Day 7 - 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting
Day 7 - James 2:1-7
SCRIPTURE:
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen 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. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. 2 For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3 and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen 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. Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?
LESSON:
Just to give us some context on these verses, let me remind you of some things that James has just finished saying in the previous chapter. He tells us that God gives to ALL, liberally and without reproach. And he describes what pure and undefiled religion looks like. Namely to serve those who are unable to help themselves and who need the body of Christ to come alongside them. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
James then begins to unpack the second part of that verse starting in chapter two. What does it mean to “keep oneself unspotted from the world?” James gives us some tangible and achievable measurements of what that might look like. He starts by condemning a materialistic worldview that had apparently crept into the church. He warns the reader to treat people without partiality regardless of their financial or social status.
Apparently at that time there were wealthy people who had caused problems for the church by dragging them through the legal system. And yet in an effort to curry favor with these wealthy members, they would push poor members aside if they were deemed “less valuable.”
James describes them as being “judges with evil thoughts.” The idea is that they were measuring people based on a materialistic or “worldly” standard. Basically they had forgotten one of the most basic principles that Christianity is built on. This principle says that ALL people, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, black or white, rich or poor are on level footing when they stand at the foot of the cross. When we forget that, we quickly move to a worldly principle that separates us by class, skin color, language, sex, age, or a million other categories.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should get to lead the singing at church! God gives different gifts to each of us. There are things that we measure people by in God’s kingdom. As a pastor I am measuring the members of the church primarily by the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. If someone is prone to outbursts of wrath, or envy, or shows no gifting in a certain area then it is likely that I will need to guide that person differently than someone who is consistently showing love, joy, peace and self control… etc. and who has a specific gift in leading worship.
The lesson for today is that each of us needs to look at humanity through a different lens than the materialistic lens of this world. Who cares what their social status is. Who cares what car they drive or what they do for a living. Who cares what language they speak. If they don’t know Jesus then we are called to reach them with the Gospel. We must show them the same love and mercy that Jesus showed us. We want them to accept Jesus as their savior! So treat people like Jesus treated you. It shouldn’t matter if you have something in common or not. Jesus died for both of you… that is something in common! And once they become a Christian then you both have the Holy Spirit living in you! You are a part of the same body! That is something in common!
When you arrive at church this week, be friendly to everyone, even the ones who aren’t like you or who can’t benefit your life in some way. Find a child, a teen or an elderly person and show interest in what they are going through. Talk to someone of a different skin color or who speaks a different language. Befriend someone in a different income bracket. Show someone that you care about them today. And do it without needing something in return. That’s the difference between “pure and undefiled religion” and “judges with evil thoughts.”
Just to give us some context on these verses, let me remind you of some things that James has just finished saying in the previous chapter. He tells us that God gives to ALL, liberally and without reproach. And he describes what pure and undefiled religion looks like. Namely to serve those who are unable to help themselves and who need the body of Christ to come alongside them. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
James then begins to unpack the second part of that verse starting in chapter two. What does it mean to “keep oneself unspotted from the world?” James gives us some tangible and achievable measurements of what that might look like. He starts by condemning a materialistic worldview that had apparently crept into the church. He warns the reader to treat people without partiality regardless of their financial or social status.
Apparently at that time there were wealthy people who had caused problems for the church by dragging them through the legal system. And yet in an effort to curry favor with these wealthy members, they would push poor members aside if they were deemed “less valuable.”
James describes them as being “judges with evil thoughts.” The idea is that they were measuring people based on a materialistic or “worldly” standard. Basically they had forgotten one of the most basic principles that Christianity is built on. This principle says that ALL people, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, black or white, rich or poor are on level footing when they stand at the foot of the cross. When we forget that, we quickly move to a worldly principle that separates us by class, skin color, language, sex, age, or a million other categories.
This doesn’t mean that everyone should get to lead the singing at church! God gives different gifts to each of us. There are things that we measure people by in God’s kingdom. As a pastor I am measuring the members of the church primarily by the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. If someone is prone to outbursts of wrath, or envy, or shows no gifting in a certain area then it is likely that I will need to guide that person differently than someone who is consistently showing love, joy, peace and self control… etc. and who has a specific gift in leading worship.
The lesson for today is that each of us needs to look at humanity through a different lens than the materialistic lens of this world. Who cares what their social status is. Who cares what car they drive or what they do for a living. Who cares what language they speak. If they don’t know Jesus then we are called to reach them with the Gospel. We must show them the same love and mercy that Jesus showed us. We want them to accept Jesus as their savior! So treat people like Jesus treated you. It shouldn’t matter if you have something in common or not. Jesus died for both of you… that is something in common! And once they become a Christian then you both have the Holy Spirit living in you! You are a part of the same body! That is something in common!
When you arrive at church this week, be friendly to everyone, even the ones who aren’t like you or who can’t benefit your life in some way. Find a child, a teen or an elderly person and show interest in what they are going through. Talk to someone of a different skin color or who speaks a different language. Befriend someone in a different income bracket. Show someone that you care about them today. And do it without needing something in return. That’s the difference between “pure and undefiled religion” and “judges with evil thoughts.”
PRAYER:
Lord help us to be more like you and to not judge people solely on a materialistic point of view. Help us to build unity and authenticity in your church as we practice true religion. Help us to love each other irregardless of our differences. In all of this we will give you praise! Amen!
Lord help us to be more like you and to not judge people solely on a materialistic point of view. Help us to build unity and authenticity in your church as we practice true religion. Help us to love each other irregardless of our differences. In all of this we will give you praise! Amen!
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2025
Posted in partiality, the book of James, gifts, fruit of the spirit
Posted in partiality, the book of James, gifts, fruit of the spirit
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As grow older I’m more aware then at anytime in my life that we need to be very careful before we start judging them. We don’t know what road they have gone down in their life and we always need to be the examples that Christ wants us to be.
Treat people the way that we want to be treated. We are all God's creation. Kindness and love changes lives.