playing favorites.
"My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the one who is poor, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 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?"
first, i must be honest, i almost gave up on this blog. in January i started seminary and thought i didn't have time for a blog. but a friend of mine encouraged me to keep it up... and now here i am 3 months later keeping it up. so, for all my 12 faithful followers i am sorry it has taken me 3 months to write another blog. i promise to not wait that long again.
and now to the good stuff... playing favorites. i admit, i have done it. but here's what i continue to love about James, he tells us like it is, "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism (verse 1)." it's that simple, believers- don't show favoritism.
but that makes me wonder, why do i show favoritism? why do i sometimes treat people who look, talk, and act like me better than i do those who are different than me? for me, it's about comfort. i'll be honest, i can be awkward at times. and so when i think about interacting with someone who is different than me, i get nervous and fail miserably under the pressure... this causes me to not want to try.
lately, this has changed for me, though. in class i have been learning a lot about different races, genders, and social classes. i have had some incredible discussions with and about people who are different than me. and because of these conversation i have started seeing things through different eyes. i have begun seeing the things we all have in common and have started forgetting what is so different... really, i have stopped showing favorites because i have stopped seeing favorites.
but the heart of this passage is about the believers taking sides with the rich instead of the poor. it's about the believers judging on appearances and favoring those with money and power. the ironic thing about this is that it's exactly the opposite of what Jesus did. he took sides with the poor, he didn't judge on looks but saw the heart and identity of each person. but now, the believers got it all mixed up. maybe they started fearing for their lives, maybe they started caring what people thought... i don't know. all i know is that they started getting things real mixed up.
i get things mixed up sometimes. for instance how to say the word "frustrated." i sometimes leave out the "r" and it drives my husband crazy. but playing favorites is a big mix up... not jut a leaving out the "r" mix up. if we are believers, playing favorites goes against everything we believe. think about it. think about who Jesus was and what he said and who he said it to... He spoke to the people he wasn't suppose to speak to and loved the people no one else loved. he was a leader who lived a radically different kind of life. the kind of life that mixed things up like "the first will be last and the last will be first," or "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom in heaven," or "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." he really mixed it up... but the kind of mix up that literally changed history. that sounds like a good kind of mix up to me. much better than forgetting the "r" in "frustrated."
