Discrimination

 April 26, 2021

“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.”

—James 2:1 

The language has changed over the years, but the problem hasn’t. James is warning his people of the sin of discrimination. The Jewish believers to whom James wrote were scattered throughout the Roman Empire, and had experienced their share of discrimination. The early Church, largely made up of the lower classes, were often ostracized and mistreated without any possibility of recourse. When these kinds of things happen, we tend to huddle with people who understand and are supportive, i.e. people like ourselves. It’s understandable, but can be dangerous if we gravitate only towards people who look, act, and think like ourselves. Our perspective can become truncated and narrow—just the opposite of the God who loved the world so much he sent his only Son to die on a cross to save us.

Most churches struggle with this. We forget that when a stranger walks into a church for the first time, it takes an enormous amount of courage. He doesn’t know the culture, doesn’t know the people, doesn’t know what is expected. Church is an alien country with no familiar landmarks. In spite of this, most church goers are so busy catching up with their friends that they don’t notice the nervous newcomer who is left to fend for himself. We are unintentionally discriminating, erecting walls that to the visitor hold enormous invisible signs saying, “You’re not welcome here!” 

James says discrimination is as much of a sin as adultery or murder. He doesn’t address the larger cultural issues of discrimination that are tearing our country apart. Most of us cannot do much to affect those matters, but we can make sure people are welcome in the family of God, no matter how they look, smell, or behave. As some wag once said, “When Jesus told us to be fishers of men, he gave us the job of catching them. It’s his job to clean them.”