Real faith should never coexist with partiality. You cannot hold both in your life and claim that it’s real faith. To illustrate this, James gives a real life example, one that could happen to any church.
Like any story, it starts with the characters. There were these three guys… Actually James said— “For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?” (James 2.2-4)
The first guy mentioned is: The Prosperous Guy. He’s got a “gold ring” which is the greek word ‘chrusodaktulios’. Interestingly, this word is only used here, and it literally means ‘gold ringed person’. The implication is, they want you to see what they have on! Know anyone like that? The word “goodly” (lampros) is where we get our word ‘lamp’. It means ‘very bright’. This was a person who was a little over the top. today we would say they were, extra!
Then we have: The Poor Guy. This word “poor” means ‘conspicuously poor looking’. Which makes sense because the text says his clothes are described as “vile raiment”. This suggests old, shabby, and worn-out clothing. My child hood after playing outside. You know, back when the holes in the jeans were not purposeful.
Last we have: The Pitiful Guy. This last guy is the member who choses to pick and chose who is better than the other by what he sees. He is… partial.
Think about the churches James is writing to. The majority of new converts were Jews. If they were not already poor, after converting they would be ostracized from their families and society. This usually resulted in losing their jobs, often being tossed out with just the clothes on their back. They weren’t allowed in schools anymore. They wouldn’t be allowed to advance in society; viewed as uneducated and social outcasts. The Roman philosopher Celsus said of them— “like a swarm of bats or ants creeping out of their nests, like worms in a convention in a corner of mud.”
So they had a lot going against them. If that wasn’t bad enough… this was happening in the churches! In Acts 6 the deacons were selected to help the pastors in food distribution to the Jewish widows. There was a problem with the Hellenistic widows not being taken care of as nicely as the native widows. Partiality is native to humanity. It’s still wrong for Jesus’ true churches.
Previous to their conversions, Jewish believers were raised in a system that placed clothes and synagogue seats in great value. Apparently they carried this social casting into their churches. This is a problem… a generational problem. In Mark 12.38-39 Jesus spoke to this with— “And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts”. There would be approximately 6-10 benches, and these were coveted. Otherwise, you stood or sat cross-legged on the floor. Some would bring their ‘foot stool’ to sit on. So, you could imagine inviting someone to sit beside it on the ground wasdouble disrespect. Why not give them your seat? It was like saying—‘Not only am I not going to give up my seat to a visitor who needs to hear… but I am going to invite them to sit on the floor by my stool like my pet.’ This is what the pharisees did… so what does that say about the members doing it?
Let’s apply that to the churches. They were primarily meeting in homes and in open air. the text is indicating a closed space, therefore even more offensive. You have someone come in to a dwelling (house perhaps) and have them sit at your feet (gross) and offer them to sit in a more comfortable place. Why? Because of what you perceived by what you saw on them.
If I judge a person’s heart (what’s in them) by what I see; I am guilty of “evil thoughts” (motives)likeverse 4 states. The word “evil” means injurious effect, to hurt people. This is personal and painful. It is simply sin. In other words— judgement. According to Webster’s Dictionary, to judge means: “to discern, to distinguish, to form an opinion, to compare facts or ideas, and perceive their agreement or disagreement, and thus to distinguish truth from falsehood.”
The only righteous judge is Jesus. Period. To think any human has the right to judge someone is like calling themselves God. But you, I, nor any other human can, because as verse4 says— “partial in yourselves”. We have no perspective. We cannot possibly know, but Jesus does. Jesus can do what we cannot— He looks on the heart. In 1 Samuel 16.7 we read— “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
His judgment is without partiality, but He does understand it. He is acquainted with partiality and judgment of others.
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53.3-6)