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NASB | James 2:1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 2:1 My fellow believers, do not practice your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of partiality [toward people--show no favoritism, no prejudice, no snobbery]. |
Bible Question:
In James 2 we are admonished not to show partiality in our treatment of others. When we consider "soul care," I'm wondering, do we show partiality when we offer more care and concern for the downtodden as opposed to those who "seem" to have it made? Since when does worldly wealth equal spiritual health? When we look at others of "means," do we see the dollar sign or the soul behind those bars? Comments? |
Bible Answer: Mommapbs, yours is a thought provoking question; at least it provoked mine! In the United States there is no official caste system, yet each of us lives within a certain socio-economic biome as it were. That's our comfort zone. To move from one's own stratum, upward or downward, to another stratum is difficult for many people. Difficult, but not a valid reason or a legitimate excuse for failure to reach out with the message of the Gospel and the compassionate Christ-like love and caring for people in all walks of life. Jesus was able to minister with consummate skill to prince and pauper alike. Paul was effective in his ministry to the Athenian philosophers and to the Philippian jailer. I believe that when Christians truly are zealous about their faith, the Spirit will empower them and enable them to cross all societal boundaries and minister effectively to everyone with whom they come in contact. If every Christian alive today had half the zeal and dedication that Paul had, it would be impossible to calculate what an enormous impact it would have on our world! For far too many of us, living the Christian life means attending a church service on Sunday morning, making some effort to stay awake during the pastor's sermon, putting a few bucks in the collection plate at the close of the service, and dashing out to our cars as soon as the final "Amen" is sounded so that we can beat the Methodists and Presbyterians in the line at the cafeteria. --Hank |