God wants us to prefer others in the body of Christ, but there is a preference that is sin. What is it? Are you doing it? Further, are poor Christians poor because they lack faith as false teachers suggest today?; or are poor Christians “rich in faith” as God says?
When Preferring People Becomes A Sin
James 2:1-9
Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to James 2:1. We are starting chapter 2 of James and we will be reading through to verse 9 this morning. As you find James 2, I want to remind all of us that there is a certain preferential treatment that God expects us to have for one another in the body of Christ. In other words, there is a way that we must show preference for people in the church. God's word tells us in Philippians 2, to do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind we are to regard one another as more important than ourselves. God's word to us continues--We are not to merely look out for our own personal interests, but God wants us to look out for the interests of others. The great principle is that we are to prefer others in this manner as an authentic manifestation of love. Paul states it in a concise and crisp way in Romans 12:10;
"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;" Romans 12:10
Giving preference to one another in honor is the manifestation of the great royal law that permeates the New Covenant. It is supposed to permeate our lives as children of God. It is supposed to permeate our actions as new creations in Christ. It is supposed to permeate others as we treat them in this way. All throughout the Scriptures we find the revelation that we selfish, prideful, lazy humans need to be reminded of; namely, preference is good; preference is necessary, and preference is commanded. But, this morning we are going to look into another revelation that flows right alongside the one that commands preference of others. We are going to explore a revelation given to us from God where He tells us that there is a kind of preference that is not rooted in the law of love. It is not the preference of Philippians 2, or Romans 12:10. Rather it is evil preference that is rooted in sin. Let's go to the beginning of chapter 2 in James to see what I mean. Starting in verse 1, let's read together;
"1 My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. 2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,' 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers: did not God elect the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? 8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,' you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors." James 2:1-9
Let us prepare our hearts for the sacred preaching of God's word, in this sermon, titled:
When Preferring People Becomes A Sin
[pray]
Okay, we know that James is preaching hard, and he opens up this point with,
"1 My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism." James 2:1
When we listen to what James is saying here, I think we United States Christians can look at this with that sense of fairness that is typically an American kind of Constitutional justice issue that we have become culturally aware of. We might think about such lofty ideas as, all men are created equal, or in our Republic there is not supposed to be any such thing as class distinctions. We think this way, at least until we recognize that there is a graduated income tax system in place in our country. Nevertheless, philosophies of what is called affirmative action are presented in our culture as bringing a kind of fairness that is supposed to bring a mass sense of equality. Sometimes the attempt to artificially dictate this is called social integration. These are things that demonstrate the high ideals of humanistic government. But there is something that we all must understand. All secular religious theories of equality fade in light of the reality of what?-- human nature. What I mean is that it is not in human nature for us to look upon one another as equals. Part of the problem is that humans naturally compare themselves with one another. But another part of the problem is that nobody is truly equal to somebody else in the purely natural sense; that is, except for our common ground of being born as sinners in Adam. In other areas, equality means sameness, and we are not the same. We may be similar, but we are not equal. Some of us are geniuses. Others of us are morons. Some of us are wise. Others of us are fools. Some of us are muscular. Others are seemingly skeletal. Some are females. Others are males. Some of us are rich. Others are poor. These things are simply facts, and so these kinds of differences lead us, in our human natures, to hold up certain people in personal favoritism. But, in Christianity, there really is an equality that exist as a first principle of God's design. It is not equality of a natural kind. It is equality of a supernatural kind. And so, a presuppositional starting point, is the fact that we Christians are all saved by grace apart from works according to God's election. It is the fact that we are all one in Christ. In other words, there is a sense of equality that occurs in what is called our position and Identification in Christ the last Adam. Paul explains what we are in this kind of equal standing in Galatians 3,
"27 For all of you who were immersed into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:27-28
Christ is our all in all. Being in Him is the great equalizer where all the various distinctions of the world fade away into the great distinction of the One New Man of Ephesians 2:15, where even ethnic Jews and Gentiles become identified with Christ who is our all in all. Essentially, we are nothing without Christ.
