Trailblazin Ministries

Favoritism: Part 8 - James 2:6a

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 25 September 2007

You would think by now that James' readers are starting to get the point: favoritism is wrong and displays ungodly character. At the very least, that is what James is trying to drive home to them in this extended discourse. He started off with giving them an example of how they show such favoritism, and then moved into their motives for doing so, before explaining that God has chosen the poor of this world to be made rich in faith. Today, we are going to look at the first half of James 2:6, as he again makes mention of their treatment towards the poor.

James 2:6a (NASB95) - But you have dishonored the poor man.

Looking at this in its direct context, with verse 5; we see James telling his readers that God had chosen the poor to be made rich in faith and receive the gift of salvation; indeed, God was not showing favoritism in any way towards the wealthy. Yet, even with a look at God's character and His choosing of them (many who were poor themselves), they were still dishonoring the poor. The word used here for "dishonored" is a pretty interesting word in the Greek (atimazō, Strong's #G818), and it means "to treat shamefully." This word only occurs six times in the New Testament, and usually refers to someone dishonoring God through a breaking of the Law (Romans 2:23), or persecution that is being faced by believers (Acts 5:41). In other words, you are insulting them through your actions. In regard to God, we dishonor Him when we choose to blatantly break His commandments, thus slapping God in the face and throwing His goodness back at Him. In essence, this is what James is saying is happening to the poor; we are slapping them in the face and making them lower than they are by treating them in such a disgusting manner.

Again, the point to take away from this is that God is an impartial God and that we need to be like Him. We need to lift up the poor and look out for them, much in the same way God always has throughout the course of Redemptive history. He has always made provision for the poor, and so should we. We should not be the ones who are accused of making the poor stand in the back of the church or sit on the floor, instead of giving up your seat, or even your footstool! If you really think about it, and look back at verse 4, can you truly say that in doing this that you don't have selfish motives at hand? Of course you do! You do it by either hoping to benefit from the rich man, or just choosing to neglect the poor because you want nothing to do with them. Either way, it's wrong and this is exactly how James is telling us that we are dishonoring the poor man. No, we need to flip the script and do things God's way, which is by treating everyone equally, regardless of their socio economical status.

Today, take inventory of your heart. Are you dishonoring the poor around you? Are you favoring the rich man over the poor? Are you ignoring and neglecting them, when you have the means to lend a helping hand? Just think about that today, and see whether you are displaying the kind of character that lines up with God's character. If not, pray to Him that He would give you the desire to want to change through His Holy Spirit; and if so, pray that He would continue to sustain and increase that passion within you. Amen? Amen.