My brethren, do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [Lord] of glory, with respect of persons
James names a title and draws a rule from it. Christ is the Lord of glory — so why should fine clothes or shabby clothes decide how we treat a person?
One writer sets this faith apart from every rival system:
The unity of the Spirit keeps all saints in one faith. It is "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ" (James 2:1). It is not a blend of the faiths of the world, which is what some professing Christians aim at. It is unique. It is not a development of religious science, nor the outcome of philosophic thought.
Naming Christ this way changes the scale we use to measure people:
On the whole, the world does not judge people by their moral worth. It judges them by their social position and outward appearance. Those who have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, are not to judge one another that way. The man of the world will pay respect to the well-born man with riches and social position. But faith puts us in touch with the Lord of glory. In His presence all men, however high in worldly position, become very small.
Both the law and the spirit of Christianity cut against looking down on the poor:
Chapter 2 sets believers clearly apart: they are not to hold the faith of the Lord of glory while showing favour to some people over others. To despise the poor went against the law. The law treated all Israelites as objects of God's favour. It regarded the people as one before Him, each one a member of the same family. It is also entirely against the spirit of Christianity. That spirit looks for humility. It calls the poor happy. It leads us to seek greatness in heavenly glory, showing that the cross here answers to the glory above. Faith has seen that Lord of glory in humiliation, with nowhere to lay His head.
Another writer starts from what Christ Himself gave up:
Faith recognises the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor, so that we through His poverty might be rich... Suffering for righteousness' sake, and still more for Christ's sake, ought to be precious in our eyes as Christians... But here is a two-fold contradiction of Christ: to slight one man for the clothes that show his poverty, and to honour another for the fine clothes that prove his wealth.
Favouritism has a root and an effect:
Showing favour to some people over others is the instinct of self and the reflection of the world. But it denies Christ in practice. It denies the reality of that close relationship which grace has formed between all who are His.
The same reflex still shows up wherever people gather:
In the world, an appearance of dignity and wealth always gets a person special treatment. It must not be so among those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still a test for us today. What would we do if one person who looks rich and another who looks poor came into a meeting? Would we be as considerate of the one as of the other? And is it so in our daily dealings with people?
One writer turns it into a question, then a command:
James sets the glory and its principles before us as a motive and power for conduct here. Do you have faith — the faith of glory, towards which your steps are heading? Then do not carry on with the spirit of the world. That spirit puts the poor man in the low place and the rich man in the seat of honour! Let the principles of the glory form your ways, so that the spirit of the world may be broken in you.
- One faith. Believers hold "the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ." It is not a mixture of the world's religions. It is not a philosophy. It is unique, with a Person at its centre.
- One standard. That Person is the Lord of glory, and in His presence the highest worldly position shrinks to nothing.
- One example. Faith has seen this glorious Lord in humiliation, with nowhere to lay His head. The cross here answers to the glory above.
- One contradiction. Judging people by their clothes is the instinct of self and a reflection of the world. It denies Christ in practice. It denies the bond grace has made between all who are His.
- One test. The rich visitor and the poor visitor still walk into our meetings and our daily dealings. Let the principles of the glory shape how we treat both. Then the spirit of the world is broken in us.
for if there come unto your synagogue a man with a gold ring in splendid apparel, and a poor man also come in in vile apparel,
James sets a scene. Two men walk into the meeting: one in gold and fine clothes, the other in rags. How the room treats them is the test. Does faith in the Lord of glory decide who gets the good seat, or does the gold ring decide?
The Greek word translated "assembly" here is not the usual word for a church gathering. It is the word for a synagogue, a Jewish meeting place:
In James 2:2 the word "assembly" is really the synagogue, or place of meeting… The Greek word used in Acts 19:32 and similar places is ekklesia, the word the New Testament often gives as "church." It means "called out." The church is a people God has called out to Himself from the mass of mankind.
Commentators differ on whether James has an actual synagogue in view. One takes the word as carried over to a Christian gathering, and finds the sting there:
It is easy to understand why the writer used "synagogue" for the people he addressed. He did not mean an actual synagogue. He carried the word over to a Christian company. So it is rendered here as "meeting," the nearest equivalent we have. No one would be surprised at such a worldly spirit in a real synagogue. It was a grief when it passed into a Christian gathering.
The gold ring and the fine clothing are not moral qualities. They are the world's shorthand for a man's worth:
In the main, the world estimates men not by their moral worth, but by their social position and outward adorning. Those who have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, are not to judge one another this way. The man of the world will pay respect to the well-born man with riches and social position; but faith puts us in touch with the Lord of glory. In His presence all men, however high in worldly position, become very small.