Now before we proceed any further, we need to ask ourselves whether there is a Biblical mandate for having some sort of personal favoritism in the one equal body. Also, we need to know if we are to dishonor someone in the body, if such a thing is even possible. If so, then we can already conclude that this is not what James is talking about in respect to showing partiality. But further, if so, then we need to know what it is. Earlier, I mentioned Philippians 2, and Romans 12:10. In those passages, we recognize that we are to regard one another as more important than ourselves. Think of a Christian that you don't like very much--Do you have their picture in your mind? Okay, that person is more important than you are. In other words, that sense of their importance is the picture God wants to be there in your mind. God commands us to regard them that way. What else? We are not to merely look out for our own personal interests, but God wants us to look out for the interests of others. We are to give preference to one another in honor. It is the manifestation of the law of love, which is the royal law, which is the perfect law of liberty. So, in this way, we respect and honor the other members of the body, but we do it equally, and we do it to all in the body equally in the sense that we recognize our equality in Christ. But there is even more, and so we want to be thorough on this subject of when preferring people becomes sin. For example, in respect to recognizing and providing for certain ministers in preferential treatment as Paul says,
"17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." 1 Timothy 5:17
We find Paul giving a similar command in 1 Thessalonians, saying,
"12 But we request of you, brothers, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13 and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work." 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
So we see that distinctive preference and honor is mandated in certain instances. In fact, in a certain manner, as a matter of prescription. And so, to not prefer certain people is also a sin. But what about dishonor? We find such a thing being commanded by our Lord in respect to a brother or sister who persists in unrepentant sin when confronted with their actions. In Matthew 18, we read our Lord teaching,
"15 If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Matthew 18:15-17
In the context, the Israelites that Christ has called out from the lost sheep of the house of Israel to be the early church, are to treat an unrepentant sinner as a Gentile. Gentiles were people that were shunned by Israelites, and were not bestowed with honor. They were also to treat the unrepentant sinner as a tax collector. Tax collectors were Israelites who were dishonored with no preference given to them at all. We find similar treatment of a congregant that was among the fellowship of the saints in 1 Corinthians 5. Evidently the man was actively immoral with his father's wife. Paul says to dishonor such a person and withhold any preferential treatment of honor. Paul says to remove the man from your midst. Paul delivers the man up to Satan for the destruction of the man's fleshliness. Then Paul goes on in the same place to write about proper honor and preference, saying,
"9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; ... I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves." 1 Corinthians 5:9-13
What I am doing by demonstrating that God wants prescribed dishonor of certain people in some respects, and that God also wants prescribed honorable preference of people in other respects, is that I'm getting our minds prepared. What I mean is that I went over all these examples this morning so that I could make a very important statement. Basically, what I want to say is that James is not talking about any of that. James is talking about improper honor, and the improper dishonor, that comes from something that is foreign to Biblical revelation. James is talking about the sin of honoring the rich and famous, and dishonoring the poor and not so famous. James says,
"1 My brothers, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism." James 2:1
The New English Translation renders the Greek, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Staying with the context of what all James has said so far, whenever we apply personal favoritism, in an unbiblical manner, which is according to financial class distinctions, and fame, and this kind of thing, then what we are doing is manifesting some of the specific sins that James has been talking about up to this point. In other words, this kind of personal favoritism, is a lack of love, and it is a lack of doing the word. It is a lack of love for God and His handiwork in creating the body of Christ in His Son. It is a lack of love for our brothers and sisters by not recognizing their great importance as heirs of the kingdom. Yet, all Christians are special people. You are a special person because you are in Christ who is special for you. To see this, James clarifies,
"2 For if a man comes into your assembly ..."
James is talking about when a man comes into the local church gathering. We need to understand some things about this word "assembly." The reason is because of the odd anti church-building movement that has sprung up in our contemporary American culture. Currently Bridgeway Bible Church meets here in the associate pastor's home. We meet in a home, but we are not opposed to using church-buildings built for the purpose of the meeting of the saints in fellowship. The word that the NASB translates as assembly here is the Greek word synagogue (sunagoge or more accurately, sunagwgh). So, James literally says as the NET, the YLT, the Exegesis Bible, and the BBE render it,
"2 For if a man comes into your synagogue ..."
