Favouritism is Wrong (James 2:1-7)

The second chapter of James has a common theme running through it, which is how the poor, whether believers or unbelievers, are treated. We may imagine that expressing concern for such is straightforward. Yet a brief glance at what James says will show that he wants his readers to think theologically about it. Among the doctrines mentioned by him are the current position of Jesus (v. 1), the doctrine of election (v. 5), the dignity of all humans (v. 6), the believer and the law (v. 8) and the relationship of faith and works (v. 18). Often, we make mistakes because we do not consider our actions from a doctrinal point of view.

We may wonder if there is any connection between the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2. After all, James himself did not make the chapter divisions that we have. So we should keep on reading when we get to verse 27 of chapter one and when we do we will see that there is a connection because both the end of chapter one and the beginning of chapter two are concerned with poor people, whether they are fatherless, widows or a poor man.

The Bible has a lot to say about the poor. Here are some challenging verses: ‘Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honours him’ (Prov. 14:31); ‘But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just’ (Luke 14:13); ‘When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me”’ (Luke 18:22). We can see from those verses that a correct attitude towards the poor is necessary for a relationship with God, for our use of our possessions, and for the depth of our discipleship.

It is good that James here identifies who he has in mind by the rich because we might try and apply it to those who are wealthy in financial terms today. The rich are the ones who were orchestrating the persecution that his readers were facing and they also spoke against the dignity of Jesus (v. 6). He may be referring to the leaders of Jewish communities who despised the gospel. At that time, the rich would be the powerful in society. Today it is possible to be wealthy and have no more power than someone with a lot less. But in James’ time, the rich and the powerful would be the same people.

I suppose we should ask why his readers would try and favour the rich as against the poor. He is not referring to converted rich people when he talks about seating arrangements, but to any rich person who chose to come into their gathering. It may have been the case that their response was connected to the persecution the Christians were enduring. Maybe they imagined that if an important person became their friend he would have the influence to prevent any further troubles coming their way. But showing favouritism in this manner would be an expression of worldly wisdom and would be to engage in a sinful practice.

James does not suggest that the rich should not be welcomed into a service. Nor does he say that they should be offered the worst seat because that would be a form of favouritism as well. Instead he is stressing that the values of the world should not be the values in the church. I recall reading of a wealthy landowner who was driven to the church by his employee. Both were Christians. In the church, the employee was an elder and the landowner was not. In everyday life, they were master and employee; in church life, one was an elder who helped make church policy, the other was not. Both were happy in their two relationships.

The position of Jesus

We should remind ourselves that here James is referring to one that he regarded for three decades as his brother. In verse 1, James is pleased to refer to lots of brothers (his readers), but he makes a distinction between them and Jesus. Instead he makes them all equal and puts Jesus alone on a pedestal, with the place of Jesus being the highest possible. And he identifies himself with them as brothers, but he portrays himself as a servant of Jesus. So what does he say about Jesus? He says Jesus is ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.’

The first detail to note is that he stressed that there was a common response to Jesus – we see this in the pronoun ‘our’. We can also say that there was a correct doctrinal response because none of the words he uses about Jesus is unnecessary or an exaggeration. And we can also deduce that his words here are a confessional response because he has written a statement of worship.

The term ‘lord’ is used twice of Jesus here, but we should note that the second use is not in the original text. Instead the phrase translated as ‘the Lord of glory’ is actually only ‘of glory’, which means that something has to be added. Some versions translate it as ‘our glorious Lord Jesus Christ’ while others insert the word ‘Lord’ a second time. Another suggestion that is made is to translate as ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory,’ and making the term ‘glory’ a description of his deity, and I suspect that is what James is saying, whether we insert ‘the Lord’ in front of it or not.

B. B. Warfield commented on this usage by James: ‘The thought of the writer seems to be fixed on those Old Testament passages in which Jehovah is described as the “Glory”: e. g., “For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the Glory in the midst of her” (Zech 2:5). In the Lord Jesus Christ, James sees the fulfillment of these promises: He is Jehovah come to be with His people; and, as He has tabernacled among them, they have seen His glory. He is, in a word, the Glory of God, the Shekinah: God manifest to men. It is thus that James thought and spoke of his won brother who died a violent and shameful death while still in His first youth! Surely there is a phenomenon here which may well waken enquiry.’

We can see immediately that James had the highest possible estimation of Jesus. I would suggest that the word ‘Lord’ at the commencement of the phrase refers to his exaltation that occurred at his ascension. The term ‘Christ’ is a confirmation that James regarded Jesus as the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. And the word ‘glory’ states that James believed that Jesus was fully God.