Put the gold-ringed man beside Christ Himself. His poverty was never forced on Him:
What was less fitting to Christ than a gold-ringed man in splendid clothing? He was never dressed up in finery, except in the bitter mockery of those about to crucify Him. Yet He could have called all the wealth and grandeur of the world to Himself in a moment, had that suited Him or those who represent Him here below. On high He is crowned with glory and honour, as they will be at His coming. But faith sees the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, for our sake He became poor, so that we by His poverty might become rich.
Where a guest sits looks like a small thing to raise in a letter. That is what makes it a test:
The testing of this may seem at times minute. If you put the poor man in a poor place in your synagogue, how can you have recognised the glory of the Lord of glory? It is a question of faith, and where does faith see poverty or riches?
The same test still stands in any meeting today:
In the world, wealth and standing always win a person special treatment. It must not be so among those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still a test for us today: what would we do if a rich-looking visitor and a poor-looking one came into a meeting? Would we be as considerate of the one as of the other? And is it so in our daily relationships with people?
Claiming Christ while playing favourites is empty. Even so, the answer is not to flatten every social rank or to snub the rich visitor:
It is useless to pretend to know our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, when our conduct does not match that confession… James by no means levels all ranks. What he demands is that one should have no preference for the rich.
Honour still has its place in the world outside. Inside, another rule holds:
Scripture does not approve a spirit of disrespect towards the noble or the high-placed. Paul says: pay to all what you owe them — taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honour to whom honour is owed… But among all who bear the Lord's name, we owe one another love. We owe tender compassion to those whom trials and poverty may trap. Contempt for the poor Christian is as far from the mind that was in Christ as anything could be.
- Glory. Faith holds to the Lord of glory. In His presence every impressive man becomes very small.
- Gold. The ring and the fine clothes are how the world prices a person. It counts position and outward show, not moral worth.
- Grace. The Lord they claim to know became poor for our sake. Fawning over fine clothes denies the grace that made us rich.
- Gauge. Where you seat a visitor looks like a tiny thing. That is what makes it a searching test of whether faith or the world is doing the seeing.
- Guardrail. James does not abolish rank or teach disrespect for the great. He forbids preference for the rich, and above all contempt for the poor believer.
and ye look upon him who wears the splendid apparel, and say, Do thou sit here well, and say to the poor, Do thou stand there, or sit here under my footstool
One visitor walks into the meeting in expensive clothes; another walks in wearing rags. James builds his argument on where each man is told to sit, and on the words spoken over him.
The room James pictures is a synagogue. Its "good place" was not a vague courtesy but a fixed spot in the building.
An ark was placed at one end, holding the sacred books. Near this was the place of honour — the "chief seats" that some people wanted for themselves (Matthew 23:6; James 2:2-3, where the word translated "assembly" is "synagogue").
The difference is not only in where each man sits, but in the welcome each one gets.
So a rich Jew would enter their "assembly" or "synagogue" full of self-importance and dressed in all his finery — "synagogue" is the right word. Everyone gave him fawning attention, apparently the Christians as much as the non-Christians. When a poor man entered, they put him in an obscure place without any ceremony.
Ask what the Lord Himself looked like when He walked among men.
What was less in keeping with Christ than a man with gold rings in splendid clothing? He was never decked out in such things, except in the bitter mockery of those about to crucify Him. Yet in a moment He could have summoned all the wealth and grandeur of the world around Him — if that had been fitting for Himself, or for those who represent Him here below.
Where you seat a man shows what you saw when he came in.
The testing of this may seem at times very small. If you put the poor man in a poor place in your synagogue, how can you have recognised the glory of the Lord of glory? It is a question of faith, and where does faith see poverty or riches?
James is not attacking rank itself.
Yet James by no means levels all ranks. What he demands is that no one should have a preference for the rich.
Honour still has its place in the wider world. Among believers, love comes first.
Not that Scripture allows a spirit of disrespect toward the noble or the exalted. "Pay to all what is owed to them," says the apostle Paul, "taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed"... But all who bear the Lord's name owe love to one another. They owe tender compassion to those whose trials and poverty put them in danger of being trapped.
Commentators differ on how strong the closing charge is. Some read it as nothing worse than faulty reasoning in a court case. Kelly disagrees.
Dr. Whitby and others work hard to explain this as the judicial assemblies the Jews held in their synagogues... That reduces the rebuke to partiality in a trial between a poor man and a rich one. Instead, we have here a great principle that applies everywhere, all the more necessary when ease and wealth and luxury began to flow in among professing Christians... What is really meant is an evil moral state, out of all sympathy with our Lord. They made a difference among themselves and became judges of evil thoughts — marked by having evil thoughts, instead of weighing and feeling things in the light of God and His love by faith. It was a worldly mind.
