Life 101: Lessons for a Practical Christian Life  
A study in the book of James
lesson #4: Little things are big.
James 2:1-13

Scripture:

My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in; and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool;” haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”  you do well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,”  also said, “Do not commit murder.”  Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:1-13      (World English Bible)

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Bible Study:

by Bob Freye and Jeff Thumma

Before we dive into this passage, let’s give it a title. I’m going to suggest that there is a theme of little things that runs through these few verses.

That may not be the best summary, but it might be good enough. Let’s say that the theme of this lesson is that little things are very big to God. 

With that in mind, chapter two begins with what seems to be a little matter of paying too much honor and attention to the wrong people. Not a big deal. It happens all the time.

After all, rich people are successful, and success tends to get more attention in this world.

But even though it might be common, or easy, or natural, it isn’t right. That little bit of favoritism presents some very large problems.

First of all, God seems to have a very different definition of success. In the world, financial success is a good thing. But in God’s kingdom, financial wealth is a mixed blessing at best.

Look back at the end of chapter one and remember the actions that accompany real religion, or real faith. A real Christian will take care of the weak and the powerless, the widows and orphans who are left without parents and family and friends and support.

These are the forgotten souls in this world. Out of sight, out of mind. They are the opposite of successful. And anyone who offers help and support to them will probably go unnoticed, even in the church.

But that’s how God measures success. Serve the weak and helpless in the name of Jesus.

This chapter, then, is the same message continued. Here James warns that the poor receive something very valuable from God. Grace. Life. Eternity. They are heirs of the fantastic blessing that God has prepared for his people.

In fact, there is no financial requirement for faith. Rich or poor, we all stand in need of a savior, and we can all inherit new life in Christ.

Anyone can receive the gospel, grow in faith, and serve Christ.

So if we set up some kind of rule that makes the rich person more important than the poor person, that would be totally opposite of what God says. That would not be the gospel. It would be a little lie, or actually a big lie.

And when James talks about paying special attention to the rich, he talks about creating a wide gap between the rich and the poor. The wealthy person gets a special honor, and the poorer person is merely kicked to the side.

The seating arrangements are interesting. James is talking about giving power to one person and treating the other as a slave. For the poor, sit here by my footstool, where the servant might sit. But for the wealthy and successful person, a seat on the platform, a place of respect where the spotlight shines.

That would be a place of influence. A place of leadership, sponsorship, and authority. If the rich get all the good seats, they rule the church. But the poor can only watch. 

James calls that an evil thought. You have become judges, he says, and you aren’t judging well.

In a practical sense, it’s a bad move for the church. But you will often see successful business owners placed in high positions in the church. The assumption is that they know how to run an organization.

The Bible, however, calls for spiritual leadership skills. The church is not merely an organization, and you can’t lead the church if you don’t let God lead you.

So this whole thing, though it begins with just a little fudging of the rules, can get the whole church out of whack.

The message changes. The gospel is supposed to go out to everyone, including the poor. Including the poorest of the poor. The dirtiest, most unsuccessful person can find new life in the name of Jesus. They can excel in spiritual gifts and serve the kingdom in amazing ways.

They can be great in the kingdom and still wear their dirty, unstylish clothes.

So if we make a distinction between rich and poor, we make it more difficult for the poor to come to Christ, to grow in Christ, or to serve Christ. And that—again—is not the gospel.

If we ignore the poor Christians in our midst, we can completely miss the service that they perform or the dedication with which they worship God.

And if that happens, we are judging in a way that is totally opposite God’s values. We are not seeing spiritual truth. We would be saying that earthly wealth is better than eternal riches.

Even in unspiritual terms, riches have their dark side. James describes these rich people as the ones who oppress the other members of the church. The rich are dragging the poor into court, perhaps over a boundary dispute or to argue for an extra penny on a contract.

There is something about riches that cause us to compete for even more money or power or success. A little money is never enough, and in the rush to get more, it can be easy to step all over another person. You’re going to get your money from somebody. Usually from someone with less money.

So why would the church celebrate the very people who oppress you? The answer might be simple enough. We fawn over rich people because they might give us some of the money. We might be able to broker a deal, or get a job, or be recommended for something.

That’s a baaaad motive.

It’s a little thing, maybe, but little things are important. The little distinctions between people are important to God. A little sin or a little faithfulness shows up in capital letters.

