Whose Side Are You On? - James 2:5-7 Series

Is that the kind of thing James is teaching here? That God favors the poor just because they are poor and faith in Christ doesn’t matter? If so, then I’m not sure why we would want to help the poor out financially. If the way to God’s favor is through poverty, why would we ever want to help someone escape poverty? That whole view violates common sense.

But more importantly, it violates the very passage of Scripture they use to support it. James is very clear that faith does matter. Look again at verse 5. Does he say that God chose them regardless of whether or not they believe?

5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom God has promised to all those who love him?

They don’t inherit the kingdom because they are poor. They inherit the Kingdom because of their faith in and love for God. It is just that their poverty puts them in a better position to trust and love God.

No one goes to heaven unless he or she has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If a poor person rejects the gospel, he is just as lost as an unbelieving rich person. And if a rich person accepts the gospel, he is just as saved as a believing poor person. The advantage of being poor is not that you automatically go to heaven regardless of faith. The advantage of being poor is that you are much more likely to believe the gospel when it is presented to you.

The Rich

So that is James’ description of the poor. Then in verse 6 he describes the rich.

6 … Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

What is James saying here? Don’t be nice to rich people because they are being mean to you? No, that is not his point at all. The issue here is not how we are being mistreated as individuals. The issue is the attitude of the rich toward God and His people. If they were just mistreating us, that, in itself, wouldn’t be any big deal, because in ourselves we are not anything special. But they are mistreating a group of people who are called by the name of Christ.

7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?

Literally, the name called (or invoked) over you. On the day you became a Christian, Christ gave you His name. Like a wife receiving her husband’s name when they get married, or a child receiving his dad’s name when he is adopted, the Lord Jesus Christ gave us His name on the day we came into His family. We bear His name. If someone declares war on one of my kids, they have declared war on me. When people mistreat Christians because they are Christians, they declare war on Christ Himself. And James wants to know - why favor those people over the people who are rich in faith and who love God?

Why would we be so enamored with celebrities? Aren’t they the ones who routinely play roles in movies or write songs that mock the law of God and dishonor His name? Aren’t they the ones who promote sleeping together before you are married, and who make homosexuality seem like it is perfectly ok? Aren’t they the ones who promote selfishness and materialism and evolutionism and immodesty and the reversal of male and female roles? Aren’t they the primary mouthpieces for the doctrines of demons in our culture – drilling those ideas deep into people’s hearts with their song lyrics and TV shows and movies and lifestyles? How do you think it makes God feel when those who are blaspheming Him are the object of our envy and we stumble all over ourselves to win their favor while neglecting the people God has chosen?