Church Snobs
James 2:1-13
 
One of the great joys of my life is preaching. IN fact, if you talk to most preachers, that is the delight of their ministry. The pastorate has a lot of rewards, in fact, shepherding and caring for the flock of God is probably where the bulk of the reward is, but the joy is in preaching. 
 
I love to dig and study and present the great truths of God’s word, and when I’m doing a series like the one on Sunday mornings about the Lord, it is a lot of fun.
 
However, there are some times when preaching is not as much fun, and that is when you have to deal with problems and issues on a more personal level. Now we are blessed in that that doesn’t happen very often. But that is the other side of preaching. Sometimes the word of God is hard-hitting and straight-forward and must be preached that way. 
 
Now James, the brother of our Lord, was a preacher. He was trained in the Jewish mode of preaching.   One of the words for preaching in the Hebrew vocabulary is a word that literally means to string beads. As you read the book of James, that's kind of what James is doing. He is stringing beautiful pearls of truth into our hearts. He seems to move from subject to subject, but there is a connecting feature to all of this. 
 
He is talking about the matter of Christian behavior. 
 
 
He's saying that if you and I name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are certain things which need to be characteristic of our behavior and there are other things which should not be a part of our behavior.
 
James is the fearless preacher. He is going to deal with a very delicate subject. He is going to meet it head on, and he's going to talk about a problem that was current in his day and it is a problem that has its tendency to occur in every age of the Christian faith and in every congregation of believers.
 
Let's follow James, the preacher, this evening and let him speak to you and to me. In the first verse I want you to notice he
 
I. Declares the Subject.
 
verse 1
 
That little phrase really means to receive a face. It carries the idea of accepting a person on the basis of their outward appearance. It means to show favoritism. It means to show partiality to a person on the basis of their wealth or on the basis of their power or influence or their position.
 
So he has declared his subject. He is saying here, "Do not be guilty of the sin of partiality. Do not show favoritism between people." He declares a subject.
 
He gives us first, in verse 2, reasons why believers should not show favoritism. The first reason is because it is inconsistent with the faith
 
The Bible teaches the worth of every individual. According to the Bible, all people are equally precious in the sight of God. God loves everyone. There are no good people and better people in the eyes of the Lord. All people are valuable to the Lord. The Bible makes this statement in Proverbs 28, verse 21: "To have respect of persons is not good."
 
We know that the faith is something which every person can experience. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what your status in life may be. It doesn't matter what your education or your economic condition is. The faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is something which every person has access to. Anybody who wants to be saved can be saved and become a part of the Christian faith.
 
To show respect of persons is inconsistent with Christianity. The Bible says in Proverbs 22, verse 2, "The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all." When a person comes to Christ, they become a member of the family of God.   
 
You will notice that it is also inconsistent with Christ Himself. "The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory." There is no partiality with God. Romans 2, verse 11, says, "For there is no respect of persons with God." God does not show favorites. 
 
Jesus did not show partiality. Jesus treated everybody the same. Just because they didn't have a lot, Jesus didn't look down on them. Because they may have had a great deal, Jesus Christ did not show them special treatment. Jesus looks into the heart. Jesus knows what's going on in the inside.
 
Look at the way Jesus dealt with individuals. 
Remember the night the Lord Jesus talked to a man named Nicodemus who was a wealthy man and a very religious man. Yet Jesus said to him, "Ye must be born again."
 
There are some people who would have said to
Nicodemus, "Would you consider coming and joining our church?" But Jesus said to him, "You've got to be born again. You've got to be saved just like everybody else."
 
You may recall the rich young ruler who came to Jesus. We might say about the rich young ruler,
"How about you come and be a part of our group?"
Yet Jesus said, "You've got to give everything you have. You've got to give it to poor and take up your cross and come follow me." He didn't show any favoritism whatsoever. 
 
He declares his subject. But secondly he
 
II. Details a Story.
 
James, who is the master story teller, like unto his Lord who could tell beautiful stories, begins to tell a story and he begins to paint in the details. It is a story so simple that all of us can understand. It is a story which is so vivid that we can see it lived out in current day. 
 
