Sizing People Up

James was practical if anything. As the pastor of the church in Jerusalem he needed to give simple and clear instructions to help the thousands of new followers of Christ joining their ranks. Most believe this was the first New Testament book written after the Gospel of John. James tackles a number of critical areas that could hurt or divide the church while still in its infancy.

One of the big issues inherent in the Jewish people was to look down on people who were not like them, not Jews. The "true" Jews who lived in Israel. The descendants of the Dispersion, those whose ancestors did not come back to Jerusalem at the time of Nehemiah and Ezra. They were looked upon as "secular" or "worldly". Also scattered among them was a number of "God fearers" or Gentiles who hung around because they were drawn to the message but had not yet become Jews and been circumcised.

This mind set that sizes people up to determine how much attention they deserve is hidden in all of us. James starts out in chapter 2, verse 1 by calling it "favoritism". This doesn't sound too severe, we all have favorites, don't we? Then he reveals just how deceptive and dangerous this really is. At the root of favoritism is judging, and James adds, "with evil thoughts".

Whenever we "prefer" people we are setting a standard of judgement. Jesus said, "the same standard you set to judge others is the same standard that will be used on you".

Instead, lets live by what James calls in verse 8, "the royal law", "love your neighbor as yourself". If we will accept everyone and love them as we would want to be loved we will receive mercy from God. It may even come from Him through the people we are loving.