So in our relations with others, think in spiritual terms. God values people in remarkably different ways than we do. And be consistent. Don’t ask the big business tycoon to fund the new church building, especially if he is the same person that just foreclosed on your mortgage or boosted the interest rate on your credit card for no apparent reason.

And just to make the point perfectly clear, see verse seven. These rich people that James is talking about aren’t even making the slightest pretext of a spiritual life. They curse the name of God, the same name by which the church is known.

We are not just First Church or Memorial Church. We are the people who love Jesus and worship God. We are God’s church, and there is no place of honor in God’s church for someone who will not honor God.

It’s a big thing.

A common mistake, maybe. Easy to do, maybe. But it’s big.

James goes on to say how big the problem really is. He talks about the law, and he was referring to the law in the first books of the Old Testament.

Jewish Christians would have grown up with a deep appreciation of the standards set by the law. So when James says that they are disrespecting the law when they show deference to one person over another, it’s a severe warning.

Favoritism may not be as serious an infraction as murder, but the nature of the law is such that one offense is all it takes. One offense is sufficient to break the entire law.

That’s the way the law works. If a person does not steal but does commit murder—to create an example very much like what James describes—that person has broken the law. If you don’t steal a lot but steal a little, that infraction breaks the law.

The summary of the law can be found in the command to love others as you love yourself. Jesus offers that as a proper summary of all of the law, because love would keep us away from all the stealing and lying and other junk listed in all the other laws.

So then, if I disparage a person because of their clothing, then I have offended that royal law, the command to love others as I love myself. One infraction, and the law is broken.

A small thing. A small mistake. But very, very important in God’s eyes. 

There is an alternative. There is something other than the law. Actually, it isn’t a different thing. It’s just a proper understanding of what the law was supposed to do.

James calls it the law that brings freedom, or the law that sets us free.

The alternative is mercy. Even when God provided the law, he was always reaching out to people with mercy. It’s actually a little confusing, this law and mercy thing.

But we can make it simple. Catch the last verse in this lesson, verse 13. If you live without mercy, you will be judged without mercy.

That’s dangerous.

Ask the woman who was caught in an adulterous relationship in John 8. The bloodthirsty crowd wanted to kill her. But Jesus offered her mercy, and she lived.

He gave her a new life. That’s what mercy does.

Go through the Beatitudes. Blessed are the merciful, it says, because they will receive mercy.

It is a huge theme, a major expression of the law. But where do we apply it? Where do we live it out?

A lot of places, probably, but one place is in our relationships. Our judgments of people. Our favoritism, or our equality. Our blind glorification of financial wealth and success, or our awareness of God’s values, God’s measure of success, God’s love for people, no matter how well they are dressed.

Big law, little application.

Little mistake, big deal.

Little distinction, big consequences.

It’s just a little favoritism, but you have to pay attention to it. Because little things are very big in God’s eyes.

[.]

Paraphrase:

Faith in Jesus does not play favorites. If somebody comes in wearing cool clothes, looking all trendy and successful, and somebody else comes into the room wearing rags, you can’t get all mushy over one and push the other one to the side. If you do, you are saying that one person is better than another, and you are probably going to favor the rich person, because you think you’re going to get something in return, so don’t pretend your motives are anything other than pure greed.

Listen. God pours out his grace on the poor of this world. They are rich in faith and they will inherit the kingdom of God. So don’t dishonor them, because God will give them honor. And for that matter, don’t the rich tend to step all over you? Don’t they take you to court and even ridicule and reject the very faith in Christ that you hold to?

Think of the law. It says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” So do that. If you don’t, if you have all these favorites, you break the law, and this is God’s law we’re talking about here. You know how the law works. You have to keep the whole thing. If you don’t steal and don’t lie and don’t commit adultery, but then you go and murder somebody, you’ve broken the law. Don’t whine about all the parts you kept. You broke the law.

So don’t judge people by their clothes or their money—or anything else, for that matter. Live a life of mercy, instead. There’s nothing wrong with mercy. If you show mercy, you will receive mercy. But if you judge harshly, you will be judged harshly yourself. So mercy is better. Let your words and actions be guided by mercy.

James 2:1-13      (paraphrase)

[.]

