June 26, 2010

"Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!" James 2: 12-13

How do you respond under pressure?

It has been suggested that who you are under pressure is revealing of who you really are. I tend to believe that.

You must keep in mind as you read and study James that these are Christians under pressure. Pressure most of us have never known, the pressure of persecution.

As James describes what faith should look like and how people of faith should live, it is being lived out under pressure. Faith is giving your best when life deals the worst! Do you return mercy for malice?

In these verses he reminds you that you will be judged and your faith will be judged based on how well your actions and attitudes match those of the Savior. If you say you have faith but do not demonstrate love your faith will be judged as insincere.

The context for faith in this instance is within the meeting of believers. How do you show love to a guests who comes into you meeting? Do you size them up or do you serve them? Do you act differently to a wealthy looking person than to a shabbily dressed one? Faith looks for what it can give rather than what it can gain. Here's an example:

In his autobiography, Mahatma Gandhi wrote that during his student days he read the Gospels seriously and considered converting to Christianity. He believed that in the teachings of Jesus he could find the solution to the caste system that was dividing the people of India. So one Sunday he decided to attend services at a nearby church and talk to the minister about becoming a Christian. When he entered the sanctuary, however, the usher refused to give him a seat and suggested that he ought to worship with his own people. Gandhi left the church and never returned, “If Christians have caste differences also, “ he said, “I might as well remain a Hindu.” That usher’s prejudice not only betrayed Jesus but also turned a person away from trusting Him as Savior.

Bad judgment.

Your faith is being continually judged by how you treat others. You will be ultimately judged by how you treat others. If you want to be judged mercifully, give mercy. Show kindness and love to whoever comes into your fellowship. Start tomorrow at church!

June 25, 2010

"If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:3-4

How do you determine the value of something?

In this consumer-driven, value-oriented world, how do you decide what is a good price to pay for an item.

Generally, there are several factors.

First is the brand name. Over the years, certain companies have distiguished themselves as being an industry leader in their product. The quality and reliability of their product has earned them trust with consumers. So, when shopping for that item, one of the first considerations of value is the name brand. Some are willing to even pay a higher price to purchase that item made by that company.

Second is the need of the consumer at the time. If an important appliance goes out and needs to be replaced in a hurry, the urgency of the situation may require you to pay more for the first available unit. Urgency sometime dictates the price.

Third, there is the more subjective issue of personal preference. You may pay more for an item just because it strikes your fancy or touches you emotionally. It has greater value because of the happiness it brings you. Because you like it better you are willing to pay more for it.

So, when it comes to value, there are market forces that come into play, and there are some economic forces that factor in and there are subjective issues, as well.

In James 2, he deals with how you determine the value of a person who comes into your fellowship. There should be one determining factor - God created them, God loves them and Jesus died for them. That makes them valuable to God and you are to ascribe that value to them. If you judge their value based on outward factors or selfish subjective factors - you are sinning and will answer to God.

Everyone is valuable to God! Everyone who enters your church or your LIFE groups or simple crosses your path during the day is a person of great worth to God and should be treated as such by you.

Failure to do so will cost you - big time!

June 24, 2010

"If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers." James 2:8-9

What's love got to do with it?

Everything!

What's faith got to do with it?

It's the deal!

Faith enables you to be loving toward those you don't favor. Actually, that's the point of this exhortation!

Again, I call your attention to the fact that James says you should not "show" favoritism. It does not say you shouldn't feel favoritism or have favorites.

In our 21st Century culture there is WAY too much emphasis on how you feel or what you think. Faith is about what you actually DO! That is one of the main truths James is communicating in his Book of James - "faith is demonstrated by works". It doesn't say anything about how you feel or what you think!

Faith is a commitment to live out the Law of Love toward those who you may not even like on an emotional level!

Anyone can embrace someone they have "warm fuzzies" for - but it takes a person of faith to be loving toward another they may not feel favorable toward.

Faith is fleshing out love and truth and Christian character!

Faith is not limited to how you feel or what you favor! Faith acts on what is true and what glorifies God.

How is your faith?

June 23, 2010

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism." James 2:1

For a church fellowship to be healthy and transformational their must be an atmosphere of love and acceptance. In this first half of the second chapter, James makes the argument against showing prejudice.

Verse 1: Partiality contradicts faith in Jesus Christ as the Lord of glory.

God calls us to express His unconditional love to anyone who comes under the influence of our church. It doesn't mean that everything goes and we can't have standards, but we must welcome and include everyone He sends our way.

2. Verses 2-4: Partiality reveals a judging heart and behind it evil thinking.

Members of a healthy fellowship relate to each other and guests based on Scriptural principles and not on superficial personal preferences.

3. Verse 5: Partiality to the rich contradicts God's heart, because he has chosen many of the poor for himself.

This sounds like God prefers poor people over the rich. Isn't that hypocritical? I am not prepared to question the motives of a Holy and omniscient God. But the fact is poor people are generally more receptive to the Gospel than rich people.

4. Verse 6a: Partiality dishonors people created in the image of God.

It is not for us to choose whom we will minister the grace of God. It is our calling to love whomever He leads into out fellowship. If we focus on the superficial we will be ineffective in developing the spiritual.

5. Verses 6b-7: Partiality to the rich backfires and becomes your downfall.

If you are preferring the wealthy because of what you think they can offer your church financially you will be building on the superficial rather than the spiritual and that always backfires.