The man told to stand may be the wealthier of the two.
Most of these weak Jewish believers were poor. They had so far forgotten the early fervour of faith that they cringed before the wealthy — even in their assemblies, if a rich man came in. Yet were they not rich in faith, the poorest of them? Were they not heirs of the kingdom which He who chose them promised to those that love Him?
And the test has not expired with the synagogue.
In the world, the look of dignity and wealth always wins a person preferential treatment. It must not be so among those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. It is still a test for us today. What would we do if one clearly wealthy person and one clearly poor person came into a meeting? Would we be as considerate of the one as of the other? And is it so in our daily dealings with people?
- Seat — The "good place" was the recognised chief seat near the ark. The poor man was told to stand, or to sit at another man's feet.
- Sight — The seating exposes what faith is looking at. Faith fixed on the Lord of glory does not see a gold ring as glory at all.
- Standard — This is not the abolition of rank. Honour is still due where honour is due; what is forbidden is preference for the rich.
- State — "Judges of evil thoughts" describes a worldly mind, not just a bad decision. It is an inner state out of sympathy with Christ.
- Status — The man told to stand is rich in faith and an heir of the kingdom. Seat him badly and you have misjudged the wealthiest person in the room.
have ye not made a difference among yourselves, and become judges having evil thoughts?
The gold ring and the shabby clothes now turn into a question, and the question is an accusation. The seating has exposed the heart behind it. The verse brings two charges: making a difference "among yourselves," and judging with evil thoughts. Both land on people who claim to hold the faith of the Lord of glory.
Some have tried to soften the verse into a rule about court cases between a rich man and a poor man. One writer answers that, and points to something far deeper:
This reduces the rebuke to partiality in cases of trials between a poor man and a rich man. It misses the fact that we have here a great principle that applies everywhere. It was all the more needed when ease and wealth and luxury began to flow in among professing Christians… What is really meant is an evil moral state, out of all sympathy with our Lord. They made a difference among themselves, and became judges of evil thoughts. That is, they were marked by having evil thoughts, instead of weighing and feeling things in the light of God and His love by faith. It was a worldly mind.
These people never sat on a bench or gave a verdict. They only decided where two men should sit. The verse still calls them judges, and gives them a name:
Quite natural, of course, according to the way of the world; but quite foreign to the faith of Christ. They might set themselves up as judges of men in this way, but they only proved themselves to be "judges of evil thoughts," or "judges having evil reasonings."
The judge is then measured by the way he judges:
If it is true that we show any preference to one above another, then we are solemnly asked, are we not in ourselves partial, and have we not become judges with evil thoughts? If a judge does not judge righteously, then his thoughts are inescapably evil.
Why does a gold ring impress us at all? Because we are using the world's scale to weigh people:
In the main, the world estimates men not according to their moral worth, but by their social position and outward adorning. Those who have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, are not to judge one another this way. The man of the world will pay respect to the well-born man with riches and social position; but faith puts us in touch with the Lord of glory. In His presence all men, however high in worldly position, become very small.
This is more than bad manners. It cuts at the bond grace itself created:
Respect of persons is the instinct of self and the reflex of the world; but it denies Christ in practice, and denies the reality of that close relationship which grace has formed between all who are His.
The test can look small, but it reaches up to who Christ is:
If you put the poor man in a poor place in your synagogue, how can you have recognised the glory of the Lord of glory? It is a question of faith, and where does faith see poverty or riches?
Christians are not left with no distinctions at all — only with the right ones:
If they made a difference in the assembly between the poor and the rich, they became judges of evil thoughts. Blessed be God, we can live together for heaven and in heavenly things, at least in the church, where true difference consists not in the vanity of this world, but in degrees of spirituality.
- Look. The eye goes to the fine clothes first. The world measures a man by his position and his outward adorning. Faith is not to weigh people that way.
- Difference. Seating one man high and one man low is not good manners. It is a difference made "among yourselves," and a worldly mind at work.
- Judgment. Sort men by appearance, and you have taken the judge's seat. A judge who does not judge rightly is himself a judge with evil thoughts.
- Glory. The gold ring impresses only where the glory of the Lord of glory has been forgotten. Favouring one man over another denies Christ in practice. It denies the bond grace has made between all who are His.
- Test. The one difference that belongs among Christians is spiritual, not social. So where the poor man sits is a measure of your faith.