Title Don't discriminate against people!
Don't discriminate against people!
The author of the book of James we read today is generally known not as the apostle James, but as James, the brother of Jesus. According to the Acts of the Apostles, he appears to have exercised far greater authority than Peter in the Jerusalem community. Looking at the overall context of the book of James, the emphasis is on practice rather than the faith that Paul emphasized. At first glance, the teachings of Paul and James appear to be contradictory, but in reality they are not. Faith and practice are distinct, but not completely distinct. Paul did not ignore practice, and James did not exclude faith. They simply differed in emphasis according to their respective circumstances. Paul was still in a situation where the legalistic faith prevailed, and James was in a situation where practical elements were very lacking.
discrimination against people
James points out in verses 1-4 that “Do not treat people with any discrimination.” He explains with an example: Let's say that a man in fancy clothes and a man in ragged clothes with gold rings came into a place where Christians were gathered. At this time, if you show a lot of interest in the rich and indifferent to the poor, you are discriminating against people. James is not teaching vaguely general ethics, but is presupposing very specific circumstances. It is saying that the church that will receive this letter has reached a serious state of discrimination against people.
This does not mean that the recipients of the book of James are people with special problems. These things happen everywhere. The poor are not treated very well in the church. If there are not many believers like our church, anyone will be welcome to come, but if it is a church with a certain size, this kind of discrimination is inevitable. Of course, it is not blatantly discriminatory. Although they all call each other brothers and sisters in Christ, they are actually discriminated against. The rich will surely be of great help to the church, but the poor will not be of much help. It is clear that such material power is also exerting a great influence on the church.
Discrimination against people in the church is not just a matter of rich or poor, but also has to do with the absence of knowledge and culture. Although the church is not a culture-cultivating group, educated people are still in the spotlight. Because they have leadership and the ability to shape public opinion. Those who are poor, without knowledge and culture, have no such influence. So who cares?
Discrimination against people is a human problem before it is a problem of the church community. Wealth, knowledge, and culture mentioned above are the most important criteria for judging people in this world. All human activities, from schools to social activities, are a competition to secure these standards. Many people think that this social structure undermines our lives, but we do not want to deviate from this frame. Why? It's because of the kind of security they provide to us. Wealth, knowledge, culture, and the social status it conferred by it give man a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction. Conversely, those who do not achieve this are engulfed in great anxiety. I will not explain further how seriously modern society discriminates against humans. You probably know this better than I do.
Now James is pointing out that these things are happening in the church as well. In verse 6 he says directly: “But you have despised the poor.” Seeing these things happening even in the early Christian community, where the apostles and the brother of Jesus directly taught, I wondered if discrimination against humanity was part of human nature. Such discrimination was common not only in James but also in the Corinthian church. Even at the love feast, the rich and the poor gathered separately. The rich behaved in such a way that the poor felt ashamed (see 1 Corinthians 11). Rather than deliberately torturing the poor because the rich were perverted, they simply couldn't understand the plight of the poor. Even so, it is a tragedy that the Christian community is no different from the social group.
tyranny of the rich
After rebuking James for why he despises these seemingly poor but rich people, he criticizes the rich people whom they worship. “Aren't those who oppress you the rich? And aren't they the ones who lead you to court? Aren't they the ones who blaspheme the honorable name that God has given you?” (Verses 6, 7) I don't know if there are people who think that I'm a human being. It's not like that. He is merely conveying reality as it is. James, looking at the big picture here, points out two facts.
First, the rich take people to court. As it is today, even in ancient society, the law seems to have been reserved for the rich. Poor people can't afford to resort to the law because they can't afford a lawyer.
Second, the rich blaspheme the name of Jesus Christ. This sentence suggests that those who persecuted the Christian faith were mainly in the establishment. The reason the rich people at that time blasphemed or ignored the name of Jesus Christ was because the teachings and events of Jesus Christ seemed foolish in their eyes.
Those of you who have read James' critique of the rich may find it refreshing on the one hand, and a little baffling on the other. The key question here is: Does this mean that every rich man should be criticized like this? This is something we should be careful about when reading the Bible. If you read today's text as saying that all rich people are bad people, that would be a big mistake. James is providing religious teachings from the place in which he finds himself. Since we are not in the same situation as James now, we must not take his teachings literally. James is not discussing the social sciences now. The social sciences are our reference only, not the standard of our faith. James is not expressing his anger towards any one class of people. So what does criticism of the rich mean?
the folly of capitalism
This statement of James refers to the demonic power inherent in capital. Capital oppresses and tyranny the poor and ultimately blasphemes the name of Jesus Christ. The problem was not with the wealthy themselves, but with the situation in which they were completely subordinated to their own power. Such people are receiving special treatment even in the church, so James could not help but rebuke him harshly. Why do you worship the rich, their wealth and capital?
Capital is still very powerful. Capital considers the world primarily as an object and a means of investing. If we have the money, we build golf courses while crushing mountains, and we build large-scale residential apartments. Destroys tidal flats. They also buy and sell eggs. Capital today is far more powerful than it did in the days of James. A kind of fetishism is today's new religion. Christians, who utterly reject fetishism, are not immune from this trend either. They ideologically justify capitalism, sometimes defend nationalism, and even show imperialistic behavior. The rebuke of James is also a message addressed to us today.
According to James' explanation, this kind of fetishism manifests itself as discrimination against people in the church. Rich people get good seats, and poor people are like sacks of barley borrowed. James calls this kind of discrimination against people a sin and a violation of the commandments. But how can we get out of this fetishism and discrimination against people? Is it possible just because James taught that in the church, do not discriminate against people? We need to approach these issues from a much deeper level, not just from an ethical and human rights level. It is a relationship with God.
Glory of Jesus Christ
James began this passage on discrimination with these words: “Because you believe in the glorious Jesus Christ” (verse 1). What does this mean? The life of those who do not believe in the glorious Jesus means that people are always discriminated against. This is a social structural problem given regardless of a person's morality. No matter how many people make up their minds to live without discrimination, that doesn't work. There are some differences depending on the individual's mental state, but fundamentally it is almost impossible. For example, it is natural to give A credit to students who study well. We are giving them scholarships. It's special treatment. Structurally, this society cannot surpass it.
James is turning our spiritual horizons elsewhere. “Our Lord, Jesus Christ of glory” is such a horizon. Glory here specifically refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his kingship. Jesus was crucified, the most shameful thing, but surprisingly, he gained true life through resurrection. Glory does not mean that you ascended to a high place, but rather that it coincided with the life of God, which cannot be compared to anything else on this earth. Only in the face of the fact that we believe in this glorious Jesus Christ can we not discriminate against people. Because this Lord of glory fundamentally dismantles or transcends human differences.
How can I explain this situation? There are a lot of caterpillars here. They become butterflies in time. Going from crawling to flying means going beyond all the differences in crawling. If we could clearly recognize and hope for caterpillars to become butterflies, we would transcend the little differences in the larval state, such as how many more hairs or whether they are fat.
The hallmark of today's era is the extremeization of discrimination. This problem cannot be forced. You can imitate, but just as you can't force love, you can't overcome discrimination by force. There is no other way. The only way is to be surrounded by the light of the glory of Jesus Christ. Then the world will start to look completely different to you. When you grow up, you won't see the world on the basis of discrimination, just as marbles are no longer fun. Conversely, this means that if we are still inclined to discrimination, we are not only ignorant of the glorious Jesus Christ, but also unbelievers. Let's see and live the world in the light of the glory revealed in Jesus.