So, You Want To Be Rich?
James 2:6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
Image matters when we’re trying to minister to searchers and weak Christians. When we allow $$, or lack thereof, to dictate how we treat certain people then we are allowing fleshly tokens to stand in place of the souls our Lord and Savior bought with His blood.
When outsiders see that level of shallowness, they know our faith is worthless. Why would they waste their time with us? We may as well take our lamps off the stands because our actions have out spoken our words.
Luke 16:19 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. 20 And a poor man named Lazarus . . . 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’
Question: If we’re treating people according to their fiscal status are we, in fact, building the “great chasm?”
Father, give us discernment when serving with brothers and sisters who have more, or less wealth than we do.