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James is showing us what a genuine, living faith looks like in practice. In chapter one a living faith rejoices in trials, develops endurance, asks God for wisdom, takes responsibility for personal sin, sees God’s goodness in the power of His word giving new life, and desires to grow in that Word and become a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. James beautifully turns truth into practice. He expects our walk to match our talk. His whole letter attacks hypocrisy among believers.
In James 2:1-13 God forbids showing partiality, especially to the rich at the expense of the poor. James is not a social justice warrior, a socialist, communist, or a cultural Marxist calling for redistribution of wealth. He is not advocating a governmental war on poverty. He doesn’t even say we should give money to everyone who begs on the street corner. He does say that the gospel of Christ is going to affect how we think about and treat other people, especially the poor of which there were many in James’ day.
James gives us five reasons why we are not to show favoritism to wealthier people over poorer people.
SHOWING FAVORITISM IS CONTRARY TO THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST – v. 1
James 2:1, My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
You have to understand that the ancient world was a world of many divisions. There were Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, poor and rich, different nationalities and ethnic groups, and basically, everybody hated everyone outside of their group. Jews hated Gentiles and Gentiles returned the favor. Even the disciples thought rich people were favored by God and were amazed when Jesus said it’s hard for rich people to enter the kingdom.
Jesus didn’t come to end all divisions and set up a society of equality of outcome where all social differences are ended. Jesus came to save His people from their sins and bring peace with God. He also came to bring peace among His people. He is our peace. So when people got saved, they became one with people they may have formerly hated. James says if you have faith in Christ, your attitude of personal favoritism toward certain groups must change. It’s a command. Do not hold your faith in Christ with personal favoritism. Not only is it a command, but your faith is in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. He is glorious, possibly thinking of God’s Shekinah glory, but also the glory of God seen in Christ (John 1:14). Christ came to bring His people to glory. Whether you’re rich or poor has nothing to do with it.
God isn’t impressed with your bank account. He is impartial. Your human status is irrelevant to God. Al Sharpton’s net worth of five million or Jesse Jackson’s nine million or Bill Gates’ 132 billion or Elon Musk’s 239 billion dollar net worth are of no consequence to Christ. Rick Warren, worth 25 million, appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with the world’s great and mighty in 2008. He announced in a video, “This is Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and (now retiring) pastor of Saddleback Church. I’m here at Davos with a lot of my friends (including Francis Collin of the NIH) and we’re talking about what are the biggest problems on the planet and how are we going to solve them. Right now, I think there are five that I call global giants: extreme poverty, pandemic diseases, illiteracy, corruption and the spiritual emptiness.” What would you say the world’s biggest problem is? What did Jesus say? “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Pastor Warren said nothing of sin and the need of salvation. Plus, Jesus said the poor you will always have with you.
Christ isn’t impressed with how many zeroes are behind your net worth. Christ is the radiance of God’s glory and the owner of the entire universe. And guess what? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:22-23 all things belong to you, you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. So the poorest believer in Christ is infinitely wealthier in Christ than Elon Musk, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg. Christ deals with us showing no personal favoritism.
SHOWING FAVORITISM TO THE RICH REVEALS EVIL MOTIVES – vv. 2-4
James 2:2-4, 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?
Here comes a rich dude gliding into the church parking lot in a sleek black limo. As his chauffeur opens the door at the church entrance, Mr. Money strolls into the foyer with gold rings hugging almost every finger. He’s wearing over a thousand dollars’ worth of threads. He hands out $100 bills to the greeters and ushers as they lead him into the assembly. All eyes turn to gaze upon this human phenomenon, star-struck that such a man should visit their church. The house is full. There’s only one seat available, right up front.
At the same time a scruffy-looking character rattles in on a rusty bike, parks it beside the limo, and enters the foyer. His clothes are ragged and torn. He’s missing a few teeth. His gnarly fingers are clutching a worn out Bible. He walks in and stands beside the rich dude. He needs a seat, too. You are the usher. There’s only one good seat. To which man will you give the seat?
God wrote a piece of Scripture just for you. Will you show partiality to the rich? We represent Christ and Christ never kissed up to people because of their wealth or political status. He was no fawning toady bowing to the movers and shakers of His day. In fact, He told the Pharisees who were lovers of money, “God knows your heart. What is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God” (Luke 16:14). In one sense, Christ may be seen as the poor man of James 2. “Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so through Him you could be made rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). He didn’t carry suitcases around with him or travel in his own personal jet. He’d never make the cover of Gentleman’s Quarterly. And look at the ragtag team of nobodies He called to follow him, some with dirty nails and a fishy smell about their garments.
Here’s the issue. Don’t show favoritism and fawn all over rich people and then claim to be following Christ – you’ve become judges with evil motives. Have you ever been in a snobbish church? The important people get all the attention, especially if they’ve got a Lamborghini sitting in the parking lot. You’ve become like Washington DC – politicians with evil, self-serving motives. Does this happen? You better believe it. Once we cave in to paying special attention to the upper crust, we’ve grieved the Spirit of Christ. In the church the guy who sorts bolts and washers at the local Bolt and Washer Company sits right beside the CEO of the Bolt and Washer Company. They are both treated the same. They both come to God the same way, through the cross.
