God said so, that’s why.

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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called The Folly of Favoritism. Glad you could be here with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on being doers of the Word of God and not just hearers only. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Hey, Pastor Jack, there’s a pretty cool book that you’ve actually read. Yeah. I’ve peeked at it. It’s One Day Nearer by Steve Miller.

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Yeah. You like it? Listen, I love it. I’m encouraging everybody to get their hands on this. That’s why it’s being featured with us right now, Davey. One Day Nearer. It’s a daily devotion. Here’s what’s cool about it. Anticipating the Lord’s return. It’s 365 days of… Scripture verses that walk you through how the believer should be living with the expectation. You know, throughout the theology of the Scriptures, the believer is to be waiting constantly. The Bible makes it clear. Jesus even makes a strong argument how in the parable of the ten virgins, they were to endure waiting for His imminent return. They didn’t know when He was coming, but they were to be prepared for His coming. And this is actually a great book because it keeps you every day in the mindset that today could be the day, or this year could be the year. And somebody might say, well, nobody knows the day or the hour. Of course that’s true. Nobody knows the day or the hour. The point is this, friend. Every day that you get up, you are one day nearer to the return of the Lord. And this is a great book. Steve Miller is a friend. He is a great author, and he has put out a great book. Please get your hands on it, everybody. You will not be disappointed, I promise. Make sure you make it part of your 365-day experience with One Day Near with author Steve Miller.

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One Day Nearer by Steve Miller. Available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.