Stop Humiliating Poor People
1Dear family, there’s something I want you to stop doing. Stop playing favorites. There’s no place for it here, in this faith based on our wonderful leader, Jesus the Messiah. 2Here’s what I’m talking about. Let’s say two men walk into your worship service. One man wears a gold ring and stylish clothes. The other man is quite obviously destitute and dirty. 3And let’s say you give a little extra TLC to the man wearing fine clothes. You personally usher him up to a good seat and tell him, “You can sit right here.” But when it comes to the poor man, you tell him, “You’ll have to stand over there, or if you need to sit down you can sit over here where I rest my feet.”4If you do this, aren’t you discriminating against the poor man? Aren’t you setting yourself up as a judge—and not a good judge but an evil judge with selfish motives? 5Listen here, my dear family. Out of all the people in the world, didn’t God choose the poor to be among the richest in faith? Didn’t he give them the kingdom he promised to those who love him? 6But you humiliate the poor. Why do you hurt them like that when it’s the rich who hurt you? Isn’t it the rich people who lawyer up and haul your sorry self into court? 7Isn’t it the rich who dishonor the honorable name by which you’re known? [1]
8Here’s what you need to do if you want to do well. Obey this top law [2] that’s in the Bible: “Love your neighbor every bit as much as you love yourself.” [3] 9But if you keep playing favorites like this, you’re committing a sin and breaking the law.
Obey the Law of Love Your Neighbor
10If you obey every law but one, that one is going to take you down. It works this way: If you break one law, you might as well have broken them all—because you have broken the law. 11God said, “Don’t cheat on your spouse by committing adultery.” He also said, “Don’t murder people.” You might not cheat on your spouse. But if you murder someone, you have broken the law. 12We are judged by the law of “Love your neighbor.” [4] Talk like it. Act like it.13Mercy beats judgment. But I’m telling you if you don’t show mercy, judgment is going to be merciless.
Got Faith? Prove It
14Come on, family, what good is it to say you’re a believer if you don’t act like it? If you believe it, you do it. If you don’t do it, do you really expect that kind of religion is going to save you? 15Let’s say a Christian man or woman doesn’t have enough clothes and needs some help putting food on the table every day. 16And let’s say someone in your group sends them on their way with a line like this, “Hey, peace to you. I hope you’re able to stay warm and eat your fill.” But you don’t give them anything they need for their body. What good is that?17The faith we have when we believe can’t survive trapped inside us. It has to get out and get busy. If it doesn’t get to work doing good things for others, it’ll die. 18Someone might argue with me and say they have the gift of faith, while I have the gift of helping others. [5] Well, here’s what I say. Show me your faith when you do nothing about it. I’ll show you my faith in all I do. 19You believe in the one true God, [6] which is good. That said, big deal. Even the demons believe in God. His power terrifies them.
Abraham, Rahab: Two Doers
20You empty-headed person, how about I teach you something? I’ll prove to you that the faith of a person is useless if the person doesn’t do anything to help others. 21Our ancestor Abraham offered to kill his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice on the altar. That very act justified the confidence God put in him and strengthened their relationship. [7] 22Abraham’s faith was there all along. But what he did took his faith to the next level. What we do expresses our faith; it completes it.23That’s what the Bible is talking about when it says, “Abraham believed God, and God recognized him as a good and righteous man.” [8] God even called him “my friend.” [9] 24So you can see that a person gets on good terms with God because they express their faith by the things they do. Not by merely believing he exists. 25Rahab, the prostitute, is another good example. Didn’t God approve of her because she sheltered our spies and sent them safely on their way? [10]
26A body that doesn’t breathe is a corpse. Faith that doesn’t get up and go and do good things is just as dead.
