James 2:1-13
Dear RTB’ers,
The ESV heading for today’s reading is “The Sin of Partiality”. But alongside partiality, in fact a prelude to partiality is judgment. James ties these words together quickly. After a “For if…” intro to a sentence (v. 2), he writes …have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? (v. 4). We then see the word “judge” and its iterations three more times in today’s reading.
Judgment (being judgmental) is an item that hits me hard. I suppose it’s natural for a teacher to be judgmental. Sadly, it’s often the case that we don’t know even half the story of our students’ lives coming into the classroom. But we judge on what we see and we often make mistakes in our evaluations. The good news is that our negative judgments are often balanced by the need for mercy. And I am certain that, on balance, my merciful decisions outweigh any excessive judgment that I have meted out. Scripture bears me out, that we should offer mercy more often. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (v. 13)
Please forgive my personal “teacher” paragraph above. For all of us, think about our time at church and what we do (or don’t do) in terms of greeting newcomers or even of our possibly spending time with those regulars with whom we have never spoken. Maybe it’s time to open up. Introduce yourself to someone you’ve never met. No doubt, ours is a welcoming church. Become a bigger part of that! Yes, Mercy triumphs over judgment. And I daresay, friendliness triumphs over reticence! And let us know of your past or future experiences.
Blessings.
Fred