James 2:1-5 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. (2) 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; (3) 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: (4) Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? (5) Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Our passage today deals with a lesson that we all so desperately need: Being able to see past the physical of a person (whether good or bad), and understand that the internal can be so much different than we might first conclude. This teaching causes me to have two obvious impressions:
1. Praise be to God that what we LOOK like is not WHO we are! How many times in life have we gotten to know a “popular” person; one that has everything going for them as far as looks, clothes, physique etc. and then once we get to know them we wonder how they got so popular. On the other hand, how many times have we gotten to know someone that was superficially “lacking”; whether it’s that they are overweight, or dress with a distorted sense of style or they are just ugly, but when we get to know them they are a wonderful person. All of us have experienced these interactions and yet, we tend to fall back and make judgements about people based upon their outward appearance. If you are like me, I was not born physically perfect, so I am thankful that God looks upon something COMPLETELY different in order to judge who I am.
1 Samuel 16:7 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.
In this passage, Israel is in turmoil with Saul being king so God desires to replace him. He sends his prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse to choose one of his sons to anoint as the next king of Israel. The first son that Samuel encounters was a physically ideal specimen, but God rejected him and verse 7 was his explanation. Because God does not look on the physical as man does but looks on the heart. Now look at verse 5 of James 2. Notice who God says will inherit heaven. Not the rich! Not the good looking. NOt the physically fit. But those that LOVE God! That is a characteristic of the heart. A characteristic that ANYONE can achieve!
2. We Therefore Cannot Judge People on superficial Characteristics! The primary point of this lesson, is that because God does not judge from the outward, that we too should learn to do the same. Unfortunately, not only we draw conclusions upon what we see from a person, but that we often act upon it as well. James illustrates a scenario where two men walk into an assembly, and the socially preferred person is treated in a very welcoming manner, while the socially “outcast” person is escorted to the back. His attendance and importance is minimized due ONLY because of his appearance. If we are not careful, we can behave in a very similar manner over race, gender, money or any other physical characteristic. The fact is, we are all fortunate that God does not judge us in this manner, and we MUST do all that we can to see man as God does. We must strive, every day to learn to see that everyone has POTENTIAL!
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