James: More Graceनमूना

How  will you treat other people today?

James’ readers are busy doing reli- gious things. They are meeting together, hearing God’s word and talking about God. They clearly consider themselves religious.

But as we read on in James’ letter, it seems that personal relationships in this church are in a terrible state. We will hear of fights, quarrels, snobbery, sneering, discrimination, hatred, lies, slander, bragging, boasting and a failure to help those in need.

Our relationships with people reveal a great deal about how we are actually relating to God. No wonder James is concerned.

There are clearly glaring gaps be- tween the faith these believers profess and their behaviour. James wants to wake these believers up to the danger they are in.

James imagines a very telling incident. Perhaps it isn’t entirely imaginary. In this story, before the church meeting has even begun, the Christians attending have already failed all three of James’ tell-tale tests of genuine religion (1:26– 27). They have been ‘polluted by the world’, not cared for the vulnerable and spoken some shocking words!

• What happens in this imaginary incident and what does it show?

Isn’t this just how the unbelieving world treats people? The worldly glory of wealth and status is obvious. It impresses. Unbelievers will often treat rich people differently, for if we favour the rich, they may return the favour.

Poor people though have nothing to give in return for favours. They have little power to complain when treated badly and so, sadly, they often are.

How terrible if the church mirrors the world in the way it behaves towards rich and poor.

If James’ readers show such favouritism, they have ‘discriminated’ among themselves and ‘become judges with evil thoughts’ (v. 4). Such behaviour reveals what is going on in their hearts. Proud and evil motivations are uncovered in this judgmental behaviour. Such divisions in the fellowship are evidence again of these believers’ divided hearts.

• How does James describe his readers (v. 1)?

James reminds them of who they are so that they see the shocking mismatch with their behaviour. They are James’ ‘brothers and sisters’ and so they are ‘believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ’.

The ‘glory’ of earthly riches will soon be gone; only the Lord Jesus has real and lasting glory.

Now he is the risen and glorified Lord, but on earth Jesus was poor. He might well have been told to ‘sit on the floor’ by these Christians. What a shock that is.

And Jesus, their Lord, welcomed rich and poor alike. Showing favouritism couldn’t be more out of place among Jesus’ people.

Pray

Pray that your chuch family would welcome all people in the way God has welcomed us.