Here's the story. He tells it to us in verses 2 and following. It's church time. It's time for people to come into the assembly. By the way, the word for assembly was synagogue, which indicates to us that the early believers continued going to the Jewish synagogue in the opening years, the beginning years of the Christian faith. 
So it is time for the service to begin. The door opens and the Bible says that there comes in a man with a gold ring. Literally it means gold fingers. Mr. Gold Fingers is coming to church. He's got a gem on every joint. He's got a nugget at every knuckle. He is decked out. The Bible says that he is in goodly apparel. That means that he is dressed to the nines. He's got on an Armani suit. He's got a thousand dollar pair of shoes on his feet. This guy is really decked out and he gets the attention. Everybody sees Mr. Gold Fingers as he comes into the service that morning. How impressed everybody is.
 
Then the Bible says that about that time there was also a poor man who came in. He didn't have the fine clothing. He didn't have the jewelry on his hands. Perhaps he was a homeless man. He didn't have the latest style. Maybe his suit was a little bit out of date. Maybe it was a little bit worn. Maybe there was a button missing on his coat. 
 
He comes in and the Bible says that he is a poor man. They look over at him and say, "What's he doing coming to church today?" To the rich man, the well-to-do man, they say, "You come right on up here. Let's escort you down to the front. We want the preacher to be sure and know that you are here this morning." 
 
But to the other man they say, "Well, why don't you just stand on that back wall. We really don't have any room for you this morning, but you can sit down here by my seat. This is a reserved seat. I get this seat, but you can sit down here by me if you want to."
 
That's the story that James details; and it is very easy, isn't it, to bring that story up-to-date? You can put it into modern pictures very quickly. 
 
It's Sunday morning and the people are gathering into the congregation, and about that time Mr. High and Mighty comes walking in. Why, he has never been to our church before. "Come on in, Brother. We are so happy to have you in our service. Come right on down the front. I know the pastor is going to want to know you are here." 
 
About that time another guy comes, and he just got off a bus. He doesn't know where he is going to spend the night, and he doesn't know where he is going to get his next meal, but he's got a hungry heart and he wants to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and he comes in also. 
 
Somebody says, "Of all Sundays for this guy to show up, the Sunday that Mr. Big Shot is here. What an embarrassment this guy is." Somebody says, "Well, we're pretty full this morning. I'm not sure we've got room for you, but if you want to you can stand around the wall or if you like you can sit down here by the pew because this is reserved for somebody else. They may show up or they may not. But we can't let you sit there." 
 
This story is a story that can be painted and detailed in many, many ways. I don't think Christians intend to do it, but do you know one of the easiest things in all of the world is for Christians to develop cliques and to get so used to your group and so used to your friends and your pals? If you are not very careful you can leave somebody else out. 
 
Sometimes people can come and they are not warmly received just because they may not be in your group. Christian fellowship is a wonderful thing, and it's good for God's people to love one another and fellowship with one another, but we must always be sensitive to those who come into our circle who need a special touch, who need someone to take an interest in them. 
 
He details a story here and there are several mistakes which are very obvious in the way this situation is mishandled. For instance, you will notice there is a mistake because there is favoritism shown on the basis of the artificial, the superficial, just outward things. Favoritism is shown here on the basis of clothing. 
 
Someone said, "Clothing makes the man." No, clothing does not make the man. It is not what you have on, on the outside that makes you. It's what you have and what you are on the inside that makes you. It's not the clothing that you wear. It's what you are in your heart. 
 
They are making a mistake here. They are showing favoritism on the basis of the superficial and on the basis of the outward. When you look at somebody and see what they are on the outside, you may jump to conclusions.  
 
They make a mistake here. They judge on the basis of the superficial. Here is the rich man and he's got outward clothing, but he may have been poor in his heart. He may have had filthy rags in his soul, and this poor guy may have had bad garments on the outside but he might have had on a robe of righteousness and the whole armor of God. 
He might have had on the garment of praise. Don't judge on the basis of the superficial.
 
