According to James, favouritism is a sin. Favouritism doesn't just happen between siblings--it happens whenever we treat people differently based on some pre-determined criteria. Some of us favour people just like ourselves. Others of us favour people that we wish we could be (younger, smarter, faster than ourselves).

Favouritism isn't just a sin, it's a royal sin. But why? It's really because those who practice it let on that they really don't understand grace. Favouritism is a particularly heinous form of judgement. And for those of us who have received God's mercy, we ought to be the first to choose mercy over judgement. We need the wisdom of James to be agents of God's mercy in the world--now more than ever.