Yesterday James warned us about giving in to anger, about thinking we are right with God simply because we listen to the word, and about saying things Christians shouldn't say. Today he moves on into the sin of showing favoritism. He has observed (even in the church) people treating others unequally.
We concluded Sunday's study with James warning us that if we can't control what comes out of our mouths, our hearts aren't where they should be. We can fake out a lot of people by putting on our church clothes and by sitting in services with pious expressions on our faces, but sooner or later our tongues will give us away. This is why James said yesterday that if we can't control our tongues, our "religion" is worthless, because we're only going through the motions of religion without actually having a relationship with the Lord. He picks up there by telling us today that not only our words but our actions reveal who we really are, "Religion that God the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: too look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself by being polluted by the world." (James 1:27) James says, "If your 'religion' is real, then you will love the Lord and have a relationship with Him. This will cause you to love your fellow man and have compassion on those around you. This will cause you to want to obey the Lord." The Lord Himself said something similar through the prophet Hosea, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6) Anyone can observe the rituals of religion, but these things don't justify a person if his heart isn't in them. What's in the heart eventually comes out through words and actions, so our words and actions prove whether we belong to the Lord or not.
What comes out of our mouths reveals what's in our hearts and, as James tells us today, so does the way we treat other people. "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism." (James 2:1) We've all seen favoritism in action. We've seen people being treated better because of who they're related to or because of how much money they have or because of how well they are dressed or because of how attractive they are. This is sin in the eyes of God. The apostles Peter and Paul warn us that God does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11), and if God does not do it then we shouldn't do it either.
I've always worked with the public and I've observed extra care and attention being given to clients and customers who are well off or who have a lot of influence in the community. I've also observed shabbily dressed customers being treated like their business isn't important. This is wrong. This is not how God's people should behave. Something is wrong in our hearts when we think a person of low income is less important than a person of wealth. The most important person who ever walked the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ, was from a low income family. He never owned His own home. He borrowed the only donkey He ever rode. He even had to temporarily borrow the tomb He was buried in. If we had lived in Jesus' day, and if we had judged Him by His appearance (as many did), we would have missed out on knowing the most important person who ever lived. So let's not "judge a book by its cover", as the saying goes.
James has observed people being treated differently even in church meetings, and he gives us an example of it. "Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and wearing fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 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,' have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" (James 2:2-4)
James is saying something like, "Shame on you! Christ died for the poor man just as much as He died for the rich man. The value of a person's soul is not judged by the value of a person's bank account. The soul of every person is equally important in the Lord's eyes and you should be of the same mind about this as the Lord. If you don't feel the same way about this as the Lord does, you need to let Him do a little heart surgery on you, because something in your heart isn't right."
God loves the beggar on the street corner as much as He loves the millionaire in the mansion. We should too.
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