The synagogue was the Jewish house of prayer, but it was not originally referred to by that Greek name. In Hebrew, it was called Beit or Beth Knesset, which means simply
house of assembly.
Under Hellenistic influence, (which simply means Greek influence) this term became "synagogue," which means "assembly." The first Christians met in church assemblies in various places. Some met in the open. Some met in homes. Some met in the Jewish Beth Knesset buildings that they called synagogues. Some met in Christian synagogues built and designated for the church. Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to Polycarp in 4:2, referred to the buildings that the early Christians met in as synagogues. We find in the Pastor of Hermas in 43:9; that the buildings that the early Christians met in were called synagogues. Justin Martyr in his Dialogue with Tryphon the Jew in 63:5, referred to the buildings that the early Christians met in as synagogues. As is being revealed more and more in archeological findings being made in our time, buildings uncovered from the one hundreds AD, demonstrate that the early Christians met in structures built for the purpose of the meeting of the church. An example of this would be the famous Church of the Apostles. It is a first century Christian synagogue that existed on Mount Zion. What is interesting about The Apostle's Church is that not only was it a Christian synagogue, but it was actually built by the early emergent Christians to be a Christian meeting place. Christians built this synagogue within the first century. They built it on the site they identified to be the ground site of the Upper Room, where the Last Supper was held. As Christianity became more Gentile oriented in the Messianic kingdom according to the mystery, as Paul calls it, the Gentile Christians began to commonly refer to their gatherings by the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia has a semantic range that originally meant the called out ones, which is similar to the meaning of hagios--a word used for the saints, which means the set apart ones. In the word's semantic range, ekklesia also means "assembly." In the typical sense that the New Testament writers use the term, it means an assembly of the called out and set apart ones in Christ. Over time, this Gentile oriented Greek word, ekklesia, became the more commonly used term in reference to the church over the usage of sunagoge. Ekklesia was applied to Christians in a regional populace, to local gathering places, and later to church buildings. Another word for the actual building was the Greek kyriake, meaning "belonging to the Lord (kyrios)," from which the English word "church" is derived. Since James is the earliest Christian writing that we have (written before 49 AD) and since James is directed to scattered Israelite Christians, it is no wonder that James references Christian synagogues here as the church meeting places used abroad. James references the synagogues as the fellowshipping places where love for God in worship and sharing the word, and love for the saints is expressed corporately as the church.
This leads us now to get a glimpse of the early church gathering in James following words. In doing so, we will glean important principles for how we are to act as Christians. In James' description of the typical church fellowship, we see some of the problem that was occurring among them. The concern has to do with a trap that Christians who gather in biblical assembly have been tempted with throughout the whole history of the church. The concern has to do with you. It has to do with me. It has to do with all of us. James describes the church scenario this way,
"2 For if a man comes into your synagogue with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, ..."
James is talking about what the world is wrapped up in. He is talking about people who are wrapped up in the world. He is talking about people who have wrapped their bodies in the things of worldliness. They are expensive things that are meant to bolster pride. They are vain things. They are things that, for the most part, are things that are meant to decorate people to express wealth and to impress others. Unfortunately, such fading things actually do impress others, and so James goes on,
"... and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes," James 2:2
So, we think about this scenario; He is poor. He can not impress others with his clothes even if he wanted to. In fact, his clothes are dirty. Maybe they are all he has to wear, and so he can not clean them often. Perhaps he is not able to clean them. The point is that he is poor. He is poor and dirty--maybe even stinky. Have you ever met a Christian who stinks? Next question;
How much do you love Christians who stink?
I didn't ask, Do you love them? I asked, How much do you love them? Remember, love is something we do. It's not something we merely say. But think about this guy who is there in the synagogue. What kind of competition does he have with the clean, rich, finely adorned folks who are the gold ring ornaments of honor found in so many churches? The only thing he is competing for, is to be recognized as the precious brother in Christ that he is. The question that I want to ask, is
Why is there competition in the church in the first place?
