WEEK Eight:
Lesson note for SS1 THIRD TERM
IMPARTIALITY
i. Meaning of Impartiality (James 2: 1- 13)
Impartiality is the quality of being fair, treating all parties or rivals equally. It means that one is not partial or biased. In James 2:1 – 13, advised all Christians against being partial towards people especially at the expense of some less privileged ones.
He gave an analogy that if a man who is well-dressed and gorgeously looking with expensive jewelries and another poor man looking shabby come into our gathering, we would be tempted to give the good looking man a better place to sit and the poor looking man a bad or degrading place to sit. This shows partiality. He shows that we have already judged the content of their minds by the way they dressed.
In James 2:5, he stated that God has seen those we call poor in the world tonbe rich in faith and made them heirs of the kingdom of God. He highlighted in verses 6 and 7 that it is these rich men that oppress us and drag us to court. It is these same rich men that blaspheme or slander the name of God and Jesus Christ by whose name we are called. It is these same rich people that win our favour despite all they do to us.
He stated in verse 8 that we should fulfil the royal law which is ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ and if we show partiality, then we commit sin and we are guilty of breaking the law by favouring some people over others. He stated that anyone who obeys all the laws but break a tiny bit of it is as guilty as a person who breaks all the laws.
In conclusion, he stated that we should know that judgment is without mercy and he who shows no mercy cannot receive mercy. However, mercy triumphs over judgement. This means that if we show mercy to others we shall also receive mercy.
ii. The Golden Rule (Matt 7:12, Luke 6:31)
In Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31, the Bible records Jesus saying that ‘Do unto to others whatever you want them to do to you.’ This emphasized the fact that if you won’t like something to be done to you, then don’t do it to others.
iii. Negative effect of Depotism, Favouritsm and tribalism on the society
Depotism is a system of government where one single authority, person or tight-knit group rules the people with absolute power especially in a cruel way.
Favouritism is an unfair way of favouring a person or group at the expense of others.
Tribalism is a feeling of identity and loyalty to one’s tribe at the expense of others.
Negative effects of these practices include:
1. Only one tribe or group will be favoured above others
2. Expertise and professionalism will be played down. This means that people who can do a particular job better will be denied the opportunity because they do not belong to the favoured group or tribe.
3. It may lead to jealousy, envy and strife
4. It may trigger off terrorism
5. It can lead to uneven development. One tribe develops and improves at the expense of others
6.It will discourage healthy competition
7. It may lead to social stratification (class society)
8. It can also lead to oppression of the minor tribe and abuse of power.
9. It may result in social and economic instability
10. Development will be slow as ideology will be traded for sentiments.
Unprecedented 