Distinctions

We all judge people by their appearance, don't we?

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, 'Have a seat here, please,' while to the one who is poor you say, 'Stand there,' or, 'Sit at my feet,' have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? - James 2:1-4

James reminds us that we are creatures bent on making distinctions.  We judge with our eyes and ears.

We see the way someone is dressed, or what they drive, or hear how they talk and immediately our mind places labels on them.  It does so to help us distinguish among the many people we make contact with or encounter.  It is a means of classification that is useful and necessary for a lot of reasons. 

We need to know the difference between a cat and and mountain lion, for example.  And the same is true if we are walking on a street at night and someone is approaching from behind at a fast pace.

But James is talking about our houses of worship.  How do we accept people in them?

Do we make judgments about them, welcoming some and not others?

Of course if we are hoping to gain members who can contribute to the treasury, we look for signs that the prospect is wealthy, like salesmen at a used car lot looking for customers.

But that is not the purpose of our gathering.  It is vital to sustaining it, yes, but our priority should be acceptance of everyone, anyone, even those who don't seem to fit in.

I notice this at work, when someone comes for food at Caritas.  If the person looks like he or she can afford to pay for a meal, does that mean we shouldn't offer lunch?

We cannot help but judge, but we need to ask ourselves what we would do if we found ourselves in need of help.  Would we make ourselves look poor or would we do our best to keep up appearances for our own pride?

If you are hungry and in need of food, you will be fed.  If you come to our church, we will welcome you.  It's as simple as that.

Love your neighbor asa yourself.

Period.

More to come...