By Jeffery M. Leonard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religion, Samford University
Open Arms
James 2:1–10
One of the most tender moments a parent can experience is seeing their baby fast asleep. Eyes closed, gently breathing, a sleeping child is a veritable picture of innocence. And yet, we all know (or at least all parents know) that behind that sweet veil of innocence lurks a young spirit that can be shockingly defiant, willful and self-centered.
When my eldest son was just weeks away from his first birthday, he began to find great delight in dropping his Cheerios from the table of his high chair down to the floor. Since I found cleaning up the Cheerios not nearly so delightful, I issued a stern parental proclamation: “Samuel, we do not drop our food on the floor.”
At this point, the 12-month-old in question took a Cheerio in his hand, stared straight into my eyes, twirled his wrist for effect and brazenly dropped his Cheerio right to the ground. Innocent was not the word that came to mind as this performance played out in front of me.
The greatest joy of my life has been seeing my two sons grow up into fine young men, but a lot of growth had to take place in that process. Sharing, obeying, being kind to others — these marks of a mature adult do not come to us naturally; they have to be learned. And what is true for us as children also is true for us as adults.
The behaviors associated with a mature spiritual walk are almost all unnatural to us. The fruits of the spirit are so called because the Holy Spirit has to steer us away from our natural inclinations and toward a higher but far more difficult calling.
Perhaps nowhere is the Holy Spirit’s call to move against the grain of our natural desires more evident than in the Bible’s insistence that followers of Jesus should treat all people equally.
Partiality is an act of evil. (1–4)
The second chapter of James drives home this point with particular forcefulness. The term translated here as “show no partiality” (“prosopolempsiais”) is based on the Greek word for face (“prosopon”). It describes a person’s malicious action as they look at people’s faces, divide them into groups based on those faces and then treat one face worse than they do another.
James uses the specific example of sizing up people based on their wealth and then discriminating against the poor person. In our own culture, we might look just as carefully at how often we have discriminated against others, even fellow Christians, on the basis of their skin color.
Partiality neglects God’s heart. (5–7)
James appeals to his fellow believers to consider how their discriminatory actions fly in the face of God’s own heart for humanity. On three separate occasions in the New Testament, the Scriptures insist that God does not show partiality toward those who are wealthy or powerful (Rom. 2:11; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25).
Just the opposite! James tells us God has taken the side of the poor in the world. When we try to advance ourselves or preserve our status by trampling on those we think of as beneath us, we turn our backs on God’s own actions.
Partiality is inconsistent with love. (8–10)
James urges his readers to consider carefully their actions when it comes to discriminating against others.
When we fail to love our neighbors as ourselves, we stand guilty before God as law breakers, transgressors who have abandoned the path laid before us by Jesus Himself. When we discriminate against others, we bring judgment on ourselves and dishonor to the One we call Lord.
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