James 2:1-13

Since we won't be having our regular lesson this Sunday in Life Group (don't forget to join us Sunday to hear Dr. Amon Kasambala, CEO of Focus on the Family Africa) I wanted to share some thoughts & notes along with some questions you would have received on the class handout.  Maybe we can have our class discussion here on the blog this week.

Here are some links to help you navigate this post:

• Text of James 2:1-13
• Lesson Introduction
• Opening Discussion Questions
• Explanation
• Command Against Favoritism
• An Example of Favoritism
• Three Reasons it’s Bad
• Reason 1: God has a special concern for the poor.
• Reason 2: A special esteem for the rich is misguided.
• Reason 3: Favoritism violates the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
• Application Questions

James 2:1-13 (ESV)

[2:1] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. [2] 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, [3] 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,” [4] have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? [5] 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? [6] But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? [7] Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?
[8] If you really fulfill 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. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. [12] So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Against Favoritism - Introduction

In chapter two James continues the theme of being doers of the Word by addressing the problem of favoritism. The big idea of this section is found in verse one where James commands fellow Christians not to show favoritism. The remaining verses explain this command further by offering an example and giving three reasons against treating people with partiality.

Discussion

Our culture has trained us to categorize people. What are some of the categories we use to define people? How do these categories influence how we approach or treat people?

Explanation

Command Against Favoritism (v. 1)

• Showing favoritism means making value judgments about a person based upon external appearances. It is judging others based on the world’s criteria.
• Showing favoritism/partiality is inconsistent with God’s character. (cf. Deuteronomy 10:17-18)
• Why does James refer to Jesus as the “Lord of glory”? We'll come back to this.

An Example of Favoritism (vv. 2 – 4)

• This example is just one hypothetical scenario demonstrating favoritism; however, based on v. 6 we can infer it is something that James’ readers were likely guilty of.
• The rich/poor difference is a perpetual source of showing favoritism. It is easy to show favoritism to the rich to try and get something for ourselves – some of their riches, a reputation, career opportunities, self-esteem, etc.
• When we do this, we're essentially judging the poor, saying they're of no value to us.

Three Reasons it’s Bad (vv. 5 – 13)

• 
  Reason 1: God has a special concern for the poor.
  • James points out that God chooses the poor (often financially, always spiritually) to become rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
  • At the end of chapter one, James spoke of the orphan and widow being the objects of affection by pure & undefiled religion. These people were representative of the poor & helpless in society.
  • Once again James points out something that God has promised to those who love Him. In 1:12, it was the crown of life, here it's His kingdom.
  • This idea of being heirs of the kingdom connects back to verse 1, with Christ being referred to as the Lord of glory. These truths stand in stark contrast to the gold ring and fine clothing of the man in James's hypothetical example.
  • Did Jesus wear a gold ring & fine clothing to attract us to Him? I think instead of the crown of thorns. I think of Isaiah's prophecy:

    “... his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (Isaiah 52:14)

    “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 52:2-5)

  • Jesus didn't have the glory of a rich man. Instead He offers the glory of being co-heirs of the Kingdom. Only He has the glory worth elevating and admiring. While the riches of man will pass away, Christ's glory will never fade.
  • “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
  • If Christ became poor in order that we could become heirs of the Kingdom, why would we be captivated by earthly treasure that that is fleeting?
• 
  Reason 2: A special esteem for the rich is misguided.
  • The rich are often the very people who are persecuting Christians. Why would you show them favoritism?
  • This comes across to me about as logical as trying to appease a bully and expecting them to no longer be a bully.
  • As James's rightful assertion that God chooses the poor in the world to be rich in faith, we can remember how Christ Himself spoke of how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom (Matthew 19:16-30) and how He taught us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth (Matthew 6:19-21)
• 
  Reason 3: Favoritism violates the command to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
  • Ultimately, we are called to be merciful, because we have received mercy. We are to be ready to show mercy to everyone who crosses our paths.
  • James's statement that “judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (v. 13) seems to be the flipside of Jesus's statement in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)
  • Michael Lawrence rightly states: “At the cross of Jesus Christ, mercy triumphed over judgment.”
  • Lawrence sums up this portion of James like this:

    “Faith that is acceptable to God speaks & acts like one living under mercy. There is no room for pride, because mercy is fundamentally undeserved. There is no room for boasting, unless it is to boast in Christ alone. There is no room for favoritism or discrimination because faith understands that the privileges of this world, whether those be privileges of skin or wealth or gender or age are worthless in comparison to the privilege of being called a child of God. Faith demonstrates itself by being a display of mercy. It does not ignore obedience. Rather it obeys out of a different motive, a motive of love for the one who saved us.” (Listen to Lawrence's message in full here)

  • John Piper puts it this way:

    “A Christian is a person who has seen, tasted, and lives on the mercy of God in Christ. That's who you are. Let's be very clear here now. You do not get a saving relationship with Jesus by finding human willpower and techniques to become a merciful person and then say, 'Did I measure up? Will you take me now, Jesus?' That will never happen in a million years. Rather, Jesus comes to us as sinners. He folds us into His forgiveness and His justification by faith alone and we are so stunned, so awakened, so marveling at the mercy that we've been shown, that we are crushed to the ground in our pride, elevated in happy humble security and oozing mercy. Are you oozing mercy? If not, have you tasted mercy? Have you felt how horrible you are, how unworthy you are to be accepted, and then felt His arms absolutely undeserving around you saying, 'I will pay your debt. I will be your righteousness' and find yourself flying with gratitude and joy and peace?” (read or listen to Piper's message in full here)

Application

• James gives one example of showing favoritism. What are some more sophisticated or subtle ways that we tend to do this?
• Our selfish desires can influence the way we treat others. How does the gospel free us from the temptation to treat people with partiality?
• What are some practical ways to keep favoritism from creeping into our thinking and affecting the way in which we relate with people?