A huge part of the answer is that whenever we are stuck on ourselves and what we want out of church, then we don't become Christ centered and body of Christ centered, do we? We become competitive. We become the body of my own self centered. We want the attention of others. We want the self exalting reputation. We want to be recognized, complemented, and respected. It is the subtle sin of self exalting selfishness, where we turn from making it our ambition to point people away from us--to Christ, and we get so stuck on ourselves that we want everyone pointing toward us. And yet the whole time, God is saying He wants us to decrease--Why?-- so that He increases. But it also affects others in the body, and this is James' point that we need to apply to our own selves. James is talking about prideful love for self, where love for God and love for one's neighbor gets pushed aside, and it is sin. How many of us recognize that the sin of unbiblical, carnal worldly impressions, and class favoritism is actually a kind of love? It is-- but it is the misplaced ungodly love of loving riches and honor. Yet at the same time, it is also lack of love, because it is lack of love for the poor and the dirty among us. James says,
"3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' and you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool, [at my feet]'"
There it is. It is human nature to respect the painted and waxed classic car, while at the same time, taking for granted the old rusty pick up truck. One is a trophy of vanity that is given too much attention. The other is a special tool of great value and worth that is unfortunately taken for granted way too often. It's like the crazy foolish practice today of parading cultural celebrities around who claim that they are saved, as if they are experts of greater worth for advancing the kingdom. Somehow we want to sanctify their carnal fame and fortune as something that brings fame and fortune to Christianity. It's sick, and you see it all the time. There are Christians who reflect the star gazing silliness of sin that James is talking about by getting all giddy and excited when they hear of some famous musician who says they are Christian. Or they think a prophet has been born and anointed to reach the masses when they hear of some movie star that claims that they are saved. The same dreamy hope is put on sports stars.
Did you hear that he is a Christian?
Did you hear that she goes to church?
Did you notice that she has a tattoo of a cross above her belly button?
You think I'm joking, but there are Christians who can't wait to call their friends when they find out something like this. It's not so much of a care that the individual is actually saved, but rather it's a false notion that somehow the reputation of Christianity has been saved by the rich and famous celebrities of our dying culture. Sadly, time, and further observation usually proves the opposite to be true, and then everyone acts embarrassed when the glitzy god-chaser crashes and burns in faded glory. The point is that this is the kind of thinking that is so prevalent today. So-called Christian leaders even fall for this--in fact, they promote it. Christian leaders who are wrapped up in this stuff, parade these waxed car celebrities around like some advertising sales pitch to the culture of cool in such a way as to say,
"See how much the Christian trophies of your glitzy world culture look and act in such a way that should be acceptable to you who are in the world? Superstars are Christians too. So you see, Christians are really more like you than you probably thought--in fact some of them are more famous, more successful, more cool, and much, much richer than you are. Don't you want to listen to them? Don't you want to be a Christian too? You can even put a tattoo of a cross above your own belly button."
But, the sales pitch is not based upon the Spirit. It's based upon the flesh. And so such celebrities are trophies that are thought of as the real power tools for advancing God's kingdom. And yet, if any of us are thinking according to that lie, then we are being judges with evil motives. We are measuring with carnal standards.
It seems so easy to identify as sin when we look at this the way James explains it, but notice how subtle the contempt for the common actually is. Notice how subtle the praise of riches and class honor is. What James is saying is that all you are doing is telling people where to sit. Isn't that what James is describing? You are such a wonderful director helping people to sit down. Look at how sweet you are. Look at how concerned and loving you appear to be. But, why aren't you inviting the poor and dirty nobodies to your house for dinner? Why aren't you inviting the common folks out to eat with you and your family?--or even offering to buy the meal. After all, your brother in Christ can not even afford to go out to eat. Instead, you want to befriend the respectable and attractive ones. They wear the gold rings on their fingers, and you want to wear their friendship like a gold ring on yours. So what happens? What do people say?
"Hey, here's my e-mail. What is yours? Here's my cell number. What is yours? Give me a call. Let's get together. Let's be good friends. You look like someone I like to be around--someone clean, exciting, respectable, cool, funny, and rich," and on and on.