God was clear about the matter of partiality in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 10:17, For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.
Leviticus 19:15, You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
We preach the same truth to the high and mighty and the rest of us with our feet on the ground. Peter Cartwright was a frontier preacher in the 1800s. One day while preaching, General Andrew Jackson came into the room. They gave Peter Cartwright the message. He announced, “General Jackson will be damned to hell as quickly as any other man if he does not repent.” When someone apologized for the preacher’s bluntness, General Jackson replied that Christ’s ministers ought to love everyone and fear no mortal man. He wished he had a few thousand officers like Peter Cartwright. (Christianity.com) We are not to shape the message to suit the audience.
SHOWING FAVORITISM TO THE RICH DEFIES GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY – vv. 5-7
James 2:5-7, Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose 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?
“Listen up, church!” writes James. He calls attention to how totally flip-flopped they were in falling all over themselves to impress the rich while showing no honor to that poor man. You know there are far more poor than rich among us. And these poor are souls God elected by sovereign grace in eternity past to be His people. 1 Corinthians 1:26, “Consider your calling brethren. Not many of you are high and mighty. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He has chosen the weak things of this world to shame the strong.” Why? So no man may boast before God.
This doesn’t mean it is sinful to be wealthy, or that somehow the poor merit salvation. Everyone is saved the same way. George Whitfield preached to those poor coal miners who came up out of their caverns in the ground and listened to the message of forgiveness in Christ with tears washing white gutters down their coal-blackened cheeks. But George also preached to the polished and wealthy at the house of his friend, Countess Huntingdon.
James says God’s elect are mostly poor in this world, but rich in faith. Even if you’ve next to nothing to your name, in Christ you’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing! God chose you, predestined, redeemed, forgave, accepted, and lavished you with grace. He sealed, enlightened, called, empowered, and made you alive in Christ. He brought you near to God, reconciled you and made you one with Christ. You are a fellow citizen in God’s kingdom, God’s dwelling place, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. He promises never leave you nor forsake you. And your wealth or poverty, the color of your skin, or your earthly status had absolutely no influence on these riches of your faith or on being an heir of God’s kingdom!
When you show favoritism to wealthy people you are not only dishonoring the poor man, but you are rolling out the red carpet for people who persecute you and drag you into court and who blaspheme our glorious Lord Jesus Christ’s name!
SHOWING FAVORITISM SINS AGAINST GOD’S ROYAL LAW – vv. 8-11
James 2:8-11, 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. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Again, James has this great title for God’s law – “the royal law.” This quote is from Leviticus 19:13, “but God’s law is royal as king of all laws, supreme and sovereign, given out of God’s holy love for His people.” In Matthew 22:35-40, “a lawyer asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment in the Law. Jesus answered, ‘Love God with all you’ve got and your neighbor as yourself.’” There it is – the sum and essence of the Ten Commandments. Calvin said God measured love to others with love to self because He knew how passionately we love ourselves.
Showing partiality is not just a minor fault. It is transgressing God’s royal absolute law! And verse 10 says if you only stumble in one point, since the whole law hangs together as one piece coming from the one God, you are guilty of all. Many people think, “Well, I kept 27 out of 50. That’s better than half, I should be alright.” No, God’s Law is an inclusive unit coming from One God, and to break just one law condemns you as being guilty of all. It’s like putting a crack in a mirror – one crack ruins the whole mirror. Or one broken link ruins a chain.
Then James shows us how evil partiality really is. It is not adultery, but it is at the root of murder. Just like hate is the seed of murder, so is partiality. You and I are guilty of breaking the entire law of God. None of us love God and our neighbor with all we’ve got. We need a Savior to pay for our transgressions and a perfect law keeper to stand in court for us – that is Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to our account.
SHOWING FAVORITISM SINS AGAINST GOD’S MERCY – vv. 12-13
James 2:12-13, So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
James finishes up by reminding us that God treats us in His mercy. And we are to treat others with mercy. To show favoritism is to deny mercy to those you don’t like. If you don’t show mercy to some people, you are not speaking and acting like one who has been shown mercy. You’ll remember that wicked servant in Matthew 18 who begged his lord for forgiveness for his huge debt, and the lord forgave him. But then that wicked servant turned around and went out and began to strangle a man who owed him just a small amount.
The law of liberty is a law that doesn’t condemn us. So don’t condemn others just because they are poor or somehow different from you. This doesn’t mean we don’t make judgments on sin. Some are poor because of laziness. They expect the state or someone else to provide for them. Paul said, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” But when it comes to social status, there’s no room for favoritism. James uses this as a mark of genuine faith. To treat others without mercy is like refusing to forgive others when you’ve been forgiven so much. When Jesus comes into your life and shows you mercy, you will show mercy to others.
SO WHAT?
What do your relationships with other people reveal about your heart? Do you treat other people based on their status or what they can do for you? Are you as ready to show respect for the poor man as well as the rich man? Some people are hard to love, true. But you can’t despise them. How can we apply the royal law of love in James? See all the people in your life through the eyes of our glorious Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. How might God want to use you in their lives? Or them in your life? Treat others with God’s mercy.