Introduction: This lesson gives me mixed feelings. For almost 35
years I was a member of the Adventist Church in Manassas, Virginia.
When I joined, the church leaders immediately asked me to be an
elder. I challenged them: “Why should I be an elder? Because I’m a
lawyer?” On the other hand, I’ve been involved in many evangelistic
outreaches in Manassas. No effort was ever made to bring in educated
“professional class” members. We never converted anyone with a Ph.D
or professional doctorate. Church always seemed this bizarre mix. We
would never target professionals for conversion, but if we had a
professional in the church, they were almost always made a leader.
What does the Bible say, if anything, about these kinds of issues?
Let’s plunge into our study and find out!
- James and the Rich
- Read James 2:1-4. Would this happen in your church? (I
suspect it would happen in most churches.) - James says this reflects “evil thoughts,” and later
he will call this a sin. Do you agree? - When we use the term “discrimination” in the United
States, we mean treating people differently for
irrelevant reasons. For example, if someone grew a
lump on the arm, we would not consider it
discrimination for that person to seek the opinion of
a medical doctor and not a carpenter. Is there any
relevant reason to make special efforts to try to
bring the rich man into your church? (I can think of
at least a couple. First, it helps the church
financially. Second, at least in the United States,
there is a link between intelligence, education and
income. Most organizations want educated, intelligent
people in leadership positions to make the
organization run better.) - Read James 2:5. How is the church not like “most
organizations?” (James says that God discriminates against
the rich by giving faith to the poor.) - Which would you prefer in church leadership, those
who are educated and intelligent, or those who are
full of faith? (Those who are full of faith would be
able to rely on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.) - Do you really believe what James says – that God
chose the poor over the rich? - If you say, “yes,” how do you explain that
Deuteronomy 28 is in the Bible? We looked at it last
week because it says that those who follow God are
physically and financially blessed. How do you
explain Job, a fellow we also considered last week?
He was faithful, but also smart and fabulously rich. - Read James 2:6-7. Is this true in your country?
- James did not live in a democracy. Is his observation
true in a democracy? (In the United States, CNN
reported that in 2010 those in the top 10% of income
paid 70.6 of the income tax total, everyone else paid
29.4% of income taxes. To compare, those in the top
10% of income took home 45% of income. I use CNN as
a source because I doubt that anyone will think that
it is biased in favor of the rich.) - Read James 2:8. I’ll let everyone who reads this determine
whether the situation James described in his time is true
for the current time in their own country. What does James
say is the timeless rule regardless of where we live? (We
are to love our neighbor as our self.) - What does this mean as a practical matter? (It means
that if we have been discriminating against the poor,
we should stop it. If we have been discriminating
against the rich, we should stop it.) - Read James 2:9-11. Is showing favoritism a sin? (Yes.)
- To what sin does James compare favoritism? (Murder
and adultery.) - Is James getting carried away? Is he
exaggerating to make a point? (This is why
grace is so important! We may think that our
sins are minor, but James points out that
violating any part of the law is a violation of
the entire law.) - Read James 2:12-13. What do these verses suggest is James’
main point? (That we need to show mercy to people. If we
treat people differently (and worse), because of their
relative wealth, then we fail God because we are not
showing mercy.) - Why is mercy so important? (It is God’s greatest gift
to us – the mercy He showed us by saving us by grace
alone!) - Jesus and the Rich
- Read Luke 5:1-3. Why did Jesus get into the boat? (It
allowed Him to be seen and heard better when He was
teaching.) - A boat was a valuable asset. Is Jesus blessed to have
a follower who has a valuable asset? - Read Luke 5:4-5. Do you think Jesus was teaching the
people about fishing? Who was the expert on this topic?
(Simon Peter. He was the fisherman whose business owned
the boat.) - What do you think Simon Peter thought about Jesus’
suggestion that they put down nets? (He followed
Jesus’ suggestion to be polite. He knew it was a
waste of time.) - Read Luke 5:6-8. Is Peter sinful because his business had
valuable assets? Is he sinful because he failed to
recognize the opportunity of fishing during the day? Why
does he ask Jesus to leave because of his sins? (Peter
lacked faith in Jesus. He realized it and confessed his
sin. Peter knew this was a miracle, not a missed fishing
opportunity.) - Read Luke 5:9-11. Jesus calls Simon Peter, a partner in a
fishing operation, to be His disciple. Why would Jesus
choose a man whose education was in fishing (and perhaps
business) instead of theology? Peter thought he knew more
than Jesus and he did not have faith in Jesus. Why choose
him (and apparently his business partners as well)? - Read Mark 6:3, John 1:45-46, Luke 9:58 and Isaiah 11:10-12. These texts show that Jesus was homeless, He was not
educated in a traditional sense, He grew up in a lousy
town and there was some question about the morality of his
conception (“Mary’s son”). The Isaiah prophecy predicts
that Jesus will be a warrior King who will rally the Jews
and defeat their enemies. If you were empire-building,
would you choose Peter? Would you choose the conditions of
Jesus’ life for a warrior king? - If you were reforming a religious movement, would you
choose Peter? Would you choose for the leader being
poor, homeless, uneducated and of questionable
heritage? - The Trinity had plenty of time to consider all of
this, why did They make the decisions They did? (Read
Hebrews 4:15-16. When we say “We want to be like
Jesus,” we should not aim to be uneducated, homeless
or being scorned by others. One reason Jesus came
with all of these disadvantages is because of grace –
He wants us to see that He lived through the kind of
problems humans face.) - Read Judges 7:2-3. Are you familiar with this principle?
(God works through weakness so that it is clear that God
is the source of the solution.) - Would this principle explain in part why Jesus chose
the disciples He did and lived the life He led? - The Advantage of Being Poor
- Few think being poor is an advantage. Few hope to be poor.
Yet we have just seen that Jesus chose to be poor and
chose unlikely disciples to show us that the Kingdom of
heaven is for all, regardless of wealth. The Bible
suggests another advantage of being poor, and we turn to
it next. - Read Proverbs 10:15. Perhaps James missed this text. What
does it say about wealth? - In contrast, read Psalms 144:1-2. What does this say
about our fortress in life? - Read Luke 18:18-20. Is Jesus’ answer the one you would
give? Is it the answer Paul would give? - Read Luke 18:21-24. No one who has ever discussed this
story with me believes this instruction applies to them.
Why not? - If it does not apply to you, why did it apply to this
rich ruler? - Read Romans 10:9-11. Will keeping the commandments or
giving away all of our wealth earn our salvation? (No!
Jesus was talking to the ruler about trust. As Romans
10:11 says, if we trust in Jesus we will never be put to
shame. The lesson Jesus taught was that we must trust Him
instead of our wealth. That is why wealth is a
disadvantage when it comes to grace. We trust our wealth.) - Friend, will you look more realistically at wealth and
your fellow church members? Will you love all as you love
yourself, and will you make it your goal to depend only on
Jesus? - Next week: Jesus and the Social Outcasts.
