Bible Reading
Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
James 2:5-9
James 2:5-9
Devotional
Most children learn what is referred to as the Golden Rule when they are very young. While they may have learned the Golden Rule in church, it is more likely they learned the idea to treat others how you yourself would want to be treated in public school. It's interesting how most people in the secular world don't even realize the Golden Rule is a Christian idea that originated in the Bible with Jesus himself in Matthew 7:12. Society often uses or quotes sayings that sound good and wise without knowing or realizing that the reason they are good and wise is that those sayings originated with God himself and are found in His word.
James reiterates the Golden rule in today's passage but refers to it as the Royal Law. It's the simple, yet profound idea to love your neighbor as yourself. At first, this idea or Royal Law might not seem like that big of a deal until we look around our world and see how entire governments and social structures are at odds with God's design. India, for example, has a caste system in which some people have a perceived higher level of value and worth and others are seen as unworthy and even of less value than an animal. These systems and social structures represent examples of where people do not love their neighbor as themselves. In China, entire groups of people are exploited and forced to work in horrible conditions simply because they are seen as less valuable or as political enemies of the governing authorities. All over the world, we find exploitation, mistreatment, and favoritism. We find people perceiving others as having either more or less value and worth than they really have in the eyes of God. And we also see everywhere that has moved away from the principles found in scripture has also moved away from freedom and into a greater sense of corruption and enslavement.
What does it look like to be poor in the eyes of the world, yet rich in faith? In what ways do we dishonor God when we show dishonor and injustice to those who are poor, and favoritism to those who can better our own station? As Christians, we are not called to see people through the lens of classes or what value we think people have or do not have. We are not called to only live by the Royal Law to some who can benefit us, but not to others. We are not called to live as the world does. We are called to see people as God sees them, as each one loved and valued as children of God. Not only should we carry that view about ourselves, but it should also be reflected in how we interact with others and how we talk about others, even those we may not see eye to eye with.
James reiterates the Golden rule in today's passage but refers to it as the Royal Law. It's the simple, yet profound idea to love your neighbor as yourself. At first, this idea or Royal Law might not seem like that big of a deal until we look around our world and see how entire governments and social structures are at odds with God's design. India, for example, has a caste system in which some people have a perceived higher level of value and worth and others are seen as unworthy and even of less value than an animal. These systems and social structures represent examples of where people do not love their neighbor as themselves. In China, entire groups of people are exploited and forced to work in horrible conditions simply because they are seen as less valuable or as political enemies of the governing authorities. All over the world, we find exploitation, mistreatment, and favoritism. We find people perceiving others as having either more or less value and worth than they really have in the eyes of God. And we also see everywhere that has moved away from the principles found in scripture has also moved away from freedom and into a greater sense of corruption and enslavement.
What does it look like to be poor in the eyes of the world, yet rich in faith? In what ways do we dishonor God when we show dishonor and injustice to those who are poor, and favoritism to those who can better our own station? As Christians, we are not called to see people through the lens of classes or what value we think people have or do not have. We are not called to only live by the Royal Law to some who can benefit us, but not to others. We are not called to live as the world does. We are called to see people as God sees them, as each one loved and valued as children of God. Not only should we carry that view about ourselves, but it should also be reflected in how we interact with others and how we talk about others, even those we may not see eye to eye with.