Reflections on James 2

 

James 02 (Contemporary English Version)


1. My friends, if you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, you won't treat some people better than others.
   
2. Suppose a rich person wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings. And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes.
   
3. You must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor.
   
4. That is the same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would be acting like a crooked judge.
   
5. My dear friends, pay attention. God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. He has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him.
   
6. You mistreat the poor. But isn't it the rich who boss you around and drag you off to court?
   
7. Aren't they the ones who make fun of your Lord?
   
8. You will do all right, if you obey the most important law in the Scriptures. It is the law that commands us to love others as much as we love ourselves.
   
9. But if you treat some people better than others, you have done wrong, and the Scriptures teach that you have sinned.
   
10. If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all.
    
11. The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you still have broken God's Law.
    
12. Speak and act like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free.
    
13. Do this, because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!
    

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[Another detour into James] The first half of this chapter speaks to the issue of partiality within the ranks of these early Christians whom James is addressing. He makes it clear that this partiality is a sin, one which is a total contradiction of who we are as bearers of the name of Christ. First of all, he points out who it is we call Lord. It is Christ we call Lord, not the rich to whom they were showing favoritism or partiality. So it is Christ to whom they should give their allegiance, not the rich. Christ he called glorious, but the rich, he pointed out, were those who took them to court and blasphemed the name of Christ that they bore. Where is their value here? Is it not misplaced?

We can never forget that in the kingdom of God things are turned upside down. The things normally valued among people are not those that are valued in God's kingdom. Christ, who is King of Kings, was not born in a palace or have servants or wealth. He was born in a lowly manger and served rather than be served. Thus, he was discounted by most. He didn't fit their expectation. Now we, who have accepted Him, receiving Him as Lord and King, do we operate under a different value system than our Lord by showing a favoritism He does not show? We must remember that if Christ were to show favoritism we would likely be left out. But He leaves no one out regardless of their standing in terms of earthly values. Any who will receive Him as Lord will be received by Him.

I suspect one reason this favoritism was an issue for this group of Christians addressed by James is that they had just come out of Judaism and had long been in a culture that considered the rich to be favored and blessed by God. It was a form of "prosperity theology." If one had wealth and health it was an indication they were in good standing with God, and if they did not, an indication of sin in their life and thus not in good standing with God. Before viewing these actions too critically we should consider the culture in which we live that practices celebrity worship. Though we may not consider ourselves too caught up in this craze, who might we push out of the way in order to rub shoulders with a person of celebrity? Such attitudes lie near the surface in many Christian settings. Who is it we like to hold up in our illustrations of those who follow Christ? Do we not highlight the celebrity rather than the person of low standing? Who do we fall all over ourselves to have speak at our gatherings giving testimony of their faith in Christ? Is it not the celebrities? And do we not justify this with the argument that they will draw a larger crowd and thus have greater opportunity to bring unbelievers to Christ? But in doing this, how close do we come to falling under James' admonitions on favoritism?

We just need to keep some things clearly in mind. It was the lowly that God has chosen to make rich in faith. If we are to hold up examples in our gatherings let it be of those rich in faith. In addition, let us also keep in mind that in Christ we are made equals. There are no celebrities and there are none against whom He discriminates. We are motivated by the "royal law" which is to love our neighbor as ourselves. In Christ's value system we do not ask, "who is my neighbor" but we ask, "whose neighbor am I?" In so doing, we seek to be a neighbor to all, and thus to love all as we do ourselves. In so doing, we will be judged with mercy by our Lord.