Appearance is Everything or Is It?
“My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye then not partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?” James 2:1-4
This first verse, the way it is structured, is a little difficult to understand. I checked some other versions of scripture to get a better understanding of what James was saying. Paraphrasing from two other versions, the verse simply states that believers who claim to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ must not have favor of some folks over other folks, in this particular case, rich folks over poor folks. Of course, we favor our families. God loves all people, but He does have favor for those who are part of His family (Proverbs 14:9b). Wealth had no impact on how Jesus ministered to people. He saw everyone the same, a sinner in need of a Savior, and He expects us to do the same.
James wrote of how the rich are usually treated with more respect than the poor merely by their appearance and their wealth because people, as the world has taught them, consider wealth to bring favor to those who have a lot of money and possessions. That’s how the world measures success. The goal of much of the world’s inhabitants, particularly Americans, is to be rich. They believe, falsely I might add, that money can buy happiness. However, for those who are rich, most of them are never satisfied, like the wealthy man who was asked how much was enough? He replied, “Just a little bit more”, which proves the money/happiness theory to be a lie. Those who are wealthy eventually find that they have many “fair weather” friends, but when the money is gone, they discover that these “groupies” are nowhere to be found. How shallow to befriend someone just because they have lots of money. Do folks think that if they favor the rich, that the rich are going to add them to their will?
James gave an example which presents a situation where a rich man dressed in what we might call “designer couture” (the use of the term “gay” in this verse shows how the meaning of words have changed over the years) and wearing expensive jewelry, like a solid gold ring (and maybe a Rolex watch) comes into a gathering, maybe even a church service, and another man comes in who is obviously much less affluent as he is wearing old jeans and a t-shirt. The host or usher hurries to greet the rich man and offers him the best seat in the house. However, when the greeter finally gets around to the poor man, he tells him that he can stand over there, a good distance from the wealthy man, or he can sit on the floor. This sounds like an extreme example, but it rings completely true: we are judged by our appearance. We might not like this, but it is what it is. It is part of our sin nature to judge the worth of others by what they wear, what they drive, and where they live.
If you don’t believe that people are judged by their appearance, try a little experiment. Dress like you were going to work in your yard, mow your grass, etc., and go into an automobile dealership or some other establishment which sells expensive items, and then see how much attention you get. Then, next time, dress in your finest clothes and go back to the retail establishment and see if you do not get much better service. I know of a lady who, with her husband, did this very thing and the results were exactly as expected–very little attention the first time, but the second time they were inundated with folks wanting to help them. I guess the motto “dress for success” is not a bad idea if one is serious about purchasing a car or interviewing for a job.
James then asked a very provoking question to his readers based on what he had just said about prejudice. His question centered on how his readers had become judges of other people based on appearance. We are not to judge others. We have no idea what is truly in their hearts. The one dressed in expensive clothes might have a wicked heart or he might have a godly heart, and the same with the one who is dressed in old clothes. Outward appearance is no indicator of one’s relationship with God. One other thing: I was brought up in the times when folks dressed up to go to church, not to impress other people, because we were all pretty much in the same socio-economic sphere, but it was customary to wear your “Sunday best” to worship services. It is no longer seen as important to dress up for church. Most of the folks in my age group still wear their “Sunday best”, but most everyone else wears jeans, etc. Very few men wear suits and ties any longer. I think what Jesus cares about is that we show up for church on a regular basis and not so much about what we wear. Of course, He desires that we dress decently in clean clothes, but the style is not that important. What is important is the condition of our hearts. James said that one’s appearance doesn’t necessarily reveal the contents of the heart; that is revealed in our attitude.