My dear Christian, do you see what is really being said? What is being said, is that these are the kinds of people that are worthy of our love! We are saying,
Sit in the good place of intimate fellowship, friendship, and edification with me.
On the other hand, what are we saying to the other lights of God's glory that we are eclipsing with our sinful standard? Not much, and that is exactly what the problem is. It's a heart issue. So what does the misdirected heart do? It avoids those people. In fact what you say demonstrates the heart issue as the ultimate in avoidance. You are not saying sit, dine, fellowship, worship, cry, laugh, pray, and study the Bible with me. You are saying sit over there. It is a kind of subtle contempt for the saints that reflects a subtle kind of contempt for the Lord. But many Christians don't see it because the world has blinded them. They say,
sit on the floor. But wait a minute, I know where; someplace I won't have to acknowledge you much; someplace where I kind of know you are there, but not too much to be an authentic part of my life; a place that keeps me above you in some convenient manner. How about at my footstool?
Folks, the body of Christ does this all the time in so many different ways.
I'm in control of how fellowship is supposed to look. So, sit at my footstool.
After all, that is where the standard of the world wants to put the poor, dirty people--the unattractive Christians. Amazingly, we may be the poor dirty unattractive people ourselves--right? Attractiveness is more than looks. In fact, James is describing the attributes of being an unattractive Christian by exposing the ugliness of sinful hypocrisy. And ironically, in the darkness of the scales that are on our own eyes, we may seek to run from a kind of shame that has been put on us by the lie of our culture, and so in this kind of prideful shame, we say to those who are in our own state,
You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,
and the whole time, others who are thinking the same way as we are, are saying to us,
No!, you stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,"
The point is that it is all a crazy sinful lie! It is all hypocrisy. It is all sin, and disunity of the body in transgression of the law of love. It has nothing at all to do with the way of Christ, and folks, the sharpest part of this point is that any of us can succumb to this deception and lack of love in a moment, where we do not judge the body rightly. None of us are immune to this. This is what James warns about, and identifies as a disease among the churches, and so he gets very, very confrontative. Unlike the poor and the dirty who don't usually retaliate. God's Spirit goes straight to the core issue like a deep wounding sword. God grabs you by the shoulders and looks at you directly into your hypocritical, pride filled, deceived eyes, and says,
"4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?" James 2:4
Yes, you may think your motives are not evil, but they are. You have been exposed, and the way that God lays you bare is simply by pointing out what you are doing. God's great highlighter marks when we are making evil distinctions among the body of Christ, and instead of being the righteous judges of the body, John 7:24, and 1 Corinthians 11:29-31, we've become corrupted judges who sit on the bench of life where we legislate evil from our own benches. Make no mistake about it, James is talking to Christians. God is talking to all of us. James calls these hypocrites in the church assemblies, brothers, saying,
"5 Listen, my beloved brothers: ..."
This is why our own actions are so shameful. We are treating our family of God in this way. But God wants to let us know how much he loves the poor dirty brother. Since we aren't very good at understanding who should be elected, (because the poor and dirty are not the prime candidates according to the flesh), God tells us how He does it. God sees a different standard in all men. God sees the real equality. He sees that in sin, all of us are poor, wretched, sin soiled sinners, and it is in that state that God elects us and makes us all spiritually rich, clean, shining, glorious brothers and sisters who are shining lights of God's glory in Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul explains that God did not call many who are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. He elected some who are this way, just as He elects some rich people who are this way, but not many. But Paul explains the same standard that James does. God has elected the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. God has elected the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong. He has elected the base things of the world, and the despised. God has elected, the things that are not. Why?... so that He may nullify the things that are. And why would God do that? So that no man will boast before our God. It should be humbling for all of us to recognize that it is by His doing alone, according to His election alone, that we are in Jesus Christ, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. If anyone is going to boast, then let him boast in the Lord! (1 Corinthians 1:25-31). Folks, we really need to believe this. This is one practical area where your doctrinal beliefs will drive your actions. If you are an Arminian, or a synergist where you think you are helping God out by saving people with your sales tactics, then you will never fully understand what strict adherence to the royal law really implies in every area of life. You will try to impress the world with what they are impressed with in an attempt to impress them into the kingdom. But it doesn't work, and the reason why it doesn't work is because salvation is a miracle that is based completely upon God's Holy spirit impressing the heart of sinful men and women with the conviction of sin and the power of the gospel of the crucified and resurrected Christ. James knows all these things, and so James says essentially what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, that if anyone is going to boast, then let him boast in the Lord,
"... did not God elect the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man."
