In this part of James’ letter to the faithful scattered afar, is this well-known question, “14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works?” Indeed.
My thought this morning rested on the beginning of the chapter.
2 My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, 3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”?
James 2:1-3
I landed on this because of the recent “Jesus Revolution” movie. One of the remarkable things about the Jesus people movement was that two groups of very different people managed to worship together. It took some doing. I’m sure there were conflicts. But Chuck Smith saw followers of Jesus and invited them into his (Jesus’) church no matter how they were dressed. And not just in that church, but churches all over the country.
I like the word pictures that the Message paints for verse 2:18: “Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.” and for verse 2:20 “Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?”
Yes, those are great images. Thanks for sharing.