James is making a contrast here between the status of Jesus and the status of an influential person who comes into their gathering. If they gave such an individual an important place it meant that they were forgetting that there is only one person that has that position in the church – Jesus. Everyone else, whether rich or poor, can only be servants. That, of course, is what Andrew Melville told James VI when he reminded the king that in the church he had no authority merely because he was a monarch. Our forefathers were prepared to make exceptional sacrifices for this principle that there is only one exalted person in the church and that is Jesus. So if I give a special place to others, it is an indication that we have forgotten who he is and that we have forgotten that we are servants. As Calvin put it, ‘It hence follows, that Christ is little esteemed by us, when the admiration of worldly glory lays hold on us.’

I suppose we could ask, ‘Where would Jesus sit if he came in and sat in a gathering?’ Maybe James was recalling what he saw Jesus do in the synagogue of Nazareth. The point is that Jesus would never embarrass a believer because of his poverty. He would make no distinctions about those in his presence based merely on social status. Right away we can see that the Christian church is counter cultural. Of course, James is not suggesting that we discriminate against the wealthy. All he is saying is that we remember who Jesus is and then we will treat everyone the same.

God and the poor (v. 5)

James reminds his readers of a point that is made by other biblical writers, which is that God has chosen to bless some of the poor with spiritual blessings. A verse that says the same thing is the one that Paul wrote to the Corinthians: ‘For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God’ (1 Cor. 1:25).

The doctrine of election is a mystery. We are not told why God’s elect usually come from among the poor. We can say that they are not chosen because they are poor. God’s electing grace is not based on a person’s status in life. Nor can we say that God has chosen every poor person. There are many poor people who remain very hostile to the gospel all their days. The only suggestion I would make is that in his providence God has arranged for his elect to be born among the poor, to live among the poor, and to be there when the poor here the gospel. And I suppose this is telling us that our evangelism should be directed towards the poor in a very clear way.

James mentions two blessings that poor and rich Christians have, although here he mentions them in connection with the poor. The first blessing is that they have riches and the second is that they have a kingdom. So he is saying that a poor Christian is truly wealthy in a spiritual way and is asking his readers why such a person should not be treated with the respect that was being shown to the literal rich.

What do we mean by rich in faith? From a spiritual point of view, the person who is poor is the individual who has no faith in God. This means that the presence of such faith makes a person rich in God’s sight. So what James has in mind is a person with genuine faith rather than with great faith. After all, it would be possible for a believer not to have great faith because of a variety of factors, but that would not make him poor as long as he had genuine faith.

James later on will explain what genuine faith is when he writes that faith without works is dead. In the meantime, we can say that genuine faith is one that depends on Jesus alone for salvation and is accompanied by repentance for their sins. Genuine faith is a response to God’s promises of forgiveness. True faith is always a response to a divine promise and is not something that we work up because we imagine something is going to happen. With regard to things that God has not promised, faith shows itself by submitting to God’s providence.

The second blessing that poor believers have is that they are heirs of the kingdom. Clearly James is asking his readers to think about what they will receive when Jesus returns. As he says in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, his people will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. The Bible has many ways of describing this kingdom and it gives spiritual wisdom when we ask ourselves who is going to be there. James is reminding us that we should honour those who are going to heaven.

Can we show favouritism today?

It is possible, of course, not to engage in this particular form of favouritism and yet remain guilty of favouritism. I suppose one way to consider the issue is to ask ourselves with regard to Sunday’s communion, ‘Have I shown kindness to all my brothers and sisters or only to some of them?’ We can show favouritism with regard to age, with regard to educational levels, with regard to careers people have, with regard to geographical origins, with regard to colour of skin.

What is favouritism?  Here are some suggestions. First, favouritism is a denial of the bounty of the gospel because it is offered freely to all without any reference to their distinctions. Second, favouritism is a denial of the basics of the church because in it the distinctions caused by race, gender, ethnicity, and social level are removed. Third, favouritism is a denial of the blessing of God who does not provide grace according to who we are but because he wants to bless his creatures. Fourth, favouritism is a denial of the fairness of God, and this is serious, because those who practice it give out the message that their God is like them.

The remedy for favouritism

Does James have a remedy for the problem? We don’t define a doctor by his ability to diagnose, but by his ability to cure. James has a remedy and it is in his stress on the word ‘brothers’. The use of this word is a reminder that the church is a family, which tells us of the doctrine of adoption, and we have already stressed the importance of thinking in a doctrinal way.

Moreover, the church is a unique family because people become members of it by faith in Jesus, and this faith is peculiar because it changes believers into the likeness of Jesus. And we also know that the church is a family of faith with a future – why ignore now those whom you are going to be with forever, and especially if we ignore them and choose to be with those we will not be with forever?