6. Verse 9-11: Partiality makes you a transgressor of the law of liberty.

Anytime love is given with conditions there is bondage. Extending grace to everyone without regard to who they are or what they can offer creates an environment of unconditional love and freedom. People are free to be themselves without the feeling they have to measure up in order to be accepted.

7. Verse 13: Partiality is not mercy. But if you don't show mercy, you will perish.

Mercy means we believe the best of others and give them the benefit of the doubt. We treat others as we have been and want to be treated. Mercy means I offer the grace of God even to people I may have a prejudice against.

Favoritism and partiality are deadly for any organization, but especially so with a church where the love of God must operate. As human beings we will have favorites and we have have biases, but as Christians we cannot allow those human judgments to influence how we respond to those who come into our fellowship.

Love 'em or lose 'em.

June 22, 2010

"Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?" James 2:2-4

Everyone has favorites don't they? How is it possible to not prefer some people or some things over another? If you had to choose between guacamole and a banana split, I'll bet you could do that. So, why would James tell us not to have favorites?

The short answer is - He doesn't.

Really?

He doesn't tell us not to have preferences or favorites, but he commands us to not allow them to influence how we treat others. Believers are to treat people the same regardless of personal preferences.

Isn't that fake?

No, it is faith. Faith does what is right not what is comfortable or easy.

When you treat a rich person better than a poor person does that necessarily mean you like the rich person better than you like the poor person? Probably not! It probably means that you like what the rich person can do for you. So, is that not fake? Of course it is!

A church should be a faith place and not a fake place. So, love must rule the day and love treats everyone the same regardless of personal preferences.

Did Jesus have personal preferences? Where there people He liked better than others? Of course! He had twelve disciples but there were three in His inner circle. His favorite place to go was the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

Many of the Pharisees and religious leaders were exceedingly cruel and critical of Jesus. He didn't like anything about them and let them know it. They were far from being His favorites.

When Jesus died on the cross He died for everyone. He didn't die for just the people He cared most about.

If we in the Church are to be the people of the Christ, and we are. And if we in the Church are to be people of the cross, and we are. Then we must, like Christ on the cross, treat everyone with love and respect regardless of our own personal preferences or biases.

Easier said than done - but it must be done for the glory of God and the health of the Church.

June 21, 2010

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism." James 2:1

A local church is all about God and all about people. A local church exists to connect people with God and with each other. To do that, there must be a clear understanding of what those relationships look like.

You can be sure that the reason James wrote this admonition is because these Christians did not have a clear understanding of what believers need to do to facilitate those connections.

First, I want to point out that James says not to "show" favoritism. That also acknowledges that human nature does favor some people or some groups over others. That is honest! That is real! Having favorites is what it is - natural. But as believers we are not given to the natural we are given to the supernatural. It is okay to have favorites but through the grace and power of Jesus we don't allow our prejudiced influence how we interact with people in the church.

Second, I believe God sees people in two basic groups, those who have received Jesus as Savior and those who haven't. In my experience, that is how healthy local churches view people. Human nature wants to group people by race or status or gender, God's nature just sees individual from various backgrounds, ethnic groups and economic classes as those who are saved and those who are lost.

Obviously, you have different exprectations and approaches to each group. You treat believers differently than you do non-believers. You expect believers to act as though they know Christ and are led by His Spirit. Unbelievers are not going to do that. Unhealthy churches tend to confuse those things, they make unrealistic demands of unbelievers and allow believers to get away with careless living.

This is how I want Fred Wes to view people. I want us to live in unity with other believers and with urgency toward those who are spiritually lost. That is a worthy goal - unity and urgency! Let's love God together, let's love each other in God and in unity let's focus that love on lost people that God has placed in our lives!

You have prejudices. So do I. But what we do with those makes ALL the difference between healthy churches and unhealthy churches.

June 20, 2010

"So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out." Genesis 6:14

It was a Sunday evening service and only a handful of people were gathered in a basement that served as a sanctuary. The good people of the Bourbon Bible Church had intended to build a main story above the basement but it hadn't happened yet.

A seven-year old boy sat on the aisle about five rows back. At the the of the message the pastor gave an invitation to come forward for salvation. He didn't seem like he really expected anyone to come and showed surprise when the young boy stepped out into the aisle and came to the front accompanied by his mother.

The pastor dismissed the rest of the congregation and invited the youngster and the mother to join him in a room off the side of the sanctuary. When they gathered there the pastor asked the boy if he wanted to accept Jesus as his Savior and the boy said he did. So, the pastor began to tell the story of Noah and the ark. It was the first time the boy had heard it and he was riveted on each word the pastor shared. At the end of the story he told the young fellow that salvation was like the ark and if wanted invited Jesus to become his Savior it would be like coming into the ark. After leading the seven-year old in a simple prayer the door of the ark swung open!

That night happened fifty-three years ago and I remember it well because that young boy was me. That was the night I became a Christian and entered the ark of salvation.

Needless to say, the story of Noah has always had special significance to me. There is no doubt that it is a metaphor for salvation and it was literally the means of salvation for Noah and his entire family - not to mention the animal kingdom.

With this in mind verse 14 caught my attention because I think it illustrates a profound truth about the relationship between grace and works in salvation. It involves God's favor, our faith and works that evidence our faith.

God had favor on Noah, but Noah had to spend over a century building something he had never seen before to prepare for a threat he had never witnessed told by a God he had never laid eyes on. Salvation is provided by God but must be appropriated by our faith and proven by our works of righteousness.

Like, Noah, you have found grace in the eyes of God. And like Noah, you must enter it. Salvation is where our faith meets His grace!