Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?-- James 4:11-12 (NRSV)
Jesus' version -- or rather the gospel according to Matthew's take on Jesus' injunction is:
Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.(Matthew 7:1-2)
It has been pointed out to me in a private email, that this injunction is a kind of corrective to the socialist interpretation I (and a few other social gospel types) tend to give this letter thus far.
James has accused rich folks of persecution. He has told us that God favours the poor and that his agenda is a radical redistribution of wealth and resources. In this he follows the Jesus of the gospels and also the prophetic voices of the Hebrew scriptures.
How do we reconcile these two voices?
Multiple options. One is to not bother. James is speaking from his context (which is fuzzy to us at best). Apply the preferential option for the poor in circumstances where wisdom and faith warrant and apply the do not judge injunctions in places appropriate to that.
How do we choose between them?
James is clear. The reason we do not judge is that judgment belongs to God alone. But still, faith, for people of wealth, is to look forward with hope to a day when they are no longer rich in the ways in which this world understands rich. James has already said to us:
Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field.
(James 1:9-10)
However we reconcile these, or whether we do, leaving James in his 2000 year old context and muddling through on our own, what speaks to us (me) here is this: if you think the Christian gospel is about warm fuzzy feelings about God, or is about saving your soul (some metaphysical entity). Think again. The gospel is also political. It is about the kind of community (polis) we are to live together in.
And when we pray we pray this vision of a new and just and better world into this old and tired one.
Peace be with you Friends.
5 comments:
I see the conflict (I think) ... that first it seems like he is judging the rich and finding them wanting, then advising us not to judge anyone? But maybe he isn't judging the rich but rather saying that they have already been judged (incorrectly) by society and found to be superior ... that we should not make this distinction between rich and