The Sin of Favoritism

My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.(A) For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world(B) to be rich in faith(C) and heirs(D) of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? Yet you have dishonored the poor.(E) Don’t the rich oppress you and drag(F) you into court? Don’t they blaspheme the good name that was invoked over you?(G)

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A Warning against Prejudice

My dear brothers and sisters,[a] how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting[b] dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him? But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court? Aren’t they the ones who slander Jesus Christ, whose noble name[c] you bear?

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Footnotes

  1. 2:1 Greek brothers; also in 2:5, 14.
  2. 2:2 Greek your synagogue.
  3. 2:7 Greek slander the noble name.