Life 101: Lessons for a Practical Christian Life  
A study in the book of James
lesson #4: Little things are big.
James 2:1-13

Story:

The Amazing Pink Tie

by Bob Freye

Winton Dowdy was dressed for success, which meant that his shirt pocket contained two pens—one black and one blue—and a mechanical pencil for making notes of a less permanent nature. The pocket was his tool box, and with his tools in place, he was ready for just about anything. 

Except looking for a job. That was hard. But the layoff had left him without a paycheck, and he needed something. So he headed out the door with a destination in mind but with very little hope of actually landing an interview.

His melancholy attitude worried his wife. Elaine had been pumping up his deflated ego for days, hoping he might present a more optimistic picture at the next job interview. He was talented. But he needed an extra boost of confidence, or something.

So she had sent him out the door with a little added zest to his wardrobe.

She had talked him into wearing the tie.

“I think it’ll be lucky for you today,” she had suggested. She draped the necktie over her arm as if it was on display in the store. “It can’t hurt.”

The cloth was a very businesslike dark blue background with large, bright, fluorescent pink flowers splashed everywhere. Not real flowers. Cartoon flowers with wide petals, all bathed in a pink so bright it would glow in the dark. 

It was not his style, but she had smiled at him, his conservative wife, looking so hopeful draped in bright pink flowers, inviting him to step out of his role as bashful software engineer and become a brash barbarian of industry, if only for a day.

So there he was, making his way through downtown pedestrian traffic like a walking safety flare. People stepped aside to let him by, alerted by some primal instinct to the possibility that he might be radioactive.

Why else would he glow with such a bright pink hue?

The crowds parted in front of him on the sidewalk until he arrived at the Pepperidge Building, and he rode alone in the elevator to the third floor, to the corporate offices of a company called Durascape.

The woman at the desk listened to his story as he stammered through a rehearsed appeal for some sort of access to the company’s hiring process.

“I, I think I have the kind of skills,” he was saying, “that you might, well, not you exactly, but your company, even though I don’t actually know what it is you do.”

He paused to regain his composure. The wheels had come off his sales pitch. No surprise there. It always happened. It just happened much earlier this time.

Fortunately, the woman behind the desk hadn’t heard anything he had said. She just kept staring at the tie. Like a hypnotist’s rotating wheel, it compelled her eyes to focus on the pulsing fluorescent images. They seemed to move almost in rhythm with her own heartbeat.

She shook her head to get the image out of her mind and looked up at Winton as if she had awakened from a dream.

“What was your title again?” she asked, blinking uncontrollably.

He honestly didn’t know. Unemployed engineer didn’t sound very impressive. So he improvised, like the barbarian he was, if only for a day. He pulled a few buzzwords from his rehearsed spiel and invented something that might sound familiar to the woman.

“Process software design,” he said.

The woman reached for the phone and talked to someone in the back offices. With more command in her voice than seemed normal for a receptionist, she summoned an older man who must have been one of her bosses. He appeared at her desk almost immediately.

“This gentleman would like to meet with you about software design,” she explained. Her eyes were fixed squarely on the tie, and the pink flowers were inviting her to dive in among them once again.

“Process software design,” Winton corrected, though the distinction was probably trivial—or imaginary.  

“We’re looking at our process design right now,” the man said, misquoting. He appraised the image in front of him in an instant. Blue background—businesslike. Pink flowers—bold and energetic.

He waved Winton to follow, and they hurried down the hall toward a conference room, leaving the receptionist to overcome her vertigo. Winton passed several offices where men and women huddled in small groups or hunched over tables filled with mountains of paper.

He searched every scene for some hint of what type of product Durascape produced. They were a startup, and even the web site hadn’t been clear what exactly they did. 

The man called for several associates, and they all squeezed into a small conference room with chairs around the outside and no table in the center.

“Bud Wilson,” the man said, offering his hand to Winton. He introduced the rest of the group, a man and two women, all dressed in casual clothing, mostly jeans and denim shirts.

“So you think you can change our process mechanics,” Bud said. “Tell me how.”

Winton went blank.

“I don’t think I can,” he admitted.

After all, he didn’t know anything about Durascape, and without knowing their process, he certainly couldn’t advise them.

Bud saw him back away from the question and thought he was playing hard to get. What was his game? Every instinct told Bud that this young go-getter was strictly fast-track, ready to slash and burn his way to success.

At least, that’s what the tie said.

But he was holding back. Teasing them.

