Favoritism and the Wealthy

James addresses his brothers - that is believers in Jesus Christ. See "The Church: Visible and Invisible: Is Everyone in the Church Saved?" below. Jesus is God (see below) and is identified with the glory of God (compare Acts 7:2; 1 Cor. 2:8). He was the living, incarnate cloud of glory (Exod. 16:10; 24:16; 40:34-35), the dwelling of God among us. James' witness is similar to John's who says in John 1:14, "we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

James commanded his readers not to show favoritism (Greek "receiving the face"). Christians are not to make judgments based upon external considerations such as wealth, physical appearance, community status, education, being a radio or TV celebrity, race, etc. as it is contrary to the behavior of God, who is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25). As Moses states, "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing" (Deut. 10:17-18) and "You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor " (Lev. 19:15). In the light of Christ's divine glory, it is foolish to show favoritism based on inferior levels of human glory. See Proverbs 22:2; 28:21 and Malachi 2:9.

James headlines this section with an admonition against favoritism. Those who hold to faith in…the Lord of glory, worship one who is impartial (Deut 10:17-20), whose justice cannot be bent by bribes. Thus, his people must treat each other and their neighbors with equal dignity and deference. Wise people and communities are marked by equity.

When it comes to the rich and poor in some cases there discrimination in the Church. However, favoring one person above another based on mere externals such as economic status, race, ethnicity, or similar criteria, is evil. Even those with a doctorate of social position need the Great Physician. All of us - no matter our status - are sinners (Rom. 3:23) in need of the 'same grace' of the 'same blood' of Christ, who "though be was rich, yet for [our] sake he became poor (2 Cor 8:9). There is not one grace for the poor and yet another for the rich (cf. Rom. 5:17). "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). As Hughes states:

Those who discriminate are possessed of wicked thoughts! They place more value on the soul of the rich man. The cavalier disregard for the poor man was an implicit devaluation of his soul. Perhaps the reasoning here was, "What a coup this rich man would be. Think what he could do for the Church! But the poor man? It would take years to get him up to speed, if indeed it could be done at all." These are evil thoughts!

Discrimination has to do with more than just mere economic differences. As an example, we note that in some denominations that certain pastors are esteemed more highly for shepherding larger churches as compared to those with smaller ones, etc. James' words are for the pulpit, pastor, and the pew. His words apply to every aspect of life. See "Human Beings in God's Image: Who Am I?" below.

No mere illustration, some within James’ audience had been showing preference to the wealthy and neglecting the poor. These church members have traded the wisdom of God for the wisdom of the world. Violating the practices of true religion in 1:27, James describes them as judges with evil thoughts.

Inheritance in the Kingdom of God is based on God's sovereign election (see below), not on human merit of any kind (Eph. 2:8-10). It is not based upon one earning a Ph.D., but to all that is given (John 6:37, 44, 65; 17:9, 22, 24; Rom. 8:29-30) to Praise Him Daily (cf. John 4:24).

James' point here is that in general the poor are spiritually advantaged. Jesus chose to be born to Mary, a poor woman. Though he came from the Main Street, he was not born on one. Though he came from the Mansion of Heaven, he was the 'son' of a mere carpenter. When Jesus began his ministry he said, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19 cf. Isa. 61:1-2). At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus began with a declaration of the character of those in the Kingdom. He said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3). Luke phrases it as, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20; compare Luke 6:24).

So, scripture reveals that God shows special attention to those who are weak and lowly according to human standards. He often chose his people from among the ranks of the poor in order to display the glory of his power to save (Luke 6:20; 1 Cor. 1:28-29). Poole states, "Not that God hath chosen all the poor in the world, but his choice is chiefly of them, 1 Cor 1:26, 28. Poor he means in the things "of this world," and in the esteem of worldly men; they are opposed to those that Paul calls "rich in this world," 1 Tim. 6:17, 18." Just as true religion pays attention to widows and orphans (Jas. 1:27), it also runs contrary to showing favoritism toward the rich.

In the upside down economy of his kingdom, God makes the poor rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “the meek shall inherit the earth” and the poor will possess “the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3, 5). Earthly riches cannot curry favor with God, because He accepts no bribes. His favor rests solely on those who seek his wisdom. The church would be wise to seek God’s favor, instead of the favor of the rich who often oppress the poor.

Calvin states, "There are, indeed, some of the rich who are just, and meek, and hate all unrighteousness; but few of such men are to be found." The worlds' systems are tempting. Some of James' audience showed their lack of faith by subscribing to the world's value system. They favored the rich despite the fact that the affluent mistreated believers and slandered (some translations use "blasphemed" ESV, KJV; the Greek is blasphemeo meaning to slander, hence to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things) Christ - and that God shows favor to the poor.

