Scripture:
James 2:1-13 NKJV
[1] My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. [2] For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, [3] and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” [4] have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He promised to those who love Him? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? [7] Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? [8] If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; [9] but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [10] For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point, is guilty of all. [11] He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now, if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. [12] So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Observation:
As he always does, James is coming at us with the truth. I know there are 13 verses here, and although I would like to break down every one of them, I don’t necessarily have the time to do so. But what I would like to do is establish what James is talking about and see how that affects us. Looking at verse 1, we can see quickly that James has seen something that needs to be addressed. The church was showing favoritism to people who were better off. Perhaps it was a tithing issue or maybe an image thing. Thinking with money, they could grow,⁷ or with the right image, they would have influence either way the favoritism was pushing out the poor and needy. The very people that Jesus came for. I hope you can see why James had to deal with this issue. Verse 4 and 5 are kind of a gut punch if you read it the way I do…” Have you not shown partiality among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren, has GOD not chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs to the kingdom to which HE promised to those who love HIM?” Just to throw a little more bible in there, it’s harder for a rich man to enter into the kingdom than it is for a c Camel to go through the eye of a needle. James goes on to speak about how the rich oppress the poor and drag people into court. By doing so, they blaspheme the Holy name by which they were called. So, what is James’s point here? Getting right down to it is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. That’s the breakdown of the 10 commandments. Love is the fulfillment of that. James says if you are offended in any one part of that, then you are a sinner. So that leaves no one out. Even the very best person you know is a sinner. He drives his point home with the last 2 verses 12 and 13. What is James saying in the break down of these 2 verses is to show everyone the same grace you were shown when Jesus crawled up on the cross and bled and died for you no matter how much money or influence you had.
Application:
What are we really doing? As a church, are we trying to build an image, or are we trying to build the kingdom? I mean, it’s an honest question, and I hope it pricks your heart a little bit. Over the past few years of my walk with Jesus. I have done my best to love all those whom GOD has brought into my path. Now, don’t get me wrong. Some are easier than others, and I am not innocent of showing partiality. I spent about 2 years driving a church van to a homeless shelter to bring the homeless to church. I loved it, and that ministry is still moving forward in that church today. They have been promising to get a bigger van so that more people can come and make that ministry easier on those who carry it on, and maybe that will happen and the church will be able to afford it soon. It’s been a prayer for 3 or 4 years now. So, just to throw myself under the bus, my favoritism slides to the side of the poor. I have never really had money, and I know what it’s like to go without. I have been healed of mental health issues and know what it’s like to struggle with things like depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. I tend not to be swayed by money, power, and influence. I have seen how they play a part in the church as a whole and the destruction that comes from them. I have watched churches rise and fall because of them. They can be very dangerous. My point in saying all this is that I do not believe the church is meant to be a business. I believe it’s a hospital for the sad, the sick, the lonely, the poor the destitute, the prostitutes, the drug addicted, a place where those who have money can come up beside those who don’t and love their neighbors as they love themselves. Now listen… I don’t want to starve… so if I see someone who is hungry according to the word, it’s my job to feed them. That’s loving your neighbor. I know mental health issues are hard for some to understand, but I think we have to approach them carefully as a church, not shun them because they are different. I recently had someone whom I would call a friend kill themselves due to mental health issues. It hit my heart hard when I found out. We are to love the least of these. That’s our job. I have also been threatened to be taken to court recently by someone who has money and influence. Was I 100% right in the situation… no, I was not. I am just not swayed by money or the influence of that matter. I am swayed by people and their need for Jesus. The mental health and spiritual condition of those who GOD has placed next to me as ministry partners is more important than anything else. I am about people no matter what. The goal is to build the kingdom, not the house or the image. I want to be used by GOD, not use GOD as a smoke screen. Am I a good businessman, no, not at all? I love people too much to be good at business. They are always my focus, and they always will be.
Prayer:
Father, help us we need you more than we need air. We know that you care about people, and yours is the only true power. Father, help us to see that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, and there is not one person on this earth who does not absolutely need your grace. Father, show your mercy to those who have money and influence and to those who don’t because you are the maker of all of them. You send the rain on the just and the unjust just like me. I am a sinner saved by your grace just like the rest. LORD help us and save and save us from ourselves. Let us not want to be corrupted by money and influence. We want to be used by you to build people. Not power yours is the only power and influence that matters. Our lives are not our own. You bought them at a price. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.