James 2:1-13
As we work through the book of Jame together I would like to
invite you to process this with me. Here is how I unpack the bible.
Simply use the following to unpack each verse. I will share mine and if
you could share yours in the comments that would be great!
- OBSERVATION (allow your mind to pick up on words and phrases. Simply write what comes to mind.)
- RESTATEMENT (rewrite the verse or parts of the verse)
- QUESTION (what questions can you ask? Don't let this be a distraction but at the same time, dont' take things for granted that you have always thought. )
2 My dear brothers and
sisters,[a]
how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor
some people over others?
1.
To Christians
a.
Reacurring theme
2.
Questioning their faith
3.
Faith has certain characterisctics
4.
One of them is you don’t show favortixm
5.
Why would showing favortism mean I don’t’ have
faith
6.
What is so bad about favortism that it takes
away my faith
7.
The faith he is talking about is Faith in the
Lord Jesus
8.
Many of us need to pause here and ask ourselves
if Jesus is our Lord
9.
What does it mean to have Jesus as my Lord
a.
Jesus is who I live for
2 For
example, suppose someone comes into your meeting[b]
dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is
poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
1.
The set up. James is about to draw us all in and show us why favortism
and faith in Jesus doesn’t’ make sense
2.
Rich dude vs poor dude
3 If
you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to
the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well,
1.
Rich dude given the good seat
2.
Poor dude has two options
a.
Stand or sit on floor
4 doesn’t
this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
1.
Favoritism is discrimination
2.
We usually only connect discrimination with race
and gender.
3.
This is about our evil desires
4.
The answer to questions in vs 2 is it shows we
are guided by evil desires
5.
What are our evil desires?
a.
When talking about a rich vs poor and we choose
the rich it begins to show our
i. Using
people
ii. The
way we see people and their worth
iii. How
we value people
6.
What other examples would be inline with this
a.
Good looking people
b.
Athletic people
2 comments:
What if the lack of faith is on the ability that God has in taking care of us. We focus only on those of means, (ie. could help financially) and at the same time do not show compassion towards those who lack those means. If our faith were truly on God to take care of us we would have no need for such favoritism and could focus on that which the Lord had called us to be.
1 My dear brothers and sisters,[a] how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
-Faith = trust
-Quite the name for Jesus "Glorious Lord Jesus, the Messiah." Should we follow Paul's example & talk like that?
-Well,I obviously favor different friends than non-friends- does this also count?
-If you follow Jesus you aren't allowed to favor
-Must love all equally?
-Or must never be differential?
2 For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting[b] dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.
-Do these verses only refer to social standing?
-Probably racism would count as well, or girls that look like "whores"
-but beyond that, is it okay to like different friends than others?
-A guy did this at church once, just to prove a point.
-We are differential to "leaders" or brand names of a higher caliber as well.
3 If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well,
-Seating matters :)
-Besides seating, what else is similar to ways we treat people?
-Respect individuals the same
-Jesus respected sinner/scum more than those that should be respected.
-The goal isn't about what we should/shouldn't- the goal is to love with God's love. Not our own.
4 doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?
- discrimination always shows evil motives?
- What if you promised you'd pay attention to someone? Wouldn't that be polite?
- I often feel like I have to run away from others who are trying to talk with me to run after others. The people I leave behind might feel hurt, but I am being discriminatory to talk with new people or the ones that are more ignored.
-Maybe in that, its just communicating intentions.
-evil motives guide us.
-How do we be sure evil isn't our guide?
-motives are what matters, not our actions.
End Note: God doesn't discriminate.
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