It’s not about the benjamins
To be completely honest, I’ve had a really hard time with this verse. I feel like it’s one of those verses that is so obvious that it would be impossible to write any further insight into. The theme of the poor being oppressed and taken advantage of, and the rich being the ‘bad guys’ in the Bible isn’t a foreign one to most of us… But here’s a little preview into what I see when reading this:
I first recognized that James begins and ends talking about perseverance. And in between we are taught about the importance of humility and the unimportance (what an understatement) of money and power, or status. If I had to do a list of God’s main lessons he wants us to learn from scripture, humility would definitely be in the top five. I see it over and over again, teachings on being humble in thought and action. James is talking here about how the rich were physically dragging the poor into court, making them look like fools, and taking them for all they are worth. In our culture, it’s a lot more subtle than this. When I think of dishonouring the poor, the meek, the fringes of society, I think of something as simple as not giving someone the attention they deserve, and therein, disrespecting them as a person. We are surrounded in American culture with the temptation of conforming to shallow priorities. Everyone seems to want to be ‘in’ with the wealthy, popular, and famous people in the circles that surround us. But, these may be the very people that will corrupt us, use us, and throw us away at the shot of having someone new or fancier to mingle with.
It’s never going to be easy to go against the pressure of what or who culture tells us is important. But this brings us back to perseverance. Our journeys are one long line of learning to persevere and trust that God just know better than we ever will. We all know deep down that nothing material matters in the long run, but we need constant reminding, with verses such as these. James is reminding us that we need to pay attention to who we’re giving our time to. Who are the people in are lives we are looking over that we could learn from if we paid attention? And more difficultly, who is in our life that we give our time and attention to, based on shallow intentions, that we could stand to back off from?
“Everyone seems to want to be ‘in’ with the wealthy, popular, and famous people in the circles that surround us. But, these may be the very people that will corrupt us, use us, and throw us away at the shot of having someone new or fancier to mingle with.”
yep, yup, and yes! sharing this with my whole family. your writing on an “obvious” verse was very good, Miss Fiona.
maranatha!
alan
My little sister:
You did you a fantastic job of reminding us what is and isn’t important. Thanks for keeping us grounded.
T
thanks guys
This is the jolly laugher.Thanks Fi for a great devotional it helped me set my eyes in the right direction ,to have a heart with right and pure motives and to love all as I love myself. May we all pay attention to those that Jesus sees as important.He said the least shall be the greatest. Is my dance card filled with the least? Fiona you are have great insight.