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James 2:8   If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

One sad thing about living in St. Vincent is the poverty you are surrounded with.  It’s heartbreaking to see people who would view a poor American as someone who is incredibly rich.  However living in a culture like this has given me a better understanding of what it means to truly love others.

James in this passage refers to the law of love, which comes from the response of Jesus when a lawyer asks Him what the most important part of the law was (Matthew 22:37-39, Luke 10:25-27. Christ here commands the person to “love thy neighbour as thyself.”  We know this today as The Golden Rule-treat people the way you want to be treated.

Originally this law of love had to do with giving people respect and dignity (James 2:1-7) while genuinely caring about their needs (Christ follows the Luke 10 passage with the parable of the good Samaritan).  Today however it’s defined very differently.

Last month some children from down the street came by and asked for water.  I happily gave them that along with a Bible story, and even some soap they needed.  The older sister then asked for cooking oil and when I refused put her hands on her hips and asked “John doesn’t the Bible tell you to share?”

Now she was just giving me a hard time, but clearly illustrated the world’s view of love which goes something like this;

1. You must agree with everything that I say
2. Give me whatever I want
3. And accept me unconditionally

Not only is that different from the law of love, it’s different from the love of Christ (Kevin Deyoung wrote an excellent article last week on love being more than unconditional acceptance).  This is just selfishness.

Instead it’s our responsibility as Christians to portray a true Christ-honoring love to the unsaved  For me it looks something like this

1. Any time someone comes to visit I drop what I am doing and help them
2. They are always offered water, a comfortable chair, and a listening ear
3. If there is a particular need they have (they want something)then I take into account a.) whether I have it  b.) how many times they have asked me for things this week and c.) how they respond when I tell them no
4. If the thing they want can’t be spared I offer something else (I can’t give you hamburger but I can make you a sandwich)

Quite often step four doesn’t come into the picture because they make it a habit of asking me for things, or I can’t offer what they want.

In those moments however I remind myself showing the love of Christ doesn’t mean meeting every need a person has.  Instead it’s about showing them hospitality, offering kindness, and sharing what you can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James 2:6-7   But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? ⁷

Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

A few days ago I spent some time with an unsaved friend named Steve who is almost always found sitting outside his house with other people from the community on cool afternoons.  His street is one of those places were men and women gather to discuss the worlds problems, and maybe even try to solve a few.

That afternoon they were discussing the upcoming St. Vincent election which in the town I live was a controversial subject.  The individual and party who had been in power for sometime so there was a growing group of individuals who felt the time for a change had come.  Since I’ve only been on the island a few months instead we ended up talking about American and Australian politics for a half-hour.

Towards the end Steve held out his hands and tried to articulate the frustration in my his mind about the current political situation.  I said it seemed as if he was seeking justice and Steve responded “yes that’s it!  I want justice!”

While I understood Steve’s frustration (and had felt it myself before) in my heart I knew his desire for justice would go unfulfilled.

Part of the reason for this is the way humans view justice is flawed in itself.  The way we see it “justice” equals getting whatever we want, or more than everyone else.  Sadly though that’s an obviously selfish viewpoint many of us don’t see a problem with it.

The real problem though is the fact that true justice is impossible in this broken world apart from Christ our true king  A big part of this brokenness is the fact that power corrupts people.  Those who have true character or morality will give into the lure of power or riches eventually.  This is just God’s way of reminding us true justice cannot come from human leadership.

A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with a Believer about how Christians can help the city of Barroaille, and his answer was to have new national leadership.  This frustration stemmed from the fact that individuals who were part of a political party not in power were having a hard time finding jobs, while those who followed the one in power were always offered them.

I agreed that this is an injustice, but asked what would happen if there was a change of power.  Things would then be reversed so those who had jobs now lost them.  He finally threw his hands up and said “well somebody has to come and make it fair” to which I smiled and asked “who is going to do that?”

Sadly justice…true justice won’t be experienced while we have fallen human leaders.  It’s easy to become bitter and angry about this fact, but personally it creates a stronger desire for Christ to return and set things straight.

So as we encounter a word that cries out for justice, may our response be “even so come Lord Jesus.”

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