Faith Works - In Equality

James 2:1-13 NIV 

[1] 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? [8] If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. [9] But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. [11] For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. [12] Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.1-13.NIV)

Now we come across a passage that absolutely rubs against our entitled capitalist mentality.

This passage is a very hard, challenging read. However, what James wrote about is true and it is very up to date. 

Allow me to explain. When you fly on long journeys, the overwhelming majority of long haul airlines seat people in different classes: first, business, premium economy and economy.

Due to our family circumstances, we have used these types of airlines a lot. I have no issue with it. If people have the money to pay insane amounts of money for a journey I'm paying eight to ten times less for, that’s their decision. I can see why airlines would want to cater for them. I can also see why business people travelling these long distances would want to be well rested. I do not feel any jealousy towards other passengers who have these perks.

Good for them. 

But churches should not be run like that.  

I can also see why businesses have VIP policies to cater for senior people in the company, or who are willing to spend exorbitant sums of money, the likes of which many of us will never even dream of, on their products. That’s business. I'm fine with it. 

But churches cannot do that. 

Or rather, should not do it. 

But in James' day, that kind of thinking had taken root in the church. James argued, very strongly, that it was absolutely wrong. And I agree with him. 

Do you want to know why?  

Let’s look first of all at Humanity’s Rule. 

Humanity’s Rule 

James 2:1-4 NIV 

[1] 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? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.1-4.NIV)

There is a woman who lives close to my wife's village who does something most people would disagree with. She married a senior man in a call centre company. Her and her husband have way more money than they need. So every so often they sneak down to the village, hide some of their money, head home and tell the villagers that they have started a ‘Money Hunt' on social media. The villagers then run around like crazy trying to find it. 

I honestly wish they would not toy like that with people less fortunate than themselves. There is real poverty in that village. There are people who don’t have work and struggle to pay bills. Any sign of ill-health is treated with dread because people can’t afford to pay for medical care. Surely there has to be something better to do with their money than hide it and get a kick out of people trying to find it. Something seems quite wrong with what they are doing. 

Wealthy people like them are often courted by churches to gain financial support. I understand why. Churches need money to pay staff, to run programmes, to help the needy. I get it. 

But they cannot have privileged access to church life. They cannot buy power or influence in church. They cannot hold sway over the message from the pulpit. The reality is that all are equal before God: equally lost, equally found, equally redeemed, equally saved. Nothing and no-one has the right to violate that fundamental equality. That is why James is so direct here, and why Paul did not spare the Corinthians when he challenged how they celebrated the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-22). 

But where does this favouritism come from? Is it just an attempt to gain favour from those who are rich and powerful? 

Possibly. But I believe there is an even greater error behind it, and something we can easily all fall prey to: seeing  people not as people but as resources to be exploited. 

Consider this: when these rich people receive this favouritism, is it out of love for them, or out of love for what they can do? 

It doesn’t take a genius to work that out. 

Favouritism favours those who can do something for us over those who cannot. It views people in terms of their value: to our goals, to our community, to us. It sees people not as people, but as bank balances or power or influence. 

Jesus was one hundred percent against this: 

Luke 12:15 NIV 

[15] Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.12.15.NIV)

Partiality towards those who can over those who cannot is actually outlawed in Jewish law: 

Deuteronomy 16:18-20 NIV 

[18] Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in every town the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly. [19] Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. [20] Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/deu.16.18-20.NIV)

Leviticus 19:15 NIV 

[15] “ ‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/lev.19.15.NIV)

Jesus Himself showed no partiality: if anything, He was skewed against those who were rich and more educated because they should have known better than to sin. That is how we must be. If we follow Jesus, we cannot see people as only the value they produce. That is almost psychopathic and absolutely wrong.  

So how should we see and deal with people who are lower down the social scale to us? What should our attitude be? 

James will get to that later, but first he gave us a real wake-up gives by discussing Reality's Response. 

Reality's Response 

James 2:5-7 NIV 

[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? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.5-7.NIV)

One of the most troubling trends at the moment is when young people, or people in general who lack maturity and discernment, are encouraged to try dangerous stunts on social media. Many have led to serious injury of death. It must be harrowing for families involved in these, because none of them make any sense at all. Yet people are falling for them. 

What we see here in James is that partiality and favouritism don’t make sense, are never a good thing, are often thoroughly deceptive and are, in fact, reprehensible and dangerous. James makes three points, each one as powerful as the other, to illustrate the utter injustice, pointlessness, and absurdity of favouritism and partiality towards the rich: 

Firstly, it is a distortion. Now, that might sound strange to our ears. After all, it’s absolutely normal in our countries and cultures to favour those who have resources and influence over those who do not. 

But not in the Kingdom of God. Not one bit.

Luke 6:20, 24 NIV 

[20] Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 

[24]  “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.6.20-24.NIV)

The word translated as ‘poor’, both here and in Matthew 5:3 (where Matthew qualifies it as ‘in spirit') is a dramatic one. It means someone who is so poor that they are reduced to begging: someone whose lack of education and opportunities deprive them of a future unless one is given to them. They are utterly powerless and hopeless on their own. Those are the people Jesus said are blessed, and who will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

Why?  