Notice the love connection. What I mean is that at this point, James is not so much concerned with honoring the rich, though there is concern in that area. What James is concerned with at this point is dishonoring another brother or sister who has been created in the image of Christ as an heir of the kingdom. How may times, and how many ways, have Christians dishonored the poor man in lack of love for God, and for their neighbor? I have seen it in the mission field in Northern India. The barefoot poor laborer who risks his life daily going from Hindu and Islamic village to Hindu and Islamic village sharing Christ, is hardly noticed. But, a rich missionary nearby who hardly does anything but solicit money, not only gets the money, but also receives honor from the body that the poor laborer has had stolen from him. Yes, God will say, well done my good and faithful servant, to that humble loving missionary, but where is the correct honor among the body of Christ that God also commands. Then you have the multi million dollar ministry personalities here in our country, and even in our own city. Oftentimes the doctrine they teach is horrendous. But they have millions upon millions in assets. They have media fame, and they have monetary fortunes, and so they receive honor upon honor from people who are impressed with such things. On the other hand, there are sound pastors who faithfully guide their flocks in the sound precepts of the faith. They do it day in and day out, while working another job to make ends meet, and they are hardly noticed. They call me on the phone, and they say, Kerry, I can hardly make it. Please pray for me brother. This happened to me a few weeks ago from a Pastor I know back East. He called me long distance, and said, "Kerry, I can hardly make it. Please pray for me brother. Ministry is tough today when you preach the word for all its worth without compromising the truth." He said, "People are picky. They want their ears tickled with traditions of men and meatless sermons. They want candy." I said, "I know" and we prayed. Another man who I know of in this situation is literally a genius. Overall, his doctrine is solid. He was in seminary with me. His theological mind is nothing short of amazing. His exegetical insights in God's word are truly anointed, crisp, clear, and sound in the classic sense that the church so desperately needs, but he has to work in a business that ties up valuable ministry time from morning to night. He is poor by the worlds standards of what a minister should be. The little fellowship that God has called him to, is not respected because it is small. His ministry is not famous. He is not given the honor he deserves by the Christians in this city because he is not rich, famous, and flamboyant. He is humble, and solid, but he is poor. So, he gets dishonored by an immature church age that has misplaced the true standards of spiritual success. There are wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ who excel as standards to look up to for wisdom and stability in the faith. In other words, they are rich in faith. They are in churches all over the world, but they can not give very much financially to the ministry. On the other hand, there are immature Christians who are fools in the fellowship. They are not stable in their doctrines and practices, but they have lots of money and they give lots of money, and so oftentimes, the poor stable man is overlooked as the godly man that he really is, and in his place the rich man, but unqualified man, is spotlighted. Oftentimes he is even made into a shepherd of the flock by the proxy of price. What a shame. The body is shamed. 1 Corinthians 1 is ignored. James 2 is ignored. The poor, which are rich in faith and spiritual maturity are dishonored, and ignored. And why? All because they are poor. Yet, God elected the poor of this world to be rich, rich, rich in faith, and to be the worthy, blessed heirs of the treasure filled kingdom which He promised to those who love Him. What is even worse in our day is the false doctrine that is being preached as the candy that people like to hear and chew on that is spreading cavities throughout the body of Christ, where the opposite is being preached. It bolsters all of this sinful thinking that God is convicting us to avoid in right doctrine. I am talking about the false prosperity doctrine that says that to be poor must mean that you lack faith, and are really poor in faith. What a bizarre antithesis of what God really says, and yet this false teaching is promoting the sin of James 2:1-9 all across this world today. We must wake up to this tragedy that cripples churches all across our nation. Woe to us who are in the habit of dishonoring the poor man. Woe to us who do not repent of it right now in personal shame concerning our own actions. Then James makes the contrast concerning what typically happened in that time and culture that was immersed in class distinction bondage, saying,
"Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?"
