“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in 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,’ have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?” (James 2:1-4 NASB).

When we consider the Biblical teaching about judging others, we often fail to consider what one could call inadvertent or unconscious judgment. Our fundamental attitudes, which we base our behavior upon, frequently include pre-judging, or as we most often term it, “prejudice.” Etymologically, prejudice is the act of making a decision before considering all of the facts. More practically, as used in our society, it is the set of convictions which we hold which determines our interactions with others. Racial and social prejudices are only some of those.

James’ condemnation of prejudice against certain social classes is a practical application of Jesus’ command, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” (Matthew 7:1). To practice favoritism on the basis of social class, economics, or race (among many other distinguishing features) is to judge unjustly.

Some such prejudices are obvious and widely disapproved in modern society. Others may be more subtle. One’s accent, style of dress, occupation, or almost any other distinctive feature may mark him as less acceptable or of lower “quality” in the eyes of some. We remember the ethnic jokes so popular a few decades ago, and the “Irish need not apply” signs that were said to be prevalent in parts of the U.S. in the nineteenth century.

The pervasive danger of such judgments is the ease with which they can become ingrained in a person, group, or entire culture. For example, people of Jewish heritage have suffered persecution including genocidal pogroms over much of the world for centuries. During the Spanish Inquisition many faithful Christians were imprisoned and killed because they were Jewish, even when their conversion was obviously sincere. Anti-Semitism has flourished almost without thought or intention on the part of millions. It simply seems to be the way things are.

But whatever the prejudice, it is wrong, anti-Christian, and ungodly. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is not limited to those in the same town or region, or to those who look like ourselves.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, told to apply the command to love one’s neighbor, the one who was a good neighbor was of different ethnicity and of a despised social order. But he was the neighbor, not the religious officials of the same ethnic group and nationality who ignored the needs of the man who was beaten and robbed (Luke 10:30-37).

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the lesson taught by Paul in his sermon in Athens:

“He (that is, God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).

All humans are God’s children, made after his image. To practice favoritism or discrimination is to challenge God’s love for his whole creation. It is to judge by a standard which we could not bear to have applied to ourselves. James declared that those who do this dishonor those whom they judge, and, even worse, they blaspheme Jesus Christ (James 2:6-7).