Have you met Christians who are this poor? They truly believe, because they have no other hope. Their faith is pure and unsullied because without that faith they simply could not survive. 

But what about the rich? We see this happen in Scripture, when the rich young ruler is asked to give up his wealth to follow Jesus: 

Luke 18:23-27 NIV 

[23] When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. [24] Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! [25] Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” [26] Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” [27] Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.18.23-27.NIV)

Why is it so impossible? Perhaps this proverb might explain it: 

Proverbs 30:7-9 NIV 

[7] “Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: [8] Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. [9] Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/pro.30.7-9.NIV)

Those who are wealthy have a diminished need for God to provide for them – or so they believe, because they are able to provide for themselves. It’s therefore not such a big step for them to reject God entirely. This happened many, many times throughout Israelite history. No doubt we have seen it in the history of our nations too. 

But faith is the only currency that matters in heaven. There are no exchanges for our worldly wealth. We will have to leave it behind.  

Those who have power and influence and riches here on earth will have them only for a very short time. In eternity everything they have now will be useless and irrelevant. It makes no sense to pursue their influence at the cost of your soul, when their influence will wane so quickly. 

Apart from a distortion, we see that it is a dishonour: it dishonours those who are poor: who lack power and influence and resources. In fact, the Greek word used here is a lot worse than the English word dishonour. It means that the poor are being treated with contempt. 

And that is correct. Why? Because by showing partiality to the rich, we are implying that somehow the poor are less important, less valuable, less worthy. But in God’s eyes that is just not true.  

Look at what the Bible says about God Himself: 

Psalms 68:5 NIV 

[5] A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.68.5.NIV)

Proverbs 22:22-23 NIV 

[22] Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, [23] for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/pro.22.22-23.NIV)

And what Jesus Himself said: 

Matthew 25:41-46 NIV 

[41]  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. [42] For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, [43] I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ [44]  “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ [45]  “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ [46]  “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.25.41-46.NIV)

The Bible could not be clearer: if you dishonour the poor, your dishonour God. And believe me, you do not want to dishonour God. 

Apart from distortion and dishonour, we see that it is also disingenuous – it absolutely makes zero sense at all. James explained why: 

James 2:6-7 NIV 

[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? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.6-7.NIV)

People ultimately favour the rich because they want to get something out of it. The whole sorry affair can only be explained by naked self-interest. There is no love at all in the relationship. It is purely transactional. What James said is that it’s even worse than that. The Christians who favoured the rich were actually being accused and sued by the same rich people they favoured.  

And that stands to reason. The rich can afford clever legal counsel. The poor cannot. The rich have often use the courts to harass and bully the poor to get what they want. That still happens today.  

Think about it: where do attempts to silence us, to restrict our liberty, to reduce our standing in the world come from? Not the poor! They don’t have the resources to do that.

No, they come from the rich and the powerful, or those with access to them.  

Either way, it’s plain what James said here. Favouring the rich might seem like a good idea at first, but the more we think about it, the more reality bites and we see that it makes no sense at all. 

But even humanity’s rule and reality’s response don’t have the final word: God does, as we move on to see God’s Rule. 

God’s Rule 

James 2:8-13 NIV 

[8] If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. [9] But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. [11] For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. [12] Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.8-13.NIV)

When you cross an international border, there is always an area called ‘No Man’s Land’ between the countries. It’s more noticeable on land borders. In this area, a different tax regime applies (which is why there is duty free shopping).  

That is not the case at all between what is right and wrong as far as James was concerned.

He saw no grey area or room for nuance when it came to favouritism. It was wrong: end of argument. 

His reason is a massive wake-up call: it breaks the law. 

What law? 

The whole law! 

Why? 

Matthew 22:35-40 NIV 

[35] One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: [36] “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” [37] Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [40] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.22.35-40.NIV)

Now, we might be inclined to say that being a little cruel to someone poorer than us is nothing compared to murder or adultery. James doesn’t bother arguing that point. He simply stated that if you break one law, you are guilty of breaking the whole law because you have violated the love principle behind the law. In that way, showing favouritism towards the rich and defavouring the poor is completely and utterly against the law.

Because it is against the law, it is sin. 

But it doesn’t just break the law, it incurs judgement.  James’s point is stark and direct: if we don’t show mercy towards people, God will not show mercy to us. 

The word James used here in Greek is ‘krisis’. It doesn’t just mean a negative decision in a court of law. It also means a division or separation – which is exactly what we do when we show favouritism. Or discriminate. We know that Jesus talked about the separation of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46). Judgement is God’s prerogative, not ours. So if we separate others, categorise them and judge them, we can expect to be on the wrong side of God’s judgement. 