There is another mistake here. They make a mistake not only on the basis of the superficial, but they make a mistake on the basis of the temporal. They are looking on the basis of just temporary considerations.
 
How easy it is for people to judge on the basis of the present moment and not look at things in the light of eternity. Do you remember the story Jesus told about the rich man and about the poor man who was sitting at his gate desiring to feed himself with the crumbs that would come from the rich man's table? 
 
The Bible says that the dogs licked the sores of the poor man. The Bible says that poor man died and all of a sudden there was a radical transformation. There was a radical reversal from the temporal to the eternal, and the man who temporarily was a poor man was now resting in Abraham's bosom surrounded by the glories and the riches and the wealth of heaven. 
 
The Bible says that the rich man died and was buried. They had a funeral for him. They eulogized him and they told how wonderful he was and all of the temporal considerations were positive about that man. But see the reversal. The Bible says that in eternity, in hell, he lifted up his eyes being in torment. He was so poor in eternity. He was begging for one drop of water.
 
It's a mistake to make a decision on the basis of the superficial or on the basis of the material or on the basis of the temporal.
He has declared his subject. Favoritism is wrong. You shouldn't show favoritism. He has detailed his story. He has now told a story easy for us to understand and then he
 
III. Delivers His Sermon.
 
He begins to give his sermon in verse 5 and following. He has some very pertinent points to make and he does it with a series of questions. He basically is saying that we should make several evaluations. His sermon says that we should consider several aspects about the sin of favoritism.
 
He's saying that when you are guilty of favoritism, the first thing he says is, "You should consider the contradiction here." When you and I are partial, when we show favoritism to someone, there is a contraction involved.  
 
verse 5
 
God has chosen the poor. God has chosen those who are rich in faith. If you will put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, God says, "You're mine. I will choose you."
 
But consider the contradiction here. He's basically saying between verses 5 and 6 that God has chosen the poor. Then in verse 6 he says, "But ye have despised the poor." 
 
He's saying, "By what line of reasoning can you say that God chooses the poor and yet you choose to neglect to poor?" 
 
 
He goes down a little side trail and says to them in verse 6, "Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?" 
 
In those days that was certainly true and sometimes it's true today. Very often the poor and believers were mistreated by those who were wealthy. 
 
He says in verse 7, "Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?" 
 
Very often, is it not true, that those who are well-to-do and those who are prosperous and highly visibility in the community may be the ones that blaspheme the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ? And yet he says, "You're going to show them favoritism? You're going to show them special treatment?" 
 
Now understand that many people of means use their wealth for the name of the Lord Jesus and for the cause of Christ. There are some sweet, godly, dedicated people who have been blessed with material blessing. They shouldn't be discriminated against either.
 
But the point he's saying here is, "Don't be contradictory. Don't be different from God. God chooses the poor. You be sure that you keep your attitude toward the poor right as well."
 
Notice that he says also, not only must you consider the contradiction, but he says to consider the transgression here. What he's saying here is that partiality, favoritism, is a sin. 
 
 
verse 8
 
He's talking here about the law to love. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." That's what Jesus taught. Jesus said that you are to love God with all of your heart and you are to love your neighbor as yourself.
 
He calls it here the royal law. It's a royal law in the sense that the King Himself, the Lord Jesus, gave it. But it is also the royal law in the sense that it will make a king out of you. When you learn to treat people with love and honor and respect, you have turned your life into a kingly like life, a life like the life of the Lord.
 
Then he says in verse 9, "But if ye have respect of persons," that is, if you show partiality, "ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors." He says that two times in these verses. Look at verse 11. He says, "Thou are become a transgressor of the law." 
 
Then he does something very interesting here. I want you to see how James does this. He's so skillful in the way he does things. He says that if you show partiality, you have transgressed the law, you have broken God's law. 
 
Then he uses an illustration in verse 10. He says, "For whosever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." 
 
