Oh, we know
this one! We have heard preachers and teachers preach and teach it if our
parents took us to a Christian church. Even if your parents did not raise you to
be a Christian, your mom or dad probably taught you to be kind to every person.
James, as the
head of the Jerusalem church, led the Jewish Christian people. He understood
and knew the Jewish Christians understood of the laws of God, how they affected
one’s relationship with God and with one’s relationship with other people. That
is how the Ten Commandments are divided. Taking care of the poor, widow,
orphan, and alien is a big part of the Old Testament Jewish laws. Moses spoke about
them many times in Deuteronomy.
Still, the
Jews considered the poor unclean and not to be touched. With the arrival and
teaching of Jesus Christ came a closer understanding of caring for one’s
neighbor. One Pharisee asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered him
with the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). The man answered the
question for himself after the parable. The man stated the neighbor was the one
who had mercy toward another man. Whether Jew, Greek, gentile, Roman,
Samaritan, Jesus’ point was that a neighbor is anyone you meet. Considering whom
Jesus called a neighbor, we must realize then when Jesus said, “Love your
neighbor as yourself,” He meant to treat them with mercy – treat them as you
want to be treated. The Jews understood helping a person with physical needs.
James went deeper in this passage. He told
them not to show partiality among the people who enter the church/assembly to
worship. Do not give the better seat to the rich and clean person and make the
poor and dirty stand at the back or sit on the floor. Do not give preferential
treatment. Showing bias like that is a heart action. Prejudice is a bias of the
heart. When Jesus came to earth, He taught attitudes are to be changed as much
as actions. He told the people what is on the outside of a person is not what
makes him unclean, but what comes from the inside (Matthew 15:11). From within
a person comes a person’s attitude, which determines the person’s actions. When
a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, His Holy Spirit indwells the
person and changes the person from within so that the heart becomes changed.
When James
told the Jewish Christians not to show partiality to the rich and give the poor
the lowest place, he reminded them of what Jesus taught that everyone is their
neighbor and they were to show mercy. James directed their thoughts to consider
their actions in church towards another person just as important as their actions
outside of church. The Jewish Christians and all Christians are to love
everyone and show mercy at all times whether in church or out. James told them
showing partiality was a sin and any sin, no matter which one, made them
transgressors of the whole law. God will judge the person who sins, whether in
adultery, murder, prejudice, or against any of the other laws of God. For those
who do not show mercy, James said God would show no mercy to them either.
Following
Jesus requires 100% obedience and love of Him and every person. Whether a
person is in church or living in his or her daily life outside church, the love
Jesus showed to him or her and the love of the Father must be lived out within
his or her life. Prejudice for gain or for supposed “religious” purposes is sin.
To combat this, we each need to examine our own hearts, ask the Lord to show us
our sin, confess it, and ask for the strength of the Spirit to empower us to overcome
it. In this way, we can show the love of God and His mercy to everyone we encounter,
not just people like ourselves.
Are you
willing to look into your heart and allow God to change you from within? It
will affect the way you live. By it, you will show the love and mercy of God.
