James 2:1-13 My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators. For the one who obeys the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom. For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment.
Prejudice ... in our society we generally recognize the ugliness of this world. There were a lot of positive things about life in the US 60 years ago, but one good change is that we no longer idealize the prejudice that led us to accept "separate but equal" as a valid societal option. An understanding of James' practical Christianity could have saved us a lot of wrongdoings and, in fact, informed many Christians' responses to join the civil rights movement and fight to overturn the injustice.
As with many Scriptural admonitions, though, James doesn't stop at what negative things to avoid. Even well-meaning secular teachers who have an understanding of God's natural law (Rom. 2:14) come up with wisdom that addresses the negative. Confucius, for example, said "Don't do to another what you don't want him to do to you." True and good ... as far as it goes. But that's something we can do in our flesh. Jesus taught the full truth - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In other words, be intentionally looking out for treating others in a positive sense, as you would have them treat you. Don't just avoid a negative behavior ... enact a positive one.
In this passage, the NASB comes closest to the literal translation when it admonishes us: "do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism." Ouch! It's easier to avoid prejudice than to avoid personal favoritism. After all, it's only natural to prefer some people over others - right? But as we will see, that is exactly James' point.
The phrase translated by the NASB "personal favoritism" and by the NET "prejudice" appears in the KJV as "respect of persons." A.T. Robertson notes that the Greek idiom from which this word is derived means "to lift up the face on a person; be favorable and partial". The same word group is used in Scripture in a limited fashion:
- Jesus was perceived as not being "partial to anyone" (Luke 20:21)
- God does not distinguish between people groups for salvation, favoring one over another (Acts 10:34)
- God does not show partiality (favoritism) between Jew and Greek (Rom. 2:11)
- God does not show partiality between someone like Paul and leaders of "high reputation" (Gal. 2:6)
- God does not show partiality between master and slave (Eph. 6:9)
- God does not show partiality when giving consequences for wrongdoing (Col. 3:25)
- We are not to show partiality - "personal favoritism" (James 2:1)
Ultimately, personal favoritism is the subtle prejudice of preferring one group or type of person over another. James teaches that this is incompatible with faith.
In keeping with his usual pattern, James gives a general principle ("avoid personal favoritism") then follows up with an example. Our look at God's example in Scripture confirms that James' example of rich vs. poor is not the only area in which we must guard against playing favorites. However, this was the example James chose and as we will see, it is one that they certainly related to.
The example of fine clothing - literally "clean" - vs. dirty reflected the clothing status distinctions of rich vs. poor in the Roman world. In James' example, if they provided special seating to someone dressed nicer - and thus obviously rich - they were commiting the broader since of partiality. James actually says that this makes them "judges with evil motives."
James' word choice in v. 4, "made distinctions", is a different word than that of verses 1 and 9, "show partiality" or "show favoritism", but it is similar in meaning. It means "partial" and is from a root meaning "judge between". Scripture contains positive, negative, and neutral uses of this word.
Positive uses include the areas of salvation, edification, and truth. Specifically:
- Salvation was the same path for both Jew and Gentile, without distinction (Acts 15:9)
- Believers are to "judge" or "make distinctions" between brothers instead of going to court (1 Cor. 6:5)
- Believers are to "judge" or "make distinctions" of their own bodies before Communion (1 Cor. 11:39, 31)
- Believers are to "judge" or "make distinctions" about prophetic utterances (1 Cor. 14:29)
Negatively, the word is used of unbelief, superiority, and prejudice. For example:
- Doubting in prayer (Matt. 21:21; Mark 11:23)
- Misgivings about a course of action (Acts 1:20; 11:12)
- Taking issue with another believer (Acts 11:2)
- Wavering or doubting about an ethical decision (Rom. 14:23)
- Maintaining a superior attitude (1 Cor. 4:7)
- Doubting in seeking wisdom (James 1:5)
The word is also used neutrally of natural things such as discerning weather patterns (Matt. 16:3).
The bottom line of this is that good 'distinctions' are thosebased on truth with edify the body of Christ; bad distinctions are those based in unbelief, superiority, and prejudice. This is the balance Jesus struck in his teaching of John 7:24: "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." In this passage, James' warning is against the former - judging by appearance.
As a guard against favoritism, in verses 5-8 James lays out God's special care of the poor and the present persecution by the rich. Here we see a glimpse into why James chose to use rich/poor as the example in his teaching against showing favoritism. The rich were dragging them into court, oppressing them, and blaspheming Jesus' name. James wonders why would they want to honor them, but dishonor the poor?
God's choice of the poor parallels the upside-down election of 1 Cor 1:26-29: God chooses the weak so He will be glorified Himself, so that no man will boast before God. (The same word is used for "choose" in both James 5:8 and 1 Cor. 1:26.) "The poor" in verse 5 is singular - meaning "the poor person". James is not teaching that all poor people will be saved; instead, he is affirming that God does choose poor people to honor, and believers should not dishonor them.
Verse 5 also reminds us that the kingdom is for those who love God. Not merely those who have a profession, but those who love Him. This is a reminder that at its root, salvation is the creating of a heart in love with God. Jesus taught this in Matt. 5:3 and 25:34 - those who get the kingdom are poor in spirit, and those who get the kingdom are those who showed demonstrable acts of love for God by loving others. Again, James' very practical teaching has its roots in our Lord's words when He walked this earth.
The bottom line is summed up in verse 8: The opposite of favoritism in love. Our focus, as always in the Christian life, is not on the negatives but on the positive: love, the "royal law", should guide us. Gal. 5:14 goes so far as to say that love fulfills the whole law! When love is our guide, there is no room for either prejudice or favoritism.
James concludes this section by noting explicitly that partiality/favoritism is sin. He has finished his example, and comes full circle back to his main point. As we might expect since he is speaking to a Jewish Christian audience, he makes his point in the context of the Law with which they are intimately familiar. This brings the sin of partiality in the framework of being a violation against God, and reminds us to focus on mercy, which triumphs over judgment.
Application
This is really a massive text, when we think of all the implications of not showing partiality ... which is ultimately God's example to us. Mere focus on not being prejudiced - the "diversity" of today's modern world - is a counterfeit of what Christ calls us to - a lack of partiality. Instead of favoritism, practice its opposite: love.
As usual, this is a much higher standard, and one that affords more questions than answers. When does patriotism become favoritism? How do I not show favoritism when I am naturally drawn to some people more than others? How do I live out mercy when our world seems to need justice? These hard questions won't be answered by a quick Bible study.
Pauls' doctrines can be examined and codified into a creed; James' practical theology is in many ways more challenging than the free will/sovereignty debate! It can only be lived out in intimate relationship to Him.
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