James 2:5-10, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?”
Let’s be honest: we don’t always choose well. We don’t always choose as God has chosen. As the previous verses of James 2 describe, sometimes we show partiality to the man with the “gold ring, in goodly apparel.” We sometimes “have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing,” and we give preference to them. Meanwhile, we tend to give less priority to the poor, saying something like, “Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool.” Maybe we take a more modern approach and say, “you need to get back into line” or “we will deal with you later.” Maybe we won’t say it from the mouth, but we do in our heart with our actions reflecting such.
But we are not choosing well, because we are not choosing as God has chosen. You see, what some are doing is targeting groups that they think will be a greater financial benefit to the church and leaving out groups that won’t be able to give as well. It is a cold-hearted, pragmatic outlook on God’s house and the body of Christ. It is a corporate approach, but it is not a Godly approach. A pragmatic analysis would naturally conclude that if you want more money for more programs then you favor and attempt to attract people with more money to fill the coffers. To be clear, there are religions that practice this. They figure that having more funds means that they can afford more programs, and then they can afford to reach the poor in some way. This is not the approach for God’s people. After all, “hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”
“But ye have despised the poor.”
This is a stunning indictment. Can this be true of us? Do we despise the poor? But we have charity events, soup kitchens, bill-paying programs, etc. We can’t possibly despise the poor.
Programs can be good, but that doesn’t mean we have the right heart in this matter. Despising the poor comes from having respect of persons. Who gets the best treatment? Are you more afraid of losing a rich person from the congregation than a poor person? Do you feel more confident of your financial position by reaching out to the wealthy? Do you give preference to this person of affluence?
We should consider this: who builds the church? Is the church built on the riches of man or the care of our Lord? Is the church sustained by the wealth of benefactors or the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus promised, “upon this rock [referring to Himself] I will build my church.” We, as the body of Christ, are built on the Rock that is Jesus. He is the Builder, and He is the Sustainer. Speaking of the church, we truly can echo Zechariah 4:6 which declares, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Because Jesus builds the church and because God has chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, then we ought not have respect of persons in this matter. Not that we should despise the rich either, but we should realize that all need to be saved and all are saved the same way, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The rich will struggle more with this because they tend to trust in their riches. They must become poor in spirit in order to become rich in faith.
“Do not rich men oppress you…do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?”
We should take a moment to understand the “rich” in this passage. Merely having wealth is not being vilified in these verses. God does bless some believers with more means than others so that they can use those means for His honor and glory. God gives in more abundance to some so that they can be a blessing to others. Though these people have wealth, they understand what it is to be humble or “poor in spirit,” and they desire to be used of God as much as anyone. But some (and truly the tendency may be such) have developed the love of money, which is the root of all evil. They are a greedy bunch that place their faith in their riches, and use their wealth to obtain power for their own glory. These are the ones who “oppress you” and “draw you before the judgment seats.” These are they who use their power and influence to hinder the work of God. They file lawsuits, abuse their power, and attempt to pass laws to hinder the work of God.
Herein lies the irony of showing partiality to the rich: aren’t they the ones that tend to cause us the most trouble? Aren’t they the ones who “oppress you”? Aren’t they the ones that “draw you before the judgment seats”? Aren’t they the ones who “blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called”? Why are we showing respect of persons toward them?
“That worthy name by the which ye are called.”
Do you consider that worthy name by the which ye are called? We are called “Christians,” named after Jesus Christ. We represent Him in all that we do. Our actions show a picture to the world of Jesus Christ. Here, these rich men who abuse their power and trust their wealth are also shown to blaspheme that name, but do we not the same when we show that respect of persons? Did Christ show that kind of partiality? Christ died for sinners—all sinners, rich or poor. We blaspheme the name of Christ when we show a false picture of Him to the world by our actions. Verse 9 plainly teaches, “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” You might think that you are a good person and you do all this good, but if you have transgressed the law even in this one area then you are just that, a transgressor of the law.
We need to accurately and wholly represent that worthy name—the name of Christ. And if the Lord is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” and if He says “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life,” then we ourselves ought never show respect of persons. Can you imagine if Jesus had shown respect of persons? None of us would make the cut.