Okay, we can not miss how ingenious James' illumination is by the Holy Spirit to make this point. You see, James is not saying that this is how all rich people are who are lost. More importantly, James is not saying that this is how rich Christians are. What James is doing is demonstrating that our standards of how we elect people to honor in judgment is absurdly skewed, especially if we are going to look upon outward standards. Why? Because according to the outward standards of James' time, to elect what looks more honorable to the eyes of the flesh that are stuck on temporal riches and fame popularity, is to elect according to a candy coated class of people who were typically those who oppressed you--not loved you! It was to elect according to a class of people who would personally drag you into court. In fact, according to the flesh, such flashy figures who seem so attractive to the flesh, are typically the same figures that blasphemed Christ, and isn't it by the name of Christ that you have been called? Therefor, why are you calling forth a class of people who are in an artificially contrived category of honor in making your own election choice? Is it not really from evil motives? And the answer is a sobering, "yes." There is no other reason for such action. We may try to make excuses, but our excuses only condemn us as being hypocritical judges with evil motives, rather than righteous judges with just, and loving, motives. What James is saying is "be convicted." Be stunned at your own actions. Wake up to what you are doing. You are acting like a fool for the world, rather than a friend of Christ, and you need to repent in serious and quick action. Then James gets down to the core of what should have been governing us all along as righteous judges. It is the legislation from the bench of God in God's New Covenant that we are all commanded to live according. James says,
"8 If, however, you are fulfilling [If you really fulfill--ESV] the royal law according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."
This has been James's point from verse 1. All the exhortation for us not to hold our faith in the Lord of glory with an attitude of personal favoritism, has to do with whether we are really fulfilling the royal law of love. How easy it is to not recognize the sin of personal favoritism of verse 1. How easy it is to pay special attention to the rich and famous of verse 2. Such things may have the appearance of love where you are showing what seems to be consideration for your brothers and sisters. It seem like love, but what has the appearance of love in this respect, is really the heart of evil judgment that comes from impure and defiled religion that James speaks of in 1:27. It is really love for the world, and all the trappings of earthly standards of success and importance. It is love for the big three poisoned treasures of the world that John identifies as deadly killers. It is not just misplaced love. It is evil love. John says of the three,
"15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world,
[One] the lust of the flesh and
[Two] the lust of the eyes and
[Three] the boastful pride of life,
is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17
So, it may seem like all your attention that you pay to the clean, well dressed, well mannered, well spoken person is your great manifestation of love, but what may really be going on, is a manifestation of love for the things in the world. This is a subtle kind of contempt for the brother and sister neglected because they are poor, dirty, not well spoken, not as smart, not as polished, and not as well mannered as others. To treat them as if you don't care for them as much, equates to treating them like you don't truly love them as much. This is the problem, and so it is more serious than we may think that it is while we are doing it. So, what we see is that God is concerned with the true riches. True riches are people--namely, anyone who is saved. True riches are also the way anyone who is saved thinks and acts according to the great royal law of the kingdom of Messiah. God elects the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him. What this means is that they love Him, and that is what matters. Love the Lord, and love your neighbor. James says it in our passage, but notice that he already said it before in the first chapter. He said that the true Christian
"12... will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
How are we demonstrating that we love Him? Do we love Him enough to love those He loved enough to elect from among the despised, poor, dirty of this world? Do we love Him enough to love those He loved enough to be executed in sacrifice for? Are we showing it by our actions? Peter sums up all that I have been preaching this morning in one sentence;
"17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God," I Peter 2:17
I urge you to honor the body of Christ. Are you doing it? I urge you to love the brotherhood. If you are not preferring all your brothers and sisters as the family of God in Christ whether rich and famous, or poor and dirty, then you are not honoring them with the love for the brotherhood that God demands. Do you fear God? Then make an attitude adjustment. It's a heart issue, so check your heart in the matter. I urge all of us to change from preferring people in such a way that is sin, to honoring all people in such a way that glorifies Christ trough His church.
