The Characteristics Of A Christian

ARE YOU IMPARTIAL

JAMES 2:1-13

1. DO NOT JUDGE

I have often sat and thought about what it really means to be a Christian. I asked myself questions about how I was supposed to act, show my faith, or speak. I have thought about how I was supposed to treat other people. What were some examples that would lead and guide me? Then I realized that God has given me a blueprint to follow. All that I had to do was to search God’s Word to find the answer. Every question that I or anyone else has the answer can be found in The Bible. How simple was this solution, but one it was one that eluded me for several years, until I decided to let God lead my life. Today as I look out across our nation I see needs that are not being met because God’s people are living a life of inaction. They have other things that are more important than doing the work of God. Churches become status symbols and our importance is now based on how much wealth we have not on our worth as a Christian.

Illustration 1.

I am reminded about the story of this particular church. One Sunday morning the congregation arrived to find a dirty old vagrant lying beside the door. Some looked at him and said how awful that someone like that is sitting outside our beautiful church, why the pastor should make him move on we don’t need to encourage the rifraff to camp out outside our church. Others ignored him as they stepped over him. Still others stared. But not a single person offered to help him. As the time neared for the service and the choir had song their songs the preacher still had not shown up. Everybody was looking around trying to find out where the preacher was. Then just as everybody was ready to leave the door to the preachers’ office and in walked the vagrant but as he took off his coat the congregation realized it was the preacher. He stepped to the pew and said these simple words. "I was naked and you did not clothed me, I was hungry and you fed me not, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink". With these few words the preacher stepped down and left the pulpit.

You see these Christians had lost sight of what was more important to God. They no longer realized that God was not concerned about the material things but about the spiritual.

They failed to realize that the church is not the brick and wood building that we meet in to fellowship but the church is housed in each and every one of us. They failed to see that it was actually the church that was in need more than the vagrant. Do we do this? We do if we ignore the needs of our community, ignore the needs of our brother and sisters here in the United States or in far away places, and ignore those who need to hear the saving message of the Gospel because they don’t look like us or may not be on the same social scale as us. James in chapter 2 verses 1-5 says 2:1 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? This is a warning that we should never become complacent in our Christian life. That we should always be looking for the opportunities that God places in our paths. How many times do we get so caught up in our on lives that we fail to see God’s hand at work? We ask others and ourselves why there is so much pain and suffering in the world today. We wonder why people hate us and the answer is quite simply us. We, meaning Christians, have isolated ourselves from the mission that God has given us, that great commission of spreading the Gospel. We don’t want to get involved. Well God calls us to get involved with both the rich and poor. Any one who is not saved is someone we need to reach out to and not ignore. It does not matter how wealthy or how poor or even the types of clothes they wear to God.