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“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?”
(James 2:1-7)
We learn three things from this passage:
1. We tend to play favorites. James uses a very understandable situation. As the church gathers a wealthy, distinguished guest arrives. Some people in the church begin to fawn over him. It is understandable. Maybe the members are thinking of how much someone like this could help the church if he or she began attending. In a community where poverty and low income were the norm, they may also be a little awe-struck by a rich, well-dressed person in their midst. Honestly, I think it is our natural tendency to play favorites even if we don’t always consciously recognize it. We tend to show preferential treatment to people we respect, people we look up to, people we fear, people we like, people we agree with, people who are attractive, and people who are wealthy. I don’t think we do this purposely or even consciously, but I do think it is our natural, sinful tendency. I know it is my tendency if I don’t consciously fight against it.
2. God does not see as we see. In the well-known story of Samuel being sent to the house of Jesse to find a king to replace Saul who had disobeyed God and had been set aside. The oldest son comes forward and he looks like a natural king. Samuel naturally thinks he had found his man, but God said no. This went on with the second, third, fourth, and so on. Finally, there seemed to be no-one left then Jesse remembers the runt of the litter who is out back taking care of the sheep. The Lord told Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam 16:7). Often, it is the poor who have been providentially placed in that position so they will see their spiritual poverty and turn to Christ in repentant faith. The passage teaches us to not judge people by external appearances.
3. Often, it is those with power that mistreat us. The wealthy, on the other hand, may tend to push their weight around. Surely, they are in a much better position to do that if they are so inclined. James reminds them, “Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? (James 2:6b-7)” When things are going well, especially if we are materially prosperous, there is more of a tendency to not see our need and instead rely on our wealth. If a person’s does not know the Lord and his heart is not humble, he may use his advantage to oppress those who are under him.
The bottom line is that as believers we are to treat everyone with equal deference and respect. It doesn’t matter if they drive a $3.7 million dollar Bugatti Chiron Super Sport (for the base model) or 20-year-old Schwinn bicycle we recognize that each person is made in the image of God and has equal value and worth. As such we treat every person we meet with equal dignity and respect. We recognize our tendencies and by God’s grace fight against them by showing no partiality.
