James 2:1-7

Favoritism Forbidden
2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If 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,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
     5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: 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? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?  (NIV)

James urges his congregation not to show favoritism. The first half of this chapter is about discrimination and its opposite, favoritism. Before James says anything else, he reminds us of the motivation for the behavior he describes: we are "believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ." He follows this with an obvious example of what he means to discourage, and then tells us what's wrong with this behavior: it is inconsistent with God's own choice of the poor versus the hostile actions of the rich. Of course, we know that James is using the words "rich" and "poor" to make a point. Simply because someone has financial trouble on earth does not mean that this person will automatically enter into heaven. And financial security today does not necessarily exclude one from heaven tomorrow. But we always need to remember the context of what we are reading. James was writing to specific people who were behaving in a specific way.

If James had been living in America a hundred and fifty years ago, he probably would have been talking about the exploitation of slaves and the racial problems our country faced. If he were living next door to you today, what would he be talking about? There is a tendency today, even among Christians, to discriminate against other Christians. In an age when all "faiths" are said to be tolerated and respected, have you noticed that a Christian who stands up for what he believes in is often called a crackpot? Not that we should find that shocking or out of the ordinary. But when we fail to stand up for God's word, we can be giving the impression that God's word doesn't matter. Showing favoritism really does the same thing. Favoritism says "I don't care what God thinks of this person, I only care about what I think, how I feel, or how well-liked I'll be if I am friendly or unfriendly toward this person." When we set aside God, we rebel against him.

Thankfully, Jesus paid for this sin, too. The forgiveness we have in Jesus is our motive for treating others as brothers; for telling them about him. That is God's will. That is our mission.