James 2:8-9 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.
First James calls us “judges with evil thoughts” when we discriminate. Now, he calls us lawbreakers when we show favoritism because it does not demonstrate “love of neighbor” – especially our neighbors who are already disadvantaged. Discrimination and favoritism are two sides of the same coin. Discrimination is the harmful treatment of those we consider inferior, while favoritism is the preferential treatment of those we consider superior. When we give preference to one group (favoritism), we invariably harm the other (discrimination). Can you think of economic policies that have had this preference/harm dynamic? How have you benefitted or been harmed by that policy. What do you think “keeping the royal law” looks like when we consider the wall of classism?
Prayer: King Jesus, lead us in your way neighbor love. For you laid down your riches and put aside your majesty for the sake of the poor, the lost and the broken. King Jesus, teach us your definition of justice – a jubilee outpouring of grace. For you cancelled our debts and paid everything we owed so we could be rich in you, found in you, and whole in you. And you modelled for us a new way of judging that steps down from the bench to take the defendant’s place. King Jesus, have your way in us: Prompt us to pray; Lead us to give; Empower us to campaign; Strengthen our faith for change; Move us to choose to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly until the wall separating the poor from access to life crumbles, crippling debts are cancelled, and poor communities walk free into a fair and just future of opportunity. Amen.
Tongue on Fire 