The Danger of Partiality

Have you ever shown partiality?

It’s not a word we use often or a sin we discuss regularly. When we do use the word today, it’s probably to say something frivolous like, “I’m partial to strawberry ice cream.” But partiality shows up throughout the Bible and is always soundly condemned.

In the Old Testament, showing partiality—or (to use the terms often used in the King James Version) respecting or regarding a person often means preferring one person over another, showing bias or prejudging a case in his or her favor.

Today, we’re more likely to talk about prejudice against someone, but the root of the problem is the same. When we are prejudiced, we make comparisons, have underlying preferences and make judgments that are based on external factors, rather than on what truly counts in the eyes of God: matters of the heart and of behavior.

The danger of partiality

The Israelites were commanded not to show partiality in judging—not to show preference to the poor or to show preference to the rich or powerful (Leviticus 19:15). They were told to be like God, who is completely unaffected by people’s personal greatness or wealth. 

While humans have a tendency to think of relationships as transactional or to think about what they can get, God is a God of justice, no matter someone’s social status.

In the New Testament, Jesus, Peter, Paul and James all continue to address the dangers of partiality.

The Good Samaritan

A lawyer, one who should have especially been following the commands to show no partiality, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

Luke inserts that the reason he asked this question was “to justify himself” (Luke 10:29). It seems that the reason he asked this question was because he was seeking to excuse showing partiality by quibbling about who actually qualified as his neighbor.

Jesus responded by telling one of the most famous parables of all time—the Good Samaritan, a parable that taught, through a vivid story, what impartial love looks like.

The Good Samaritan is a parable that teaches, through a vivid story, what impartial love looks like. A Jewish man is beaten and robbed and left for dead on the roadside. Two well-respected religious leaders walk right by. The person who stops to help him is someone who would likely have been snubbed and deemed unworthy by those religious leaders—and probably by the wounded man himself.

I’ve always found it fascinating that instead of focusing on the identity of the wounded man, Jesus focuses the story on the one who helped him. Rather than precisely answering the question “Who is my neighbor?” (verse 29), Jesus asks, “Which of these . . . was neighbor to him?” (verse 36).

The religious leaders in the story likely passed judgments on the worthiness of the wounded man, whether he was worth their time and effort. (This has been borne out in modern research studies, as well—people are still just as unlikely to go out of their way to help another who doesn’t seem important enough to bother helping.)

But Jesus’ entire audience passed judgments about Samaritans. All their biases, all their preconceptions, were negative. Some probably pointed back to negative experiences they had had with a Samaritan. Others cited first-century versions of crime statistics in Samaria. Others bemoaned the religious deception of these misguided individuals.

None of them would have foreseen a Samaritan as a hero in this Jewish Man’s parable.

And that’s why Jesus told the story the way He did—to force them to see their prejudice clearly.

The early Church

In Acts 10, Peter builds on the message of Jesus’ powerful parable. Peter starts with the nature of God as the guiding light: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him . . . To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (verses 34-35, emphasis added throughout).

Ethnic, cultural and national background have no bearing on the way our just God sees us (compare Paul’s words in Romans 2:10-11).  

In Greek, the word for “partiality” is prosópolémpsia, which comes from two Greek words: prosopon (face) and lambano (receive or accept). So, literally, someone who shows partiality is “an accepter of a face” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance). Various translations use terms like “favoritism,” “respect of persons,” “prejudice,” “favor by appearance” or “treat some people better than others.”

Yet partiality was not easy to eliminate from the early Church. It was an incredibly diverse group of people. Some members were slaves, and some members were free. Some members were Jews, and some members were gentiles.

Alongside some wonderful examples of generosity and love among believers, there are also some recorded episodes of prejudice rearing its ugly head. Hellenist widows were unfairly neglected in the daily distribution of food (Acts 6:1-7). Even Peter and Barnabas were guilty of separating from gentiles at congregational meals when some Christian Jews from Jerusalem came to visit Antioch (Galatians 2:11-13).

James and partiality

In the book of James, at least 14 verses are dedicated to the sin of partiality. James minces no words as he discusses the disturbing dichotomy between “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ” and showing partiality (James 2:1).

James focused on problems related to wealth and social status. But James’ words apply to any external differences that we see as reason to prefer one person over another.

Part of the sinfulness of partiality is that we are not truly showing godly love to the person we are serving. We are showing love to ourselves. “For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine [literally, “bright” or “shining”] apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes [referring either to dirty or unwashed clothes, or to shabby or cheap clothing], and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or ‘Sit here at my footstool,’ have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4).

A poor man who doesn’t have money to launder his clothes is not inherently less valuable to God than a man who can afford magnificent, showy attire. What is it exactly that would make us consider him to be less worthy or less important? Similarly, what would cause us to see someone with a different linguistic, ethnic, national or cultural background as less significant than someone who looks like us?

James tells us explicitly that by making these comparisons, whether consciously or unconsciously, we are passing judgments—and our judgments are not just flawed, but evil.

Part of our Christian duty is to show love to others, serve others, give to others and esteem others. But our underlying tendency to love ourselves first is hard to shake. Part of the sinfulness of partiality is that we are not truly showing godly love to the person we are serving.

We are showing love to ourselves.

Partiality, at its core, is using others to love yourself.

Partiality and Christian love

In Matthew 25, Jesus taught about His second coming and how He would pass His righteous, impartial judgment on the nations.

“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

God expects us to become more like Him, giving liberally without regard to some perception of “worthiness” in the person to whom we give. “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:34-40).

We all love the ones who love us. We all give to those who give to us. But the way that Jesus teaches us to give, to love and to serve is to expect nothing in return (Luke 6:34-35) and to do good and share with those who are unable to return the favor (Luke 14:12-14). 

God expects us to become more like Him, giving liberally without regard to some perception of “worthiness” in the person to whom we give. We must strive to judge as He does—with equitable, righteous judgment, not based on outward appearance or external factors.

Judging starts in our hearts and culminates in our actions, even actions as simple as who we choose to talk to at church services, who we pray for, who we invite to dinner, who we show love to.

Remember, partiality is a direct contradiction to the faith of Jesus Christ (James 2:1). This is not something we can afford to take lightly.

Overcoming partiality

If we are wondering whether we are showing partiality toward or prejudice against someone else, we can ask ourselves two questions:

1. Am I showing love to this person, or am I using this person to love myself?

2. Is how I’m treating this person how I’m hoping God will treat me?

Partiality in the Church today probably doesn’t show up in seating arrangements, and since members are told not to take each other to court (1 Corinthians 6:6), it doesn’t show up in the same judicial sense as it did in ancient Israel.

Today, it may be evident in who gets spoken to and who gets ignored, who gets invited out and who is forgotten or neglected, who gets checked on and whose absence goes unnoticed.

It doesn’t mean we’ll have equal closeness or the exact same sort of friendship with every member of our congregation. But it does mean that our love for each individual is based on how God sees the person, not on our own flawed perceptions and prejudices.

For more on how our spiritual character can impact our relationships, both inside and outside the Church, see “Why Can’t We Get Along?”

Date Posted: June 30, 2025