Rich & Poor

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old 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 2:1-4

In James 2:1-14, ‘the rich’ and ‘the poor’ come up over and over again. In James’s day, people were treated differently according to their wealth.

How does that compare to today: in your experience, do people still discriminate between the rich and the poor? Do you feel treated differently by those who have more money than you and/or those who have less money than you? And how about how you treat others? Why is it, after all, that making dividing lines between people is so deeply entrenched in our world? 

Now let’s do just a little work (it won’t kill you!). Take a few moments and actually write down any thoughts that come to mind when you think about those questions. Finally, see if you can form your thoughts and feelings into a prayer to Jesus, the one who so gladly welcomes all of us to the table.