Jesus taught something very similar elsewhere: 

Matthew 6:14-15 NIV 

[14]  For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [15] But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.6.14-15.NIV)

The point is that there are people who are in need: they need our forgiveness if they have wronged us, they need our mercy if they are beneath us, they need our grace if they are not like us. God has shown us all these things. If we show forgiveness, grace and mercy, we receive forgiveness, grace and mercy. If we do not show forgiveness, grace and mercy, we will not receive forgiveness, grace and mercy. 

Elsewhere we see these words: 

Matthew 7:1-2 NIV 

[1]  “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [2] For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.7.1-2.NIV)

Matthew 7:12 NIV 

[12] So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.7.12.NIV)

So if we fail in this command, we fail to receive what we need and we rob ourselves of it all. 

This is truly a sober teaching. 

But it gets worse. It deprives us of mercy.  

James 2:12-13 NIV 

[12] Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.12-13.NIV)

Mercy and judgement are polar opposites. Judgement stomps on those who are needy: it pushes them away into a separate class and condemns them to remain there. Mercy reaches down to them to lift them up. 

We need mercy. That is an indisputable fact. But if we fail to show it to others, we will fail to receive it ourselves. That is the stunning message of these verses. 

Maybe we are a little bewildered by these verses. Maybe we wonder how grace could fit into any of this. 

The answer is simple, but profound. 

If we return to the verses we studied at very beginning of this series in Ephesians 2:8-10, we see that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our own work but by God’s work, but we are saved to work. The work that God requires is for us to love: God, our neighbours and ourselves.  

Discrimination, judgement and favouritism are not at all acts of love. They are, frankly, acts of hate. They are signs that we are not obeying God and our faith is dead, as we will see in our next study. A dead faith is not a saving faith, so yes, we deprive ourselves of mercy by choosing to judge. 

What we see here is one of the most stunning indictments of human culture there has ever been. These words are tough and very hard to take, but we must heed them if we want to be true followers of Jesus Christ, no matter how hard they are to hear. 

Conclusion 

James 2:8-9 NIV 

[8] If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. [9] But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.2.8-9.NIV)

During the Covid pandemic era, I began watching the nightly press conferences with our leaders almost religiously. However, it became plain that they were a bit of a waste of time most of the time. The general public was permitted to ask questions. Many of these questions could have been answered if they had listened to what their leaders had told them and applied a little common sense. Almost universally, these questions seemed to be from people who were looking for specific rules for their specific situations, or were trying to find loopholes to try to continue their life as normal, when it was far from normal for everyone else. 

Maybe that’s how you approach these verses. They are desperately challenging. And so they should be: they are trying to right a very serious wrong.  Maybe you would like to find a loop-hole.

But this wrong is all-pervasive in our society. It is everywhere. Certain minorities may claim that it only applies to them, or that it applies to them more than any other. And I agree: in a lot of ways I am sure that they have been discriminated against. They are right to feel pain about it. 

However, the reality is that anyone can be on the end of this horrible treatment. As a white male Scot, I have endured a level of discrimination. I have experienced people looking down on me because of where I grew up, or the school I went to, or the church I attended, or my bank balance, or where I lived, or who my family members were. Treatment like that was so normalised in the 1980s where I grew up that it had become institutionalised. Even state and other public bodies were widely rumoured to recruit on the basis of the school tie you wore in your graduation photos. 

It was wrong. All of it was wrong. 

No Christian has any excuse to behave like that. James makes it perfectly clear. 

But maybe you are examining areas of your life – professional and otherwise – and wondering how this exacting teaching can possibly apply. 

Does it mean, for example, that Christians can’t be involved in finding talent for their company? No it does not, but it has to be fair and non-discriminatory. This should also happen when fellow Christians are applying for the job. The best candidate should win, regardless of who they are. 

Does it mean that Christians can’t be involved in procurement? Again, no. But it has to be fair, righteous and non-discriminatory. 

In fact, the same goes for any employment, be it ‘sacred’ or secular. If a Christian is truly a Christian then they must be fair and just, because that’s how Jesus was. 

I'm aware this isn’t easy. There is no country in the world that is untouched by human corruption. But we cannot participate in it. We must be fair. We must be righteous. We must be just. We must be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). 

Above all, we must love. 

To some of you, this might seem like idealist claptrap. It is not. This is obedience. And before God nothing else is acceptable. 

We have seen humanity’s rule, where hard, cold, narcissistic, even psychopathic, gain is the order of the day and no-one cares about those who lose. We have seen reality’s response, that those from whom we seek that gain are often those who want to make us lose so that they can gain. And we have seen God’s rule: the rule of love. 

This teaching is hard. James hasn’t tried to dazzle us with difficult theology. Instead he has given us a direct and unequivocal challenge to attitudes that lie at the very core of our societies. 

The question is: will we obey? 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, I am so sorry for any time that I have discriminated against someone else, or shown favouritism to those who care little for me. Please help me to repent and to apply Your Royal Law to the full, no matter what it means for me. Amen. 

Questions for Reflection

1. Have you observed this type of behaviour? What happened? 

2. Why is James so against it? What does it say about the person who does it? 

3. What will you do to make sure that you never do this again?