OF PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE
If
you had to choose between Coke and Pepsi, which would drink would you choose?
If you had to choose between Ford
and General Motors, which vehicle would you drive?
These are the “great” debates of the
modern era. Really, they are quite inconsequential and Coke drinkers will drink
Pepsi if they have to, albeit secretly lest their Coke friends find out. Even
hardened GM men (I say “men” because I don’t think women care that much) will
drive a Ford if it means not walking.
What this little contest about soda
or vehicles proves is this: You have favorites. And having a favorite drink or
a favorite brand of anything is certainly not a moral problem. I have a
favorite daughter and a favorite son; ask me if I have a favorite child and we
begin to have a problem.
When we venture into the realm of
“favorite people” the theme seems benign, but on further thought there comes a
realization that having “favorites,” outside of family, is more problematic
than we are aware.
This week, thinking that this
subject was not hitting my heart very hard, I prayed, “Lord, show me where I
play favorites, because I feel quite innocent in this.” And as I was praying
the Lord brought to mind several instances where I have prejudices and where my
pride keeps me from engaging certain people. I was appalled at myself; I
stopped praying since I didn’t like what I was seeing.
The underlying message of James
2:1-13 can slip by us like a barely-felt breeze if we are not seeing ourselves
in it. When you allow the message to sink in, however, it becomes a gale-force
wind that will knock you down, because the truth is, there are people you do
not like, for reasons you have conjured up, and you don’t like talking to them
or being with them or even associating with them.
And we will discover today in our
study that James forbids this kind of thinking because according to the law of
love that Jesus taught, Christians must not favor anyone for any reason since
it is not consistent with that law of love.
1.
Faith and Favoritism are incompatible
James
bases his command on his second and last reference to Jesus Christ. “My brothers and sisters, believers in our
glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism,” (2:1).
We might be tempted to think that
only two mentions of Jesus in five chapters of a letter gives the impression
that James renders Jesus insignificant. If he did, this would be just a bunch
of moral teachings.
However, a careful study of James
shows that James very carefully bases what he writes on the teachings of Jesus.
And here in this verse, James is equating Jesus with the shekinah glory of God,
the localized presence of Yahweh. So when James writes “our glorious Lord Jesus
Christ,” he is giving Jesus the highest title – he is saying Jesus is God.
This is not a tangent but rather a
basis for the command. Since Jesus is God and we believe in him, on that basis
we are told not to show favoritism, because faith and favoritism are
incompatible.
Favoritism, in this text, literally
means “to receive someone according to their face.” It describes the essence of
judging a person based on their appearance. The word implies that someone looks
at a certain person and shows them his face, but turns away from another. It is
picking and choosing who will see one’s face.
If we broaden the spectrum of what
“appearances” entail, we could say that there are some people we will not “show
our face to” based on their politics, where they work, or who their friends
are. Something about certain people has prejudiced our view of them and we
would rather avoid them.
2.
Judge no person based on appearances
James
chose a specific illustration that may have been an issue in the Early Church.
He outlines a scenario where two men come into a meeting of Christians,
presumably a worship service. One is obviously wealthy and has social status.
He is described as wearing a gold ring, which seems to stand out and is the
emblem of his aforementioned social status. We are also told in the Greek that
his clothes are “shining.” Woven into the fabric are strands of silver and
gold.
The other man is clearly poor and
wearing “filthy old clothes.” In another part of James (1:21) this same term is
used to speak of moral uncleanness. This is no accident, since many of us, if
we would see a person in filthy clothes in church, would judge him or her to be
in a sinful way. But this man is simply poor and doesn’t have nice clothes.
Of course, the rich man is seated in
good spot, while the poor man is told to sit at someone’s feet, presumably so
they can keep an eye on him. It is humiliating to sit at someone’s feet since
it symbolizes subjection, or the simple judgment that the one is socially
better than the other.
James is quick to tell us that if we
do this to people who come into our church, or treat them in any way that
suggests that they are not worth our attention and love, then we are plainly
wicked. We are placing ourselves in the place of judge, something that only God
has the right to be.
Appearances are lousy evidence to
judge by. You will remember when God sent Samuel to anoint a new king when Saul
had failed to be a decent king. Samuel was sent to Jesse’s sons who were tall,
strong and handsome. But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.
The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart,” (1 Sam 16:7). Then God
pointed Samuel to David, a young, insignificant teenager whose job was the
lowest of low, shepherding.
Ironically, the person you call
“Savior” and “Lord” was prophesied to be of no physical consequence as far as
looks go. Isaiah foretold, “He had no
beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we
should desire him,” (Is 53:2b). Indeed, Jesus was the son of a poor
carpenter and had no money to his name, he was a humble peasant from Nazareth
(“can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked). Yet he is the Lord of
glory.
Based on appearances, Jesus did not
amount to much. David, his ancestor, did not look like he would amount to much.
With these examples, how can we be so superficial and judge someone to be of no
account and not worth our time?
3.
Why Favoritism fouls the name of Christ
James
has given us his illustration, perhaps a bit exaggerated, but for a good point.
Now we will look at his reasons for rejecting favoritism. The first two are
rational arguments for rejecting favoritism, while the third is biblical. Why
is favoritism to be rejected?
a) It is inconsistent
with God’s choice of the poor – This is a peculiar feature of the
upside-down kingdom of God. God has chosen the poor. “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?”
