Verse: James 2:1-4
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Devotion
To be honest, I often read right through this verse and don’t give it a second thought. I don’t do this, right? I mean who would do this? It seems so blatant, as to excuse us from really having to think about it. I would never purposefully pass by a poorer person to give a better seat to a richer person, right? And I’ve never told anyone to sit down by my feet!
However, today as I read this, I felt the Lord challenging me to think a little more deeply about it. Are there certain people I naturally gravitate towards? Or there certain people I naturally gravitate away from? Do you notice this about yourself?
Can we ask the hard question of why? Why do I tend to avoid this person? Why do I choose not to sit with that person?
Have you ever noticed a person in a group who isn’t getting talked to? Have you ever noticed someone on the edges of a group socially? Have you ever noticed someone who seems like they don’t fit in, or looks lonely, or doesn’t get invited? Are you the person who gets invited every time? How does it feel when we don’t get invited?
I wonder how Jesus would treat the people who are on the edges of our social circles? I wonder how we should?
I know that’s a lot of questions in a row, but seriously, I wonder if I actually am showing favoritism by my actions in ways that are more subtle but just as hurtful. I think this is something for all of us to keep an eye on. Don’t you? (Is that another question??)
Author: Christian
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