Over the years, I have attended many fundraising events, including those supporting my local church, my children’s school, and several Christian ministries and organizations. If you’ve ever participated in one, you know how they typically function. Table sponsorships are tiered, with higher levels of financial contribution closer to the front of the room. When they include live auctions, it is easy to identify the highest bidder.
Over time, my participation in these events started leaving me uneasy. I loved supporting the ministries, but a nagging feeling persisted. I ignored the subtle nudges of the Holy Spirit until God placed a timely intersection of personal conviction and Scripture directly in my path.
While working on a research task related to the book of James, I read James 2:1–13 with new eyes. It compelled me to ask: Are we, in the Christian community, ignoring the biblical warning against fostering favoritism in pursuit of achieving our ministry goals? How many other areas of Christian community life do we carelessly appeal to the eye, the flesh, and the pride of life? (1 John 2:16). Most importantly, How am I complicit in favoritism?
Confronting my unease caused me to do some raw self-analysis. Did I covet being at the front of the room, recognized and appreciated as the most prominent table donor or the highest bidder? Was envy the root of my unease?
Regretfully, the answer was Yes. James 2:3–4 says: “Do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and to the poor person, ‘You stand over there,’ or ‘Sit on the floor’? If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?”
The Holy Spirit’s conviction revealed my sinful motivation directly related to the words of 1 John 2:16, “because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
The desire to curry favor caters to a false system encouraged by the world, and it is discriminatory. By its very nature, it causes us to dishonor not only ourselves but also those who aren’t seated at the head table.
James is speaking to believers in this passage. He makes it clear the church is particularly vulnerable to favoritism—favoring the rich over the poor, the similar over the different, the powerful over the vulnerable, insiders versus outsiders, or partiality based on race, social status, or gender.
Plenty of scriptural examples highlight the sin of favoritism: Prov 28:21–28; Gal 3:28; Lev 19:15; Jas 2:9; and 1 Tim 5:21, to name a few. Jesus’s teachings, miracles, and compassionate treatment of others transcended cultural barriers and social classes. He focused on the perils of wealth and cautioned against partiality in all areas of earthly life.
Scripture presents this challenge for believers and for the body of Christ. Beware of favoring individuals with money, power, status, popularity, or higher socio-economic standing, even when the motivation is well-intended. God’s words are clear: all people are made in his image and deserve to be treated with equality, dignity, and respect, regardless of their racial, social, or economic backgrounds.
It is essential that we support the church in her mission to spread the good news of the gospel. But as for me, I recognize the importance of addressing the sinful desires within myself as I support the church. This means holding fast to the scriptural teachings that guard me against seeking favorable treatment that appeals to my fallen nature. This requires deep introspection on my part. Can I serve without recognition? Can I use my spiritual gifts to build up the kingdom? Can I be generous rather than be generous just to be seen?
I remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6.
Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1–4, NASB, 95
Shirley Ralston (MACE, 2008) is the Global Marketplace Missions Training Manager for The Upstream Collective. She is a writer and pastor’s research team member at Houston’s First Baptist Church (HFBC). Additionally, she is a founding member of the HFBC Missionary Care Team. Shirley and her husband, Jeff, reside in Houston after several years of serving as marketplace global workers in the Middle East and the South Pacific.
