Trailblazin Ministries

Favoritism: Part 10 - James 2:7

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Friday, 05 October 2007

Oh, what a disgrace are those who blaspheme and dishonor the name of God and His precious Son; what wickedness and pride must reside in their hearts! These are the kinds of people that James has been talking about in verses 6 and 7 of chapter two, and he isn't taking too kindly to them. He has pointed out their numerous flaws and mistreatment towards those whom God has called. In today's verse, he really gets down to the heart of the matter as to why believers should not be showing favoritism towards these types of people. Let us begin by reading the text, which can be found in James 2:7.

James 2:7 (NASB95) - Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?

This isn't a particularly difficult passage to deal with, as its language is very plain and it does not beat around the bush. Simply put, the rich are the kinds of people that blaspheme the name of God and Jesus Christ, the very God whom we serve and derive our name (Christians). With that being said, the question then becomes, how do they blaspheme the name of Christ? Quite frankly, there are numerous ways in which they choose to dishonor the name of our Holy God; here is a list of just a few: 1) mistreating the poor, 2) trusting in their own riches, 3) persecuting Christians, and 4) denying the very existence of their Creator. Again, these are just a few ways, as there is possibly an infinite number of ways in which they can dishonor His name.

Let's briefly take a look at these four and see how the name of God is dishonored. First there is the mistreatment of the poor. In a previous devotion, we looked intently at how God always had a means of providing for the poor all throughout redemptive history. Here, the rich dishonor God's name by dragging the poor into courts so that they can be jailed or gain what few possessions they do have, humiliating them, making them feel less than human, and so on. Secondly, we see that the wealthy like to trust in their own riches, instead of the One who gave provision for those riches. You know these kinds of people, the ones who choose not to call on God because they have all of their earthly needs met, therefore thinking they have no need for God, other than their riches that they have made into a god. It is also these same people who fail to realize that their is more than just this temporary life, but an eternal dwelling at stake. In regards to points three and four, I would like to refer you to John MacArthur's New Testament Commentary, as he has some very interesting thoughts regarding the Sadducees, whom I made reference to in our previous devotion:

Because the Sadducees were wealthy, aristocratic, and very much secularized, and because they actively persecuted the early church, James may have been making specific reference to them. Although they claimed to adhere strictly to the Mosaic Law, they did not believe in angels or other spirit beings, or in resurrection, the immortality of the soul, or therefore in heaven, hell, or future judgment. And, like the Pharisees, the Sadducees fiercely opposed Jesus when He was alive, slandered His name (see Matt. 16:1–12; 22:23–32), and strongly slandered and persecuted the early church (see Acts 4:1–3; 5:17–18).

What we see in the Sadducees are those who actively persecuted Christians, and also in doing so were denying the deity (i.e. godly existence) of Jesus Christ. Even with that, you also have many who call themselves atheists and agnostics, who openly deny the existence of a Creator or claim that we cannot know this "higher power." Of course, three of these four can occur in any class of society, all four can primarily be applied to the rich, especially those in antiquity, as they had no reason to believe in a God when all their needs were being met. What's important to note is that James makes mention of how we are to respond to all of this back in the opening chapter, telling us to endure so that we can receive the crown of life. But again, if these are the characteristics of the wealthy, why would the body of believers want to grant favoritism towards them, when they stand against everything that God so judiciously stands for?

This verse ends our look at the analogy of the rich man versus the poor man, but it does not conclude our look at the issue of partiality. In the subsequent verses, James begins to shift focus to that of the Law and shows how living in such a manner is a sin against God, and that it is just as bad as any other. This is what we will get into next week as we start with verse 8.