James 2:1-4 (ESV)

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Over the past year, I have repeatedly read public announcements of the deaths of celebrities. Recently I saw a video that recounted all the celebrities that died in 2016. There were a lot of them. Here is what I find interesting, they were all from the entertainment industry. As a people, we mourn the loss of wealthy, well known individuals with less than stellar morality, while we ignore the deaths of thousands of helpless unborn, children who died of neglect, disease, accident, or abuse, the hundreds or perhaps thousands killed by terrorists, rebels, and war, and the many who died of preventable disease or starvation, not to mention those killed specifically because they were Christ followers. When we look at those numbers, I honestly fail to see the great loss in the death of a few entertainers. In fact, we are very close to being guilty of the very thing James is addressing in the verses above.

The beautiful people, the popular people, and the wealthy and influential people matter. The poor, the helpless, the less fortunate are not important. We do the same in our churches. The ones with a regular paycheck are welcomed with open arms. The ones who appear to have life all together are quickly embraced. The poor, the needy, the broken, the helpless often feel less than welcome. James says that when we do this we have made distinctions among ourselves, and judge “with evil thoughts.”

We would never think of ourselves as judging with evil thoughts. Yet when we make distinctions in how we treat people, we are guilty. When we rush to welcome the important people, we are guilty. When we ignore those in need, we are guilty. No, we can’t fix everyone’s problems, but we can love them. We can welcome them. We can listen carefully to them. Look around church sometime and ask yourself, who is it that I would rather not stand and chat with after the service? Why is it I am avoiding them? Are they needy? Are they dirty? Are they less than beautiful? Are they different? Aren’t those the very people God called us to love?

“If a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing…. have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:2-4).

 Father forgive us! May the mind and heart of Jesus Christ be seen in me today.