The False Leg Of Presumption

PRESUMPTION #1: DISCRIMINATION IS NOT SIN

Some people are so settled in a lifestyle of discrimination that they seldom, if ever, give it any serious thought. How many times have we heard, “Well, I am from such and such a state, and that’s just the way it is down there.” These people falsely presume that God is simply smiling and saying, “Oh yes, I know how it is where you grew up.” But in God’s eyes that explanation has zero merit; it is no excuse. Discrimination is sin. To presume otherwise is to make a false presumption.

James was very straightforward about that fact: “If you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” The Bible calls discrimination a sin. God is as serious about the sin of partiality and prejudice as He is the sin of perversion and promiscuity. So if we are guilty of discrimination, we should deal with it like we deal with every other sin: confess it and forsake it.

James commanded us to abide by Jesus’ command: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. . . . Love your neighbor as yourself ” (Matthew 22:37–39). This great commandment is called the royal law not only because it is given to us by the King of kings, but also because it is the law that governs citizens of His kingdom.

But followers of Jesus are saved by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8). So what is our relationship to the law? To begin, remember that God did not give us the law to save us. No one has ever earned salvation by keeping the law, and no one ever will. The law is our tutor, our teacher, to show us how futile it is to think we could get to heaven through our good works, through obedience to the law. But does this mean that since Christ has come, we are no longer subject to the law and its demands? On this side of the cross, we are under the royal law of love. Jesus never came to do away with the law, and He made this very clear in His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus took the law and made it a matter of the heart. He made it a matter of love, which was the original intent of the Lawgiver in the first place. This is why Paul wrote, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1), meaning the law.

Again, living on this side of the cross, we are not governed by external laws and rules, but by the royal law of love. Those who love God with their entire being and who love the people around them will certainly have no problem living within the parameters of the moral code of the Mosaic law. And, according to this royal law, discrimination is a sin, and those who practice it do not have a leg to stand on.

PRESUMPTION #2: DISCRIMINATION IS NOT SIGNIFICANT

Those who discriminate against others are so blind to their own sin that if they even acknowledge that they discriminate against others, they don’t think of it as being that significant. “After all, it’s not as if we committed murder or adultery!” James penned this epistle to people—then, and now—who live with the erroneous idea that sins of disrespect, favoritism, partiality, and discrimination are not that significant. James made it crystal clear what God thinks of this.

James wrote, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” Let those words sink in. Without the mercy of God and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, one sin—no matter how small it may seem—is enough to condemn a person. Jesus died for the sin of discrimination as much as for any other sin. Only we rank sins’ severity.

This discussion should put to rest forever the idea that any of us can get to heaven on the basis of good works, a solid reputation, or our relative morality. Some seem to think they can stand before the Judge of the universe and appeal to Him on the basis of the sins they have not committed. That will go about as far as standing before a municipal judge with a speeding ticket pleading for leniency on the basis of the fact you have never robbed a bank or committed murder.

To be a lawbreaker, one does not have to break all the laws—only one. But to be a law abider, one must keep all the laws. We break the royal law of love when we discriminate against others. Discrimination is a sin, and it is significant. Don’t presume otherwise.

PRESUMPTION #3: DISCRIMINATION IS NOT SERIOUS

Some people are presumptuous enough to think that although discrimination may well be a sin, it isn’t that serious. But James continued: “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” Because of the judgment that awaits each of us, it is presumptuous to conclude that discrimination is not that serious. We should speak and act as those who will one day be judged by our words and works.

James drove home the point that law and liberty actually come together in beautiful harmony. In fact, he called it “the law of liberty.” The way to find true freedom is to live within the boundaries God has set for us. After all, Jesus said it is the truth that ultimately sets us free (John 8:31–32).

Those who continue to live outside the parameters God has set for us aren’t really free. They cover one lie with another, wondering if they will be found out and unknowingly become slaves to their own sin. Only a fool would argue that sin is not serious.

James concluded his discourse on discrimination by saying, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” The word triumph literally means “to have no fear of something.” Those who show mercy to others have no fear of judgment. The one who extends mercy is not afraid of the coming day when he will stand before the great Judge who knows the hearts of all men and women. Yes, mercy triumphs over judgment.

If we are unmerciful—if we are guilty of the sin of discrimination—what can we do? We can stop blaming that sin on our background or upbringing. Just because our parents might have been adulterers or murderers doesn’t mean we have to be also. And just because we grew up in a culture of discrimination doesn’t mean we should continue in it. We must deal with discrimination by seeing it as God sees it: discrimination is sin. Thus, we deal with discrimination the same way we deal with every other sin we commit. We admit it. We confess it. We forsake it. And God forgives it. And mercy triumphs over judgment!