(Sorry this is a day late.)
James 2:1-13
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong? 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!Showing favoritism. I don’t know about you, but I sure have been guilty of that before. And for what purpose? Nearly every instance I can remember came from somehow trying to promote favoritism of myself a.k.a. sucking up.
In this case, James speaks of showing favoritism to the rich, but it certainly isn’t the only application. What is one thing the world has taught us about money? Money = Influence = Power. Who are we most likely to suck up to? Someone with influence or power. It can be on a large or small scale. For example, a student may suck up to the teacher who has power over his or her grade. Or we could glance at the shady world of politics for a larger scale model.
James says in verse 5 that God has chosen the poor to inherit His kingdom. Let’s take a quick look at Matthew 5:3 –
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Neither Matthew nor James is referring exclusively to people with little or no money. “Poor in spirit” is a term that is used (according to my footnotes, once again) to contrast the spiritually proud and self-sufficient. Basically, what they both are saying is that the kingdom is not something you can earn. It is a gift. It is a gift that God will give anyone who asks, be they rich or poor, sick or healthy, man or woman. “…the kingdom he promised to those who love him,” (v.5).
By showing favoritism among ourselves (Christians) we are opening a can of worms that we really don’t need. James says in response (v.4), “…have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” Don’t we get that enough from people outside Christianity? Why bring it in? What’s the point? Having an in with someone who has worldly power isn’t going to impress God whose power is unfathomable.
That doesn’t mean scorn the rich/influential/powerful/whatever you’re not and wish you were. Then you’ll be showing favoritism the other way. We are equal in the eyes of the Lord. He treats us equally so we should treat each other the same.
The same applies to “the royal law found in Scripture,” (v.8) Violating one part of the law is violating God’s will and thus the whole law. Breaking one commandment is not worse than breaking another. Just as we are equal in the eyes of God, so is sin. None of it is good and none of it is welcome in His house.
A reminder: We ALL are sinners.
By freaking out at someone because of his sins, we are discriminating against him. Instead, we should show mercy. Be loving and accepting of the person. Help him fight the sins. We’re in the same boat. It wouldn’t be very nice to chuck him overboard and beg for our
own rescue. That might make God frown.
Check out those last two verses again. James reminds us that we are going to be judged, too, so we should keep that in mind when we speak and act. As believers we know our eternal destiny lies with the Lord. That’s not being questioned. He is referring to when the Father asks what we have done with our lives as Christians.
“…”
Personally, I don’t want the divine crickets to be chirping. James says if we show mercy to others, mercy will be shown to us. Be nice to people!
What are your thoughts? Should we suck up to the wealthier people in the congregation in hopes they will put more in the offering plate? Is all sin equal?
Comments (5)
i think God sees all sin as equal, because He knows that even the tiniest of sins only lead to more (and bigger) sins. people view sin in varying degrees and that's what we've based our justice system on. Christians can go on and on about this sin and that, but it all comes down to whether or not you treat your fellow man with the love and respect God has intended and shown through Jesus' example.
as for favoritism, i know that it's rampant within the church as well but i'd like to broaden the scope a bit. i saw a study done on TV where actors were hired to pose as someone in trouble. there were people who participated in the study but none of them knew what was going on until afterwards. anyway, there were two actors posing as folks in distress: one black and one white, both males. statistics showed that regardless of ethnicity, more people were inclined to help a white man than a black man. favoritism doesn't end at ethnicity though.
i volunteered at a soup kitchen with my youth group this past summer. it was a good experience, but being as the place was located in a... "seedy" part of San Francisco, i was on alert mode as we headed to our vehicles after we finished. i felt a bit of shame, the very same people i've just served were the same ones i was keeping a wary eye on out in the streets. not exactly my proudest moment but unfortunately, it happens more times than i'd like.
Why you reminding, We ALL are sinners. We already knew that.
@QwiXilver@xanga - Yeah, I know what you mean about being on alert mode and feeling kinda guilty about it. I used to work in a place that's not too bad during the day (in that part, at least), but when I'd get off work after dark I would feel pretty nervous. I felt a little bad for being so jumpy but at the same time that area is known for all sorts of bad things going down. Just a few years ago there was a bunch of racial riots there.