Instead of working off of the NRSV (the standard translation I work with since that is basically the one my church uses) today I'm going to work with the Common English Bible (CEB) because I think this translation has a better grasp of James than most, and is really helpful for the modern Christian. So coming from the CEB I'd like to say a few things about last Sunday's reading from James 2.1-5:
My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the
faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in
glory. Imagine two people coming into your meeting. One has a gold ring and
fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags. Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing
fine clothes, saying, "Here's an excellent place. Sit here." But to the
poor person you say, "Stand over there"; or, "Here, sit at my feet." Wouldn't you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil-minded judges? My dear brothers and sisters, listen! Hasn't God chosen those who are
poor by worldly standards to be rich in terms of faith? Hasn't God
chosen the poor as heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who
love him?
Now when asked most would agree with this. But what James is speaking about is still a regular issue in the church, namely, that we judge who should get our hospitality. In practice, we utterly stink at being "welcoming" to those we don't want to welcome. Some churches are good at being "outgoing" and mistake this for welcoming. But in reality it simply means we are more willing to talk to one another, even those we don't know. However, in the end, we're still only engaging those we want to engage. We are reaching out to those we see as peers or assetts. And the stranger, creepier, and less helpful/valuable the visitor is to us, the less likely we are to approach him/her, be hospitable, care about his/her life, and truly be grateful in the Lord for this person's presence.
James addresses this around approaching the wealthy, cleaned up person as opposed to the poor and dirty. I've certainly seen this. Churches that want more leadership, giving, and are filled with generally middle class people see said people either consciously or unconsciously as valuable and approachable. I was a leader in a congregation that was like this, where the welcome was amazing to a wide number of people: those who reflected the neighborhood's diversity, the middle class, the young, etc. But for several weeks we had an older women, who smelled and wore the same clothes each Sunday. The only time any member even mentioned noticing this person who had attended several weeks was when she answered her phone in the middle of the service. I never once saw any of the people talking to her, welcoming her, sitting by her. She amazed me in her persistence in coming back each week. Having met with her many times through the weeks I knew some of her story, and so I imagine she was so used to rejection she did not even notice it. But I saw it.
This same kind of favoritism happens in other ways: when we see youth or minorities as assets that will make our church look more diverse or alive. When we think we need that, we treat them differently. And we don't treat them with that honor out of Christian hospitality but out of a worldly partiality. That is perhaps the most interesting thing about this passage that we can forget, it is not just the poor one we ignore, but the rich one we favor who is not being entreated by the law of love or the freedom of the Gospel, instead it is out of a selfish desire to have this person in the church that we would be welcoming to them. Someone once told me when I visited his church that he wanted to know who I was because I came to church in a 3-piece suit. Now on one hand I imagine that was a means of breaking the ice and complimenting my dress, but what else does that say? Or more specifically, had I not worn that suit that Sunday morning, would he still have introduced himself to me.
And while we treat these people like the furniture that perfectly orders a congregation's feng shui, we likewise then turn our backs on those who just aren't going to contribute. Everyone might want to say they don't do it, but we ought to face this honestly. There are people who we ignore, and people who we don't. I've spent this blog talking about the way I've witnessed favoritism, but not how I have. So let me be personal here, the reason I don't have good examples is because I ignored some so much I cannot remember who they are. That is precisely what James is speaking about, and that is precisely what we as a church need to avoid. Our own cries for self-survival can drown out the people in our midst who we see more as a cancer than a fellow member of the body of Christ. And this is not just for visitors, but becomes a culture of clicks and friends. Of the "brothers and sisters" and then the faces we see each week but have no part of and care nothing for.
Treating people well out of selfishness or ignoring those we want no part of is a real part of our church, because it is a real part of our humanity that we have illadvisedly carried into Christ's body. This sin we bring into the church, we must let it be crucified. But that is why this is such a dangerous sin, because the partiality can alienate people from the gospel, or draw people into something other than the gospel. James when he challenges this, reminds us that the gospel is different. That election is Christ's choosing, and its choice can make the poorest, raggiest, stinkiest woman rich in faith. It gives all of Christ for nothing. As such it is for this reason, for all Christ brings, that those who bring nothing absolutely belong. And it is for this reason we ought be careful of how in favoring those who by worldly standards bring much we can end up lifting up what they are bringing over what Christ is bringing.
But weigh any pearl, any skill, any dress against the kingdom of God and it will be clear what the church needs, and which inheritance matters. Our gathering and hospitality rests on these words "Hasn't God chosen..." because it rests on the kingdom he gives, the grace he brings, and his choice to bring it here to us...all of us.
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