That’s it! He was negotiating.

Ooooh, he was good!

“Alright, I’ll tell you the problem.” Bud started to lay out the story of Durascape. “We started as a research group, but management wants to move to market.”

The rest of the group nodded as he continued his story. But they didn’t interrupt. They let Bud do the talking. He was handling things well, and they might not have the skills to deal with such a formidable tie.   

“But we don’t know what to take to market,” Bud said, bringing his synopsis to an end.

They waited.

And Winton waited, too. There had to be more to the story. They wanted him to say something, but he desperately needed more information.

If this was a test, he was failing.

Elaine would be disappointed. And with that thought in his mind, he decided to give it one last shot.

“What do you do?” he asked, with a look of utter confusion.

What do we do?

The question echoed in the minds of the group as they stood there, staring at the pink flowers.

Of course! It’s that simple! Product defines image, and image defines product! We are what we do!

It was a rhetorical question, of course. They all knew that. He had asked the question so they would answer for themselves. And in the answering was the truth that he wanted them to see. What an amazing tie—no, no, they meant to say what an amazing aptitude for business.

Bud made a quick call, and they were off again, Bud and Winton, to another conference room, this one larger and hidden deeper in the halls of Durascape. This time the group was waiting for them.

A man with reading glasses perched on his nose.

A woman dressed in grey business suit with white blouse and grey scarf tied in a loose bow under her collar.

And a young man with a wide grin and no apparent purpose in the group. There was something dangerously familiar about him. He was wearing a charcoal grey tie with wide yellow smiley faces splashed all over everywhere.  

“I think you have to hear this,” Bud told the group.

He made the introductions. The woman was RJ McCay, the visionary CEO who had started Durascape. The man with the glasses was the financial officer. His name wasn’t important.

Then there was the young man with the tie. He was just Denny. The newest vice-president, though no one mentioned what he did.

“He has a simple and concise grasp of product presentation,” Bud was saying.

Winton looked around the room. Who had a grasp of product presentation? But Bud was pointing to him.

“We don’t need another whiz kid,” RJ said. “We have Denny.”

She pointed to the young man with the smiley-face tie. He didn’t look like much, but the tie was impetuous, even haughty.

“Face it, RJ,” Bud objected, “we’re stuck. We know all about research, but we don’t know the first thing about taking an idea to market.”

The woman glared at Winton. She wanted to dismiss him, but there was something about him that she couldn’t ignore. Something pink.

“Look, I don’t care how good you are,” she told Winton. “I can’t just hire you on a whim, even if you have some experience in process engineering.”

“Process software design,” Winton said, repeating the mantra he had invented just minutes ago.

And the whole group held their breath.

Of course! Process software!

“How exactly does that work?” RJ asked.

Winton could tell her, but he was increasingly uncomfortable. He didn’t work like this, not badgered by corporate suits and definitely not wearing a tie. And so he did the unthinkable.

He loosened the pink tie and gently slid it out of his collar. They watched, four pairs of eyes, as the tie fell softly over the back of a chair.

And they listened as he talked.

It was like watching an astronaut work in free fall without a space suit, untethered to the spacecraft, without a lifeline or oxygen supply.

Denny couldn’t do that. They had never seen him work without the smiley faces. He couldn’t just know things or say things without the costume, the apparatus.

But Winton could explain everything. And as he talked, they followed every word.

It was simple! Use a software platform to define their production schedules and materials lists and staffing and timetable!

“How long would it take to install this system?” RJ asked anxiously.

“Just the software?” Winton asked.

Of course! It would take some time to enter all the parameters. The system would grow as the project continued. But they had to have something in place, just to get things moving in the right direction.

“How long would it take you to install the software,” she asked, “with no data entry or design included, just so we can begin to shape the project on the computer?”

Everyone looked at Winton. He still looked rather pink, even separated from the tie.

“Can you do it in a month?” RJ asked.

It was simple software, readily available. All he needed was a decent desktop computer, and they had plenty of those, from what he had seen.

“I can load the software,” he said, “over the lunch hour.”

The room was silent.

But every brain was busy.

The financial guy was figuring what it might cost to bring Winton on board.

RJ was retooling a mental chart of her organization to make room for Winton—near the top.

Bud was canceling his lunch plans.

And Denny was wondering where he could find a tie splashed with large, pink, fluorescent flowers.

[.]