Verses 1-4: My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
Despite the chapter division, James continues his thoughts of the importance of maintaining an undefiled and pure demonstration of our faith. He commands that our faith—our belief system—should not be characterized by personal favoritism. This command in the Greek demands that the action is in progress and should be stopped.1 The verbal idea of ‘to hold’ is to possess. Here it implies to possess and embrace a particular belief system. The word ‘faith’ is not only interpreted in Scripture as merely a belief or faith in something or someone, but more importantly it refers to that which is believed,2 the “body of faith or belief, doctrine.”3
We need to be very clear on this issue of what our belief system should encompass. It is imperative that what we believe is supported by the authority of Scripture. For only when this is true are we able to faithfully reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world.
The phrase ‘personal favoritism’ is one word in the Greek, meaning partiality. Even though it is at the end of the verse in the English, it is near the beginning in the original Greek, for the purpose of greater emphasis. When it comes to making salvation available to all men, Scripture states: “For there is no partiality with God” (Romans 2:11). Hence, we should show no partiality in our personal relationships with other believers.
This partiality, showing personal favoritism, has to do with treating people differently based on their social standards. In the last verse of chapter one, we are advised to indulge those of low societal position (orphans and widows) with a demonstration of love by the giving of our time and energies visiting them.
As we will see in verse 2, those that James is writing to must have failed to uphold the standard which had been commanded of the Jewish people in the Old Testament of not showing personal favoritism:
You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. (Leviticus 19:15)
Rich Man—Poor Man
A hypothetical situation is presented, one that may have taken place in a similar manner in a local assembly, otherwise it would have been unnecessary for teaching this principle.
He sets the stage: a well-dressed man sporting a gold ring. Dr. Rogers notes that:
It was common to wear rings in the ancient world either as a signet ring or as a piece of jewelry for adornment. Sometimes more than one ring was worn, and the social status of a person could be noted by the quality of his ring.4
And then enters a noticeably poor man, since he is wearing dirty, filthy clothes.
At the outset, we should note that both are living at different ends of the social ladder. One is well-off and one is living a difficult life. Yet both of these men are creatures of the Creator, made in the image and likeness of God. Both come into the assembly to receive the teaching of God’s Word and to share in Christian fellowship. At this point, they are on equal ground before the Lord and should be considered the same within the fellowship of believers.
In verse 3, there is a reaction within the congregation, as James tells us, “You pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes.” Mark Twain once stated: “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” This axiom must have been one thought by people even back in the 1st Century, for here they pay attention to this man in dazzling attire, showing him great regard as if they were mesmerized by this individual. We can only imagine what the reason for the high regard shown this individual. Maybe the ‘awe’ of being in the presence of a celebrity; salivating in hopes that his wealth will be shared with the congregation; or maybe just the idea of being in attendance with him that their social status wouldn’t look so bad.
James does not explain their motivation, but whatever the reason, they endeavor to ensure that this individual is allowed to sit in the choice seating—first-class all the way! While the poor man is commanded to: ‘sit down by my footstool,’ meaning “sit on the floor.” Dr. Wallace notes that the Greek command for both individuals to sit indicates “either an action that regularly occurs or an ongoing state.”5 Therefore, this must have been a regular occurrence.
Distinctions = Evil Motives
James poses the question: “have you not made distinctions?” with the idea of making a preference6 for the rich over the poor. James is concerned that this attitude has caused them to “become judges.” Both of the words distinctions and judges come from the same Greek verb ‘to judge.’ Yet, he’s really not expecting an answer. Instead he wants them to consider objectively their motivations. In other words, he is asking them: Are you making judgments and if so, doesn’t that make you a judge of the character and intents of a man, and doing so simply on the basis of outward appearances? They seem to have failed to understand or had no knowledge of what our Lord had admonished the religious Jews:
“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
And based upon what our Lord stated, James is questioning whether their ‘distinctions’ are substantiated by their ‘evil motives.’
We need to have a closer look at this word translated ‘motives.’ The word denotes, primarily, “an inward reasoning, an opinion.”7 There is a thought process taking place in the minds of those who are making distinctions between who should be regarded more desirable or likable than another, thus, doing so with evil motives. But James does not give us the specifics as to what their motives are, yet since he has pointed out their error, we can be confident that their motives are not based on righteous judgements, as our Lord commanded.
How are we to know if we are making righteous judgements? Just ask yourself this question: “Is my judgement supported by Scripture?” It is like everything else in the Christian life: what I think, what I say, or what I do must line up with the Word of God. This is the continuation of James’ progressive theme in Chapter 1. We are to consider that since “He brought us forth by the Word of Truth” (1:18) we must prove ourselves “doers of the Word” (1:22). And in order to be a doer of the Word, we must know His Word. Unfortunately, this takes time and self-discipline (1:25), but it is the only means by which we as believers will acquire the capacity to achieve our spiritual growth potential.
[1] Dana, H.E. and Mantey Julius R., (1957). A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Toronto, Ontario: The Macmillan Company, pp.301-302.
[2] This usage is not uncommon in the New Testament: Jude 3; Romans 1:5, 23; 1 Timothy 4:6, 6:10, 21
[3] Arndt, W., Gingrich, F. W., & Bauer, W. (1957). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 669.
[4] Rogers Jr., Cleon L. & Rogers III, Cleon L. (1998). The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. P. 556. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
[5] Wallace, Daniel B. (1999, c1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Garland, TX: Galaxie Software, p. 521
[6] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, G1252.
[7] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2.175.
© 2023 David M. Rossi