Then he gives some examples in verse 11. The law says, "Do no commit adultery." You say, "I haven't broken the law. I haven't committed adultery." 
 
And yet the law, on the other hand says that you are not to kill. If you have killed you have broken the law, though you have not committed adultery. If you have not killed but you have committed adultery, you have also broken the law. What he's saying is that if you show discrimination and partiality and favoritism toward anyone, you have broken the law. He says that if you break the law in one point, then you break the whole law. 
 
It's like a glass. Take your windshield on your car. If you crack that windshield down in the corner, you might say, "Hey, that's alright. I've just got a little crack down in the corner of my windshield." But that little crack is going to spread and it's going to move into other parts. Now what you've got is a cracked window. One crack and the whole thing is a cracked window.
 
Let me use another illustration. Let's just take the Ten Commandments and let's just imagine that they are like ten links in a chain. Here is a ten-link chain and you are hanging over a precipice holding on to that ten-link chain. Nine of those links are just as solid and just as sound and just as strong as they can possibly be. 
 
You are hanging on that ten-link chain but there is one weak link. All of a sudden that one weak link in that chain begins to bend and open and it breaks and as you go hurling below you say, "Well, praise the Lord. The other nine are just as solid as they can be." When one link goes, you're a goner.
 
There is somebody sitting here tonight who would say, "I'm a good guy. I don't do this. I don't do this. I do this. I do this." 
 
 
If you're going to try to be saved by keeping the law of God, the standard is absolute, one hundred percent perfection because when you break one of the Ten Commandments of God, the Bible says, "You have been guilty of breaking them all." You are a law breaker and when you show partiality, you have broken the law of God. You are a law breaker. Consider the transgression here.
 
But then notice something else. Consider not only the transgression, but consider the examination. He preaches a little bit about the fact that we are going to be examined. 
 
verse 12
 
This is an interesting way of referring to God's Word. God's Word is referred to as the law of liberty. God's Word is the book that sets us free. 
 
The Bible says that one of these days we are going to be examined on the basis of the law of liberty. Favoritism makes a prisoner out of you. Treating people fairly and treating people evenly sets you free. He says, "So speak and do, as those who will be judged by the law of liberty." One of these days we are going to give an account for how we have responded to the law of God.
 
Then he says, "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shown no mercy." What he's talking about here is not how you get into heaven. He's talking about your examination as a Christian at the judgment seat. Every detail of our life as a believer is going to be examined. 
 
 
That doesn't mean that it will determine whether or not you go into heaven, but it simply means that we are going to be examined by our behavior, how we have treated other people. The Bible says that one of these days those who have judgment without mercy, who showed no mercy, will be the standard of God's examination. We didn't treat people right, God will use that as an examination, as an evaluation for us.
 
Notice what he says, "And mercy rejoiceth against judgment." The word rejoices means that it triumphs over. It wins out every time.
 
If you and I got what we deserved, we would go to hell. If we got what we deserved, we deserve the judgment of God. And yet the Bible says that mercy triumphs over judgment. That means that God, through the Lord Jesus Christ, gives us mercy. In other words, that means that when you and I stand before the Lord, we're not going to be given entrance into heaven because of our perfection, but we are going to be given our entrance into heaven on the basis of the mercy of God. Mercy means that you don't get what you deserve.
 
I don't know about you, but when I stand before the Lord I don't want to get my just desserts. I don't want justice. I want mercy. 
 
Let me say this word to you tonight. I'm talking about showing favoritism. If there's any place where people should come and feel loved, it should be the house of God. There are some hungry people in this old world who need love. There are some people who need for somebody to just take an interest in them or at least just be friendly to them.
Can I ask you to be on the lookout in your Sunday School classes and in your different groups here? Could I ask you in our services here to be looking for people who need someone to just be kind to them? You may have the opportunity to lead somebody to the Lord Jesus Christ. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a place where whosoever will may come, and they are welcome in the name of Christ.
 
May God help us to be that kind of church!
 
Let's bow our heads and pray.