James 2:1-13 ”The Discriminating Christian”

James is again reacting to what is going on in the early churches in regards to favoritism and discrimination. Paul in his letters has a lot to say about this as well. For instance in Galatians 3:28 Paul makes the boldest statement in regards to discrimination when he states that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free. However, this morning I will only address these words from James. He is very concerned about what is going on in the churches that some are being made to feel that they are not welcomed in the body of Christ because of their race or economic standing in society. This was a very serious problem back then.

Much to our surprise, however, we still have these same issues with us still today. I am sure that you have heard it said that 10am Sunday morning is the most racially segregated hour in America. And, I wonder what God is thinking about this.

When I was living in Thailand as one of very few white people in an essentially all-Asian country, I learned what it feels like to be on the outside and discriminated against because of my skin color. From what others told me, I spoke very good Thai, understood the culture quite well, but my only problem was that I was White. The man who was my Thai boss, Kasem Trientong, once told me that I had no soul. That is to say that I was more akin to an animal than a man. That had to do with the fact that I was white—could therefore never be Thai—and therefore could never have a soul.

When I hailed a taxi or bought food at a market, I was automatically charged twice to three times as much for such because of my skin color. You might think then, that Helen, my wife, coming from Malaysia would fit into the Thai society better. Well, not quite. I was too white, but Helen was too dark. Thai people are lighted-skinned Asians. And, dark-skinned Thais are discriminated against also.

I can say that I still remember very well the deep hurt and utter frustration that I felt knowing that no matter how well I ever spoke Thai, no matter how much I assimilated into that culture, I would never be more than an animal in the eyes of most Thais. I would always be treated differently because of my skin. This made me so sad and angry at times, but there was just nothing I could do about the situation. There was such a feeling of helplessness and dehumanization. I really thank God for showing me what it is like to be so discriminated against—to really know that feeling in my heart. Even though I had grown up on the Eastside of Los Angeles in an area that was overwhelmingly Hispanic, I had always been the dominant culture. I had never known what it was like to be dominated over by somebody else’s race.

This is exactly the reference that we see in our scripture for today in James. He tells of a person coming into the assembly (the word is actually “synagogue,” a reminder that the early churches were Jewish synagogues in fact.) That person is offered the seat of honor. But, the word here is actually “footstool,” ὑποπόδιόν. Can you hear the word “podium” in there? But this is literally the idea of the pedestal. The rich person gets to be on the pedestal so that everyone else sits at his feet while the poor person is forced to sit at everyone’s else’s feet. That whole image is lost in the translation!

Whatever happens in regular society, James tells us in his letter that it is not supposed to happen in the church. The culture and the society are not supposed to dictate what happens in Christ’s Church. The love of God is supposed to dictate, nothing else. In verse five of today’s Scripture, James tells us that God has chosen the outsiders among us to be in the Kingdom of God. In verse twelve he makes the point that we therefore cannot judge others poorly because we in the end will be judged. If we have mercy in our hearts, then we will receive mercy when we are judged too.

We are supposed to love all people, as this is the law of Christ. This is verse eight of our Scripture for today. When we look at others who are not the same as we are, we must find what we can love in our relationship with them. Loving them first means interacting and risking being with other people of other cultures.

I remember once when I was a young man and traveling through Mexico on my own I connected with a group of other young men while traveling on a train. One of them had a guitar and all of them were singing Mexican standards. They could really sing well. In between the songs we got to know each other better. Then, before they started singing again the fellow playing the guitar apologized to me for the lyrics of the songs that they were singing because they were all against Yankee North Americans. I told them that there was certainly no need to apologize. The United States had done some really awful things to Mexico in the past. I told him that most Yankees do not like the sound of Mexican music. He said, “Yes, this is why we sing the way we do. Our songs of protest must hurt the ears of the oppressor.” (At least that is what I understood him to say in Spanish.)

To be sure, there are things about different cultures that I do not care for. There are things about being a white German/American male that I do not really care for either. But, I cannot and will not focus on these things. That is not the will of God that I spend my life thinking about and living unlovely thoughts. It is not the will of God that I discriminate against others for any reason. It would rather seem to be the will of God as reported by James to find what is lovely and good in all people. It is my call to show mercy and give others freedom. This because everybody has a soul! This because everybody will be sitting at the feet of Jesus together one day.

A recent report in a religious journal addressed a conflict that is taking place now in regards to a church doctrine called “secondary separation.” The article mentions that the General Assembly of Regular Baptist Churches has withdrawn its support for a particular college because that college is being supported by the Southern Baptists, and the Southern Baptists have recently shown tolerance to some liberal views. The concept of “secondary separation” is that not only is one to create separation between one’s self and an apostate, but one should also separate from all those people who have contact with that apostate person as well. In that way there is always two degrees of separation between “true believers of the faith” and those who do not quite believe in the same way or in sufficient quantity.

I thought it would be interesting to apply this concept of “secondary separation” to Jesus’ ministry. What would the Gospel look like if the Lord Jesus had held this same belief? The parable of the “Good Samaritan” would end up with the man who stopped to help the injured man on the side of the road then also being shunned by society. The innkeeper who took the injured man in would probably be under suspicion since he would have had contact with the injured man. And, Jesus’ Disciples would have been encouraged not to go out but rather stay home so as not to come into contact with any other possibly injured people on the roadsides of Israel.

When I hear about churches struggling with doctrines such as “secondary separation” I tend to want to turn around and give every one of them a giant aloha hug.

Please, I invite you this morning to search out your hearts and find if you have any discrimination towards any group that you ask God to remove it and to correct your heart right now. And, I hope that if you are discriminated against in any way, that you will know the comfort of God in your life and have a good community to help you deal with the frustration. For, we are Christ’s church and we do follow the royal rule to love and offer God’s eternal mercy. Amen.