James 2:1-7

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

James 2:1-7

In the ESV this section is titled "The Sin of Partiality".  Yes, as you know, the titles are not the inspired word of God.  However, it is still somewhat telling of what is to come.  How do they get this from the passage?  Well, looking ahead, we see it plain in verse 9.

But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
James 2:9

Jumping back to the beginning of the chapter, we see James telling his readers "show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ".  Next, James paints a picture of two men who comes into the assembly.  Of the two men who enter, one is rich and the other is poor.  If, in this situation, you treat them differently and provide special treatment to the rich person and less to the poor, you have "made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts".  This is clearly wrong and the picture explains what James is warning against.

Moving on, James uses the kingdom in order to explain why showing partiality is wrong.  The truth is that God has chosen "those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom".  These poor people are dishonored by the sin of partiality are the same poor people who God has chosen "to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom".  If this is the case, why does it make sense to give special treatment to the rich?  These rich people are "the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court".  It actually doesn't make sense to show partiality when looking at it this way.

If you actually step back and think about it, why would you show partiality?  Why is it that the rich are the one we are likely to give special treatment?  Thinking about the picture and explanation that James gives, we see that he is actually showing us the truth by the lens of spiritual reality.  Even though the poor are lacking when it comes to material wealth, they are actually the ones who are rich in faith.  However, the rich, though rich in material wealth, are actually ones in opposition to you.  By their actions they show that they are lacking when it comes to kingdom virtues.  The last thing mentioned about them in this paragraph is "Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called".  They certainly are not kingdom minded if they are acting this way.

Now, to be clear, this is not always true.  This is not a universal truth and there are exceptions.  There certainly are rich people who are indeed rich in faith.  Also, there certainly are poor people who are lacking when it comes to the kingdom.  However, James is pointing to what happens in reality in general to prove a point.  In general, we are tempted to show partiality by treating the rich better than the poor.  Also, it is more likely that the rich mistreat you by dragging you into court.  Instead, let us not show partiality and let us look with kingdom eyes.

One thing I wonder is, does this work the other way around?  If it is sinful to show partiality by treating the rich better than the poor, is it also sinful to treat the poor better than the rich?  I think it is, on the basis of the word "partiality".  To favor the rich over the poor is partiality just as favoring the poor over the rich is partiality.  However, we are more likely to sin by favoring the rich rather than favoring the poor.  This is probably why James uses the example that he does.