God is inclusive. All who confess belief in Jesus can be His children. This daily devotion looks at how God does not judge the poor on their appearance.
Nuggets
- God doesn’t want us to treat others based on earthly distinctions.
- James gave an example of what he was talking about.
- We are not to judge others based on appearance.
- The poor are heirs to the kingdom of God.
Devotions in Living Out Our Faith series
At the end of Chapter 1, James was switching his focus to what we do with our faith once we get it. He had just said that fulfilling the two greatest commandments entailed remaining unstained with sin and supporting orphans and widows.
James continued his focus on how we use our faith to interact with others in Chapter 2.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of nuggets for the series.
Don’t Show Favoritism
“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory" (Jas. 2: 1 ESV)
God doesn’t want us to treat others based on earthly distinctions.
James had just gotten off a chapter where he talked about trials. He talked about not sinning so as to become mature in our faith.
Yeah, it ended up being a kind of hard chapter to read for those who were facing trials and not doing the best job of not sinning.
To ease that, James starts Chapter 2 by calling them brothers. As disciples, we are brothers and sisters in the family of God. We are all His children, which makes us siblings.
Glossary
There is another reason why James called them siblings. He wanted to get them to do what God was wanting them to do.
James wasn’t calling them to some generic lifestyle. He was calling them to a life of faith.
It can get really hard to live a life of faith when you are focused on the trials. James knew he wasn’t going to browbeat them into the life God wanted them to lead.
What James was calling them – and us – to do is to be united with Jesus. Adam talked about this. He wrote, “It is only by believing with the whole mind and heart that we are united to the Saviour, and reap the benefits of His great redemption.”
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When we are united with Jesus through our whole mind and heart, we treat others the way He would treat them – with no partiality. This no partiality is applicable, according to Adam, to material possessions and worldly position and does not address their character or spiritual worth.
Let’s stop a minute and consider who is James’ audience. He is writing to the people who have been dispersed (Jas. 1: 1). This included those who didn’t come home from Babylon.
Still, James was calling them brothers (and sisters). He considered them as having some sort of relationship.
They do. As I said earlier, they are all believers, so they are in the family of God.
That initiates a relationship without our doing anything.
We are also called to not have any partiality. Turnball helped explain this. He wrote, “the gospel teacheth that with God is no respect of persons, but that they all which fear God and work righteousness are accepted through the joyful tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ, in whom there is neither male nor female, bond nor free, neither rich nor poor, but they are all alike unto Him.”
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How can this happen? It happens because we serve the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ.
Jay noted that Scriptures do acknowledge the inequalities of life. He wrote, “The Scripture justifies the distinctions and inequalities of life, and rank and office are to be regarded.”
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Beyond those distinctions, we are not to have prejudice or favoritism.
Okay, so what this is really saying is that material possession does not indicate their level of faith. That would be a new concept for the Jews.
Think about Abraham and Job. They were really wealthy. Yes, they had great faith.
It is nowhere said that Paul, on the other hand, possessed great wealth. He did possess great faith.
We aren’t to judge people by worldly standards. Instead, we are to judge them on being persons of faith.
Our faith is to be in Jesus, the Lord of glory.
- “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1: 3 ESV)
- “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12: 2 ESV)
- Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (I Pet. 3: 22 ESV)
Jesus will come again in glory. He will take us to be with Him for eternity.
An Example of Favoritism
“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,’” (Jas. 2: 2-3 ESV)
James gave an example of what he was talking about.
We make a lot of assumptions based on appearance. James cautioned us not to do that.
The clothes we are wearing provide the foundation for most of the assumption.
Where is this assumption being made? “For if a man … comes into your assembly…” (Jas. 2: 2 ESV). They have come to worship.
But the scenario says that actions were performed based on the assumptions made on appearances.
How different that is from how God wants us to act! “But the Lord said to 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’” (I Sam. 16: 7 ESV).
Remember how we interpreted what James said in the last chapter. If anyone has an outside religion (if he thinks he is religious) and doesn’t have the inside relationship with God (doesn’t bridle the tongue and deceives the heart), our religion is worthless.
God doesn’t want us to have just an outward religion. He wants an inward relationship with us.
Making Judgments on Assumptions
“have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (Jas. 2: 4 ESV)
We are not to judge others based on appearance.
Jesus told us not to judge others. “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Mt. 7: 1 ESV).
Moore reminded us that judgment is above our pay grade. We wouldn’t get it right.
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We not only look at things from the outside only, but we also look at things only from our own viewpoint. This bias clouds our judgment.
What did Jesus say? Those who judge will be judged themselves.
God Cho0ses the Poor
“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?” (Jas. 2: 5-7 ESV)
The poor are heirs to the kingdom of God.
It is easy to think that God is blessing the rich and punishing the poor. James said that isn’t the case.
God did not turn His back on the poor. Manton said there were five reasons why God chose the poor.
- Show His glory
- Show His goodness.
- Heal their defects.
- They would obey Christ.
- They wouldn’t be corrupted by their riches.
When we become disciples, we become rich. No, this is not talking about a prosperity gospel. We aren’t promised that all our financial worries will be over.
We are promised salvation and eternal life when we obey God. Manton wrote, “Faith makes us truly rich; it is the open hand of the soul, to receive all the bounteous supplies of God.”
We only attain true riches when we are blessed by God. We are promised to be heirs to His kingdom.
James had a strong accusation for the rich. They had humiliated the poor man.
Making the Connections
Our faith has to infiltrate our lives. We have to get it to our core.
When our inward faith is expressed outwardly, that means it affects our relationships with others. We treat them the way Jesus would.
Just as we do not discriminate because of skin color, we don’t discriminate because of the size of their bank account.
How Do We Apply This?
- Take steps to interact with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
- Invite others to join the family of God.
Father God. You do not show favoritism to us. All who confess You may become Your children. Help us to treat others with this impartiality. Amen.
What do you think?
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