(2:5).
When we favor the rich we ignore
that God has sided throughout history with the poor because it is the poor who
are likely to be responsive to him and are therefore nearer to the kingdom.
Some of the most vibrant churches today are found in Africa, South America and
Asia – particularly among the poor regions of our world. Why? Jesus said that
the deceit of wealth chokes out the Word of God and faith in people (Mt 13:22).
So should we all be poor? Does God
only choose poor people to be his children? With this logic we would never want
to help the impoverished escape poverty, lest they lose their salvation.
Scripture would not teach us to help the poor in that case. But it is not just
that they are poor that leads to their salvation. They are poor AND they choose
to love God (v. 5). However, we cannot ignore that the poor are more inclined
to trust in Jesus than the rich.
b) It is
inconsistent with the conduct of the rich – The second rational argument
is that to favor the rich makes no sense since they are the ones who are apt to
sue you. It is not clearly stated but the impression is that in this context
the rich were oppressing the poor and trying to gain more land.
James does not condemn the rich for
being rich. That would be an unfair judgment again on our parts. James condemns
the rich for what they do – that is, exploit the poor.
There does seem to come with wealthy
a pride that suggests independence and self-sufficiency. When that pride
overwhelms the wealthy they tend to mock the place of faith in one’s life.
James wrote, “Are they not the ones who
are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?” (5:7). They may
do this directly, or more likely, indirectly by how they live – without a care
for what God cares about.
c) It is
inconsistent with the law of love – James then lets his readers have it
with the royal law. Why it is called the “royal law” is not explained in the
text. We presume it is because the Lord Jesus declared that the greatest
commandment was “To love the Lord your God” and “To love your neighbor as
yourself.” If the King says this is the law that fulfills all law then it is a
royal law and one to be obeyed above all others.
Back in the OT God gave this law, “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality
to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly,”
(Lev 19:15). And then God said, “Love
your neighbor as yourself,” (Lev 19:18), a few verses later. Love treats
all people fairly. Love sees all people as God sees them. Love does not
discriminate based on wealth, social status, or appearance.
James uses this appeal to say that
showing favoritism, loving some but not others, shunning those you don’t like,
ignoring a brother or sister in the church, or whatever, is a conscious breaking
of the royal law of Jesus. And if you break one law, he says, you break them
all. If you show favoritism you are as bad as a murderer. Sound harsh? John
wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet
hates his brother, he is a liar…Whoever loves God must also love his brother,” (1
Jn 4:20-21).
Hate is a strong word. Yet if we
choose to “show our face” or make eye contact, that is, give our selves to one
and not another, we are despising them – hating them.
4.
Show in your life that MERCY TRIUMPHS
The
conclusion that James reaches is this: “Speak
and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who not been merciful.
Mercy triumphs over judgment,” (2:12-13).
This is an excellent example of
where James reaches into the teaching of Jesus and makes a connection and an
application. When does mercy triumph over judgment?
Jesus tells the story of a king who
wanted to settle accounts with his debtors. He finds a man who owes him millions
of dollars. Surely the man should be judged and thrown in prison for incurring
a debt he could never repay. But the king has mercy on him.
However, this man, who is scot-free
of any debt or judgment, turns around and finds a man who owes him a few
hundred dollars. The man cannot pay and so the first man has him thrown into
prison.
The king hears about the unmerciful
servant who treated his fellow servant so badly and revokes the mercy he had
shown him. Jesus tells us what the king says, “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on
you?” The king then throws the man in jail till he pays back what he owes –
which is likely forever.
Then Jesus concludes, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat
each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart,” (Mt 18:35).
Mercy triumphs over judgment. How?
We all deserve what that unmerciful servant received but we have been forgiven
a debt we could never repay. Our condemnation has been replaced with mercy. How
did we appear to God? We were wearing filthy clothes and we looked poor. No one
should have bothered with us in the state we were in. God ignored our
appearance and saw hearts that would receive his mercy.
So then, on what basis do we have
the right to show favoritism to someone who comes into our fellowship and
ignore others? What right do we have to be prejudicial based on petty
differences, clothing, status, employment, or family lineage, when God has
shown us mercy despite those things?
How
can we show hospitality to some but not to others? Who is welcome in your home
and who is not? Who is permitted into your conversations in the coffee shop and
the tea house and who is not?
You would say, as I did, I’m not
prejudiced against anyone. I am not showing favoritism. But search your heart
and pray that God would reveal it to you. THERE ARE people you do not associate
with because your heart is wicked. I know this for a fact because my heart is
wicked too.
But mercy triumphs. God is merciful
and he will judge us by the royal law if we show mercy to others and “love our
neighbor as we love ourselves.”
Show
me your faith
Pride
and prejudice are a betrayal to Jesus.
Who is God putting on your heart to
love with mercy?
Who are you avoiding because of a prejudice
in your heart?
How do we greet visitors to our
church? How do we judge them? By the cut of their cloth or the look on their
face?
Are we afraid that mercy will demand
that we care for new people when our lives are so busy already? Are we afraid
of being overwhelmed by their burdens?
Who do you need to love?
Let’s take a moment to be quiet and
ask the Lord to show us that person who needs our mercy.
AMEN
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