"Exploiting" may be rendered "oppressing." The verb is strong and elsewhere refers to the oppressive work of Satan (Acts 10:38).

The rich all too frequently use (used) political and judicial power to exploit the poor, and often rely upon their wealth and power rather than on Christ for their salvation. Richardson states:

Because the rich were attacking believers in the law courts as though they were criminals and thieves, it was as though they were attacking the Lord. In that the rich committed acts of persecution, any of the rich who were believers were no better than the unbelievers since they had sinned against the poor and had not defended them. The noble name of the Lord was besmirched by the ignoble practices that had stemmed from playing favorites with the rich. Thus to honor the rich was to dishonor Christ. Only when the rich became an example of humility could they be an instrument that glorified the Lord.

James calls attention to the way in which rich members of the community were using the court to gain further advantages against poorer citizens. By doing so, the rich insult Jesus’ name, because he identified with the poor and illustrated the economic justice of his kingdom and the deceitfulness of riches in his parables.

James stresses the second part of the "royal law" (cf. Matt. 19:19; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14). Christians do right when they love one another. Hughes uses an illustration:

When the royal law is lived, marvelous things happen horizontally and vertically. Ernest Gordon, in his book Through the Valley of the Kwai, tells of the miraculous transformation that took place among the allied prisoners in a Japanese concentration camp in 1943. In 1942 the camp was a sea of mud and filth, the scene of grueling labor and brutal treatment by Japanese guards. There was hardly any food, and the law that pervaded the whole camp was the law of the jungle: every man for himself. Twelve months later the ground of the camp was cleared and clean. The bamboo bed slats had been debugged. Green boughs had been used to rebuild the huts, and on Christmas morning 2,000 men were at worship. What had happened? During the year a prisoner had shared his last crumb of food with another man who was also in desperate need. Then he died. Among his belongings they found a Bible. Some who witnessed his ultimate act of love wondered, could that Bible be the secret of willingness to give sacrificially to others? One by one the prisoners began to read it. Soon the Spirit of God began to grip their hearts and change their lives, and in a period of less than twelve months there was a spiritual and moral revolution within that camp. The royal law lived out had done its work.

The sin of favoritism is a violation of the great commandment (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:36-39). To discriminate (cf. Deut. 1:17) violates the royal law and makes the perpetrator a lawbreaker. Manton says, "it is a sin; and whatever you think, the law, which is Christ's rule, will find you guilty." Kistemaker reflects:

The summary of the law condemns them as lawbreakers. The readers are actually working at sin, says James. And they do so by stepping across the boundary that has been given to keep them from sin, namely, the law. No one is able to say that he stepped across the line in ignorance, because the law specifically forbids showing partiality (Lev. 19:15). Transgressing the law of God is a serious offense to God that makes the sinner stand before him as a lawbreaker.he charge is leveled against the transgressor. When the law convicts him, no one can claim to be a partial transgressor. He is guilty.

The law is like a transcript of divine character and any violation of it is a violation of the character of God. Because every "jot and tittle" (Matt. 5:18) of the law reflects God's perfect character in some way, every violation of the law is a transgression against him, and therefore against the spirit of the whole law.

The same evil that causes one to break one of God's laws will, in different circumstances, cause us to break the others.

While some sins are more serious than others (Exod. 21:12-14; Matt. 11:22; Mark 3:29; 1 John 5:16), because God gave all the stipulations of the law, none of its requirements is insignificant (Matt. 5:17-19). See WCF 19.5; 19.6; WLC 95, 99, 152; BC 23.

Using the Ten Commandments, James explains how breaking one part of the law makes one guilty of breaking the whole law. The law has one source, and reflects the character and wisdom of the one, true God (cf. Deut 4:5-8; Matt. 5:19; Gal. 3:10; Eph 3:10). Law-keeping, then, has a missionary purpose to display the character of God.

See "The Final Judgment: Will I Be Judged?" below. We are to "speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom." Moo says, "Both "speak" and "act" are in a Greek tense that stresses the continuing nature of these actions: "be constantly speaking," "always be acting." On the day of judgment (cf. Gen. 18:25; Psa. 7:8; 75:7; 96:10, 13; Matt. 16:27; Acts 10:42; 2 Cor. 5:10), believers will not stand on the basis of their own merit. If we were to be judged on that basis, we would all be condemned. By God's mercy, we will be judged on the basis of Christ's merit. Because we have been judged mercifully, we are to judge other believers in the same way, showing mercy rather than discrimination.