Rich Man, Poor Man

Jas 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Jas 2:2 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;
Jas 2:3 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: Jas 2:4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
Jas 2:5 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?
Jas 2:6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
Jas 2:7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?
Jas 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
Jas 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

Nothing against those who have worked hard and have gotten ahead in life, but there are many who have also worked very hard and have never had the breaks. In my experience, loving God has absolutely nothing to do with a bank balance. Clothing bought at Nordstrom's does not make a better Christian and that which is taken from the mission box.

Furthermore, the tithe of a millionaire carries no more weight than that of a street person. 10 percent is 10 percent.

So why do we allow people with a goodly amount of bling to get our respect?

Perception and assumption. We perceive one who is well off to be more blessed by God and to have been a better decision maker than the one who is down and out. We assume that the poor person is poor in judgment and work ethic. The danger of this is that we could very well be assuming wrongly. Perhaps the poor man lost everything in a catastrophe. Maybe they have given it all away. It could be that they were robbed or cheated out of their substance. An accident may have left them unable to work or a divorce may have left them penniless. Finally, they may have chosen the simple life over the hoarding of wealth so that they would be free to serve God rather than mammon.

When a visitor next walks through the doors and into your assembly, be color blind and money blind. Giving, serving, loving and worshipping is open to every social strata.

Remember, Jesus had only the clothes on His back. He didn't own a bed or a pillow. He had no dwelling to call home. His roots in this world never went too deep. He was slammed because He chose to spend time with the low life’s of His day. Yet there never was a richer man than He.