Catering To The Rich And Influencial Series

Nobody needs to take this message to heart more than we pastors. We are in a place where our livelihood depends upon the prosperity of the church. Everybody wants the church to prosper. But pastors especially feel that pressure. So they have to especially guard themselves against this temptation. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Wealthy people usually keep their wealth. It’s the faithful rank and file of the church that carries the load. I’ve pastored churches with well-off people in them. They were a blessing when they were there. When they left nothing changed. I had two millionaires leave our church in a matter of a couple of months and the finances of the church stayed almost the same. They had been giving—not sacrificially; but they gave. But when they left God brought in others who took up the slack. The work of God will continue if we trust Him to take care of it.

In contrast, the poor man coming in looks like he is going to be a drain on the church. What does he have to offer? We may find that he has a lot to offer. One day Jesus watched as the crowd put their offering into the temple treasury. There were rich people dropping in large amounts of money. But then a poor widow put in two small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Jesus wasn’t embarrassed to talk about money. He called his disciples over and said to them, “...this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on” Mark 12:41-44 (NIV). Maybe this poor visitor in James 2 would be like her—maybe he is more of a giver than he appears to be. Maybe his very presence in the church would bring a smile from God and favor on the congregation.

It’s been my experience that God will send both wealthy and poor people into a church to test our hearts. Both are a test as to how we will respond to them. Both have needs. Both should be treated with respect and love. The central issue is this: Are we concerned about their well-being or are we just seeing them for what we can get out of them. The fundamental issue is selfishness. Most churches talk a good talk about love and serving. Most don’t walk the talk. A lot of churches we deal with in our consulting firm think they have hired the pastor to do all their serving. They want their church to be a loving, serving church; they just don’t want to do any of it. It’s a revolutionary day in a Christian’s life when his fundamental orientation changes from getting to giving. There are two ways to read our text. One is to focus on our own needs and wonder why the church doesn’t give me more and wonder why the church isn’t more loving toward me. The other way to read the text is this. I am the church. If not me, then who? “God, am I fulfilling my responsibility to be loving and caring toward other people.” When we read the text that way, it can feel a little uncomfortable. For who of us is as loving and caring as we should be. But when we read it that way; we’re reading it right. If all you can think of when you read James 2 is “why don’t people do more for me”—you’re missing the point entirely. The root problem behind showing partiality is selfishness.