As we learned in chapter 1 of James, a mature person in Christ will be patient in times of testing, but a key characteristic also exhibited is practicing of truth.  Sometimes we lose the whole concept of practicing truth, and may times just go with the flow or follow our emotions. Chapter 2 of James will help us clarify this important character of all of us.

Immature people talk about their beliefs, but the mature person lives his faith.

In the midst of a pandemic and then an uprising of social awareness, we can see this truth from the news, to public displays and if we are honest in our own behaviors.  We need to be solid in our understandings and our actions.

Hearing God’s Word and talking about God’s Word can never substitute for doing God’s Word.

James wanted to help us practice God’s Word, so he gave us a simple test. He sent two visitors to a church service, a rich man and a poor man; and he watched to see how they were treated.

¹ My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. ² For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, ³ and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” ⁴ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵ Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

⁸ If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. ¹² So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. ¹³ For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. – James 2:1-13 ESV

James wanted to help us practice God’s Word, so he gave us a simple test. He sent two visitors to a church service, a rich man and a poor man; and he watched to see how they were treated. The way we behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God!

What does the opening scriptures reveal to you today? 

We cannot and should never separate human relationships from our divine (vertical) fellowship.

²⁰ If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. – 1 John 4:20-21 ESV

It seems like all of humanity has a tendency to jockey for position.  Our flesh seems to be in survival mode, even when we are not paying attention. The flesh seems to continuously ask “what is in it for me?”  Jesus even used a parable to teach his disciples…

⁷ Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, ⁹ and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” – Luke 14:7-14 ESV

We continue to have this in our lives today, not only in the work place and in politics, but also in the church, and dare we even think about family gatherings.

What insights, thoughts or convictions may have stirred in these two passages James and Jesus?

We acknowledge the need to be more like Jesus, and we can get swayed by the law as good as any Pharisee, but also challenged with complacency and turning a blind-eye.    Matthew points out a characteristic of Jesus that we may not always keep in our sites.

Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. – Matthew 22:16 NIV

Our Lord did not look at the outward appearance; He looked at the heart. He was not impressed with riches or social status. He saw the potential in the lives of sinners.

Compassion – Not Compromise

We are prone to judge people by their past, not their future. We are also prone to judge by outward appearance rather than by the inner attitude of the heart. We do not enjoy sitting with certain people in church because they “are not our kind of people.” Jesus was the Friend of sinners, though He disapproved of their sins. It was not compromise, but compassion, that caused Him to welcome them, and when they trusted Him, forgive them.

The religious experts in Christ’s day judged Him by their human standards, and they rejected Him. He came from the wrong city, Nazareth of Galilee. He was not a graduate of their accepted schools. He did not have the official approval of the people in power. He had no wealth. His followers were a nondescript mob and included publicans and sinners. Yet He was the very glory of God! No wonder Jesus warned the religious leaders, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:24).

Sad to say, we often make the same mistakes. When visitors come into our churches or ministries, we tend to judge them on what we see outwardly rather than what they are inwardly. Dress, color of skin, fashion, and other superficial things carry more weight than the fruit of the Spirit that may be manifest in their lives. We cater to the rich because we hope to get something out of them, and we avoid the poor because they embarrass us or might might want something from us. Jesus did not do this, and He cannot approve of it.

How do you fare when it comes to these types of challenges in your life? What have you found that works for you? What lessons have you learned through these tests?

The Bible explains how we can practice the deity of Christ in our human relationships and this summary might clarify for us.

Look at everyone through the eyes of Christ.

• If the visitor is a Christian, we can accept him because Christ lives in him.
• If he is not a Christian, we can receive him because Christ died for him.

It is Christ who is the link between us and others, and He is a link of love. The basis for relationship with others is the person and work of Jesus Christ. Any other basis is not going to work. Furthermore, God can use even the most unlikely person to bring glory to His name. He used Peter and Zaccheus and John Mark, and He can use that poor man whom we might reject.

Hearing God’s Word and talking about God’s Word can never substitute for doing God’s Word.

As a man of faith, a Christian, we are to follow the examples of Jesus and practice his ways. Let’s remember that we are “practicing” His ways.  That means that we don’t sit in a room and study about it and then come out and expect to be perfect. When we practice, we try and we learn from repetition. We learn by our experiences.

This week, let us have that inner dialog with the Holy Spirit and discuss how Jesus would see those in our lives. Put into practice looking at everyone through the eyes of Jesus, our Christ.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2,). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

The New International Version. (2011). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.