James 2:1-9 My brethren, do not hold
your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal
favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed
in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you
pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You
sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,
or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves,
and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God
choose the poor of 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. Is it
not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not
blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are
fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are
committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
We are a middle class American church. We may range from the depths of middle
class to the higher fringes of middle class, but we are primarily a middle class
church. We descended from a strong work ethic in a rural environment that
managed with values and behavior strange to today’s America.
Many of us adults adopted those values and perspectives. Most of us do not live
as our grandparents lived, but the older of us still hold many of their values
and perspectives.
However, times have changed considerably. Now we have adults who do not know
those values and perspectives. We have young people who have never seen or heard
of those values and perspectives. While our grandparents knew ‘hard times’, now
there are people in the church who live exclusively in prosperity and its
lifestyle.
Do you doubt we are a middle class church? How do you feel if the congregation
has a sizeable number who assemble here to praise God from true poverty
circumstances? Or, if our building is used to provide support groups a meeting
place to teach and encourage those who confront addictions? Or if we mix “our”
children in classes with children who come from obviously different
environments?
Perhaps the biggest shock comes if circumstances require us to live in a third
world country. Much of the world’s population resides in such countries. After
we get past the curious tourist stage, our eyes see things and ears hear things
never seen or heard before. We see people truly trapped in poverty, who never
have enough to eat, who could put the family’s clothing in one of our
closets—and still have empty space, who are sick most of the time (by our
definition), and who likely will die before the age of 50.
Shockingly, these people smile more, are less anxious, are more thoughtful, and
are more grateful than many of us. Conversion changes nothing physically for
many of them, but they are so grateful to know the hope given by the living God.
May we develop God’s eyes and ears as we look at ourselves and others!
Link to other Writings of David Chadwell