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Home > Bible on Money > Major Themes > James
Partiality to the Rich
By Justin Borger
with assistance from Generous Giving staff
Jesus’ coming completely reversed the way we are to ascribe value and worth. When God’s Son, the Creator of the universe, made himself “nothing” (Philippians 2:5) and came as babe in the flesh, things changed. Low became high, valleys rose, and mountains crumbled (Isaiah 40:4). Jesus’ Incarnation broke the scales of human prejudice and rendered them worthless for gauging value and honor.
As Jesus’ brother, the apostle James witnessed the depths of Christ’s humiliation. In his epistle, he appeals to the church to remember Christ’s glory when being tempted to show favoritism to the rich. During his ministry on earth, Jesus revealed his glory in his humility and pulled back the curtain from God’s cosmic plan for his kingdom. God has chosen to humble the exalted and to exalt the humble (Matthew 23:12), to bring woe to the rich and well fed (Luke 6:24-25) but laughter and satisfaction to the poor (Luke 6:20-22). As a minister of this gospel, James wrote to the church:
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong (James 2:1-7)?
Today the church still is enamored by the world’s notion of glory. Christians continue to gauge their personal value and identity in terms of the same socioeconomic distinctions with which the church of James’ day struggled. There are literally too many examples of this sort of partiality and prejudice to list. One thinks of the way churches often begin in lower income areas only to move to the suburbs as soon as the church outgrows its facilities and can afford to get out. One thinks of the way we naturally gravitate away from the unlovely poor and toward beautiful people who seem to have it “all together.” One thinks of all the subtle (and not so subtle) ways our churches seek to attract and retain rich and well-educated people. We are naturally inclined to make large expenditures for beautiful buildings and programs while simultaneously neglecting run-of-the-mill mercy ministries that will not impress “movers and the shakers” but “exalt the poor” by lifting them out of their disenfranchisement.
The good news is that if the problem we experience is the same problem that James’ church experienced, the cure is the same, too. The only way to be freed from the grasp of partiality and worldly prejudices is to become acquainted with the glory of Christ’s humility. Jesus’ humiliation obliterates the world’s exultation, and only by identifying with his humiliation today can we be allowed to participate in his glory tomorrow; as James wrote, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).
Related Passages: Leviticus 19:15; 2 Samuel 22:28; Proverbs 14:31; Isaiah 11:1-4; 40:4; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:5,7; 23:12; 25:31-46; Luke 1:46-55; 6:20-25; 14:12-14; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Philippians 2:3-11; Philemon 2:5; James 2:1-12; 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6
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