But the wisdom from above is … impartial
James 3:17 (ESV)
This is not the first time that James addressed the issue of impartiality. Earlier, James had to address a serious issue.
My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
James 2:1-4 (NLT)
Elsewhere in scripture, God’s spokespeople speak out against how people would unfairly treat others based solely on their national identity, economic position or social status or power dynamic. That reflects a real human tendency that finds partiality an automatic reference point.
To a degree it’s understandable – we are born up and conditioned to safety found in the familiar. Trust in the parents, trust in the siblings, trust in those who are like us and growing to favour those who are like us. As that takes place, there’s also the authority programming that suggests riches and power equals success not to be questioned and likewise to be favoured.
As that is built into the system, converse views are also developed – the poor, the stranger, the disabled, the unconventional, those that don’t fit in – that are not like us – they are to be at best pitied but more regularly distanced, shunned, ignored, neglected and dismissed. Essentially it’s easier to dehumanise those who are not like us or not what we aspire to be.
That may sound like a broad brush statement – a generalisation of the human condition. People will refer to how they were ‘brought up right’ to respect others and never judge a book by its cover. That’s all good on the surface, but it doesn’t take much for that element of partiality to emerge. Personal grievances and biases can blend with social preference to lead to ways of treating people that reflect partiality.
The wisdom from below reinforces that sense of exercising bias to get ahead. In pursuit of personal progress and selfish ambition, issues of fairness, justice and righteousness are compromised. Looking to play to favourites is seen as a savvy move to get what is right with you. As much as there’s a pious response to claims of ‘sleaze’, it is more about the appearances. If you can get away with it, if it can be done subtly, ‘if it’s not going to hurt anyone’, everyone else is doing it – it’s what you need to do to get ahead. All of these are the workings of the wisdom of the world. Where does that leave the poor? Where does that leave the stranger? Where does that leave the one in need of restoration?
The wisdom from above operates to look for what’s just, what’s right and what is fair. The wisdom from above recognises the best way to treat people is as ones created in the image of God deserving of respect, value and love. That should make for treatment without partiality. That should mean the status and identity plays no part in decision-making on a day to day basis. This should mean that people will know they are going to be treated fairly. People should know that they are going to be treated as ones of high worth. Not above correction and criticism, not below service, support and gracious hospitality.
Look at Jesus. The norms and preferences of His day instructed Him to be partial to people in authority, people of His ethnic group, men of esteem and those from respectable professions. Jesus shows impartiality when it comes to those who are outcasts for social and physical reasons, women of ill repute, foreigners and those considered to be in unpleasant occupations. He didn’t stay away from the rich and powerful, He just didn’t treat them in any discernibly more biased way than others. Indeed, as His mission was to invite all those who would believe to the Kingdom of His Father, He was welcoming all – rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, male, female, old, young, whoever would believe.
Welcoming on the understanding that people would be treated fairly and righteously. This was something that influenced how the early church was formed through its challenges of people coming together from all walks of life. Amazed by the invitation of the gospel, communities were formed and were to be established on the wisdom from above on the awesome reality that in Christ all were a new humanity.
Wisdom from above regards people with impartiality and is based on the Spirit of God who is just and right in all He does. We recognise the human tendency to be partial and go for favourites. We see the effects of prejudice and injustice all around us as well as within us. Making the difference is not about referring to more aspects of the wisdom of below, it’s to reach for the wisdom from above.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
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