James Episode 7

James 2:1–10

The Sin of Partiality

[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 guilty of all of it. (ESV)

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Transcript

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James 2:1 

The Sin of Partiality 

[1] My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. (ESV) 

There are those that say, “let’s camp out here for a moment”, truthfully, we could probably stay long enough to build a cabin! 

[*Webster 1828*] 

 PARTIALITY, noun parshal'ity. Inclination to favor one party or one side of a question more than the other; an undue bias of mind towards one party or side, which is apt to warp the judgment. partiality springs from the will and affections, rather than from a love of truth and justice. 

I want to go a little further into the text before we unpack this; 

James 2:2–4 

[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? (ESV) 

I believe James is hearkening back to Deuteronomy here; 

Deuteronomy 16:19 

[19] You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. (ESV) 

The majority of this audience is in the United States. We’ve had listeners from time to time from every continent except Antarctica, but mostly the listener base is US with some Canadian and European listeners joining in. 

In my experience, if someone pulls up in a nice vehicle, gets out and is nicely dressed, comes in the building and speaks well, looking the person they’re talking to in the eye as they speak, that individual will receive the royal treatment. Everyone wants to meet the nicely dressed visitor. 

The flip side to this, again, speaking from my experience, a visitor shows up in a 20 year old dodge caravan, kids or may not be buckled but definitely loud. Everyone is dressed in the best of what they have, but that’s not much, there are churches that will do everything within their power to make it plain, they do not have time for a family that far down the socioeconomic scale. Do all congregations operate this way, thankfully no, but it does happen. 

James 2:2–4 

[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? (ESV) 

Interestingly enough, and probably an uncomfortable fact for others, the word the translators translated “assembly” here is actually Strong's, G4864, synagogue. This is probably another example of the translators going out of their way to make a distinction between the Messianic Jews and what became Christianity. I’ve elaborated on this in previous episodes so I’ll refrain. 

James 2:3 

[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,” (ESV) 

We can get a sort of parallel example from Jesus in his teaching in 

Luke 14:8–10 

[8] “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, [9] and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. [10] But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. (ESV) 

Not exactly the same thing, but it gives an example of Judean society that James is speaking of. When going to synagogue, if you were poor then chances are you were sitting on the floor, while if you were rich, you would have the best seat. The point James is making goes back to partiality. 

Jesus had told the apostles to practice something different from the norm; 

Matthew 20:25–28 

[25] But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. [26] It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, [27] and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, [28] even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (ESV) 

Granted, there are different views as to the situation James is talking about. Some feel that this isn’t a worship service as the synagogue served as a community gathering place as well. That leads some to the belief that James may have been talking about a judicial meeting amongst the brethren. This is difficult for our western, gentile church understanding, but Paul gives us a clue that this carried over to the assemblies in gentile lands as well; 

1 Corinthians 6:1–4 

[1] When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? [2] Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [3] Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! [4] So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? (ESV) 

I’m trying to not go too deep into the weeds here, but some believe that the synagogue was being used this way for believers. Either way, if it was their Sabbath gathering or a judicial gathering, if you were poor you sat on the floor. James is saying we should not be showing partiality. 

James 2:4 

[4] have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (ESV) 

The poor man can do through God what the rich man does for God. If we limit our view of someone due to their socioeconomic status then we limit God! But he goes on with a verse that has comforted me in our low times. 

James 2:5 

[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? (ESV) 

I want to tie this in with the writer of Hebrews, 

Hebrews 11:6 

[6] And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (ESV) 

Faith, not the US dollar, is the currency of the Kingdom of God! Let us remember from the last chapter; 

James 1:9–11 

[9] Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, [10] and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. [11] For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. (ESV) 

Let’s not limit our view of what God can do through our prejudices toward financial standing. 

James 2:6–7 

[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? (ESV) 

I can only speak for the USA experience here, but we have been conditioned to see a separation here where one doesn’t exist. I don’t believe James is pointing the finger at people that can pay their bills on time and maybe have a little money in the bank, and accuse them of oppressing their poorer brothers. The idea of a middle class is relatively new. The middle class as we know it today came about around the time of the industrial revolution beginning in the 18th century. 

I don’t believe James was shaking his finger at a shop owner, or maybe a blacksmith that had done well for himself. James is most likely expressing frustration with the wealthy people in the Sanhedrin. Those that had the power to have you put in prison over trivial matters simply because of wealth and connections. I’ve heard stories, come to think of it I think I’ve heard stories on Holy Ghost Radio before of pastors having to make the decision to stick with the word and not give millionaires position of influence simply because of their wealth. That is the way the world works, that’s not the way body of Messiah is supposed to work! 

James 2:8–9 

[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. (ESV) 

This is a bit of transitional verse of his thought here, so I have to include this in this episode, but we are going to pick up here on our next episode as well. 

The “royal law”, I believe I alluded to this in the last episode, but now I’m going to read it. 

Mark 12:28–34 

The Great Commandment 

[28] And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” [29] Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [30] And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ [31] The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” [32] And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. [33] And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” [34] And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (ESV) 

For one thing, in reading this instead of quoting from memory, I realize how badly I butchered this during the last episode, but Jesus speaking here I would imagine is what influenced Paul in Romans 13 when he said; 

Romans 13:8–10 

Fulfilling the Law Through Love 

[8] Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. [9] For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (ESV) 

Does this mean the commandments are null and void? That’s not what Jesus or Paul is saying. They are saying if the love of God abides in your heart, you will love God with all of yourself, and you will love your neighbor as yourself. If we walk in these two commandments, we won’t break the others. 

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This is brother Jason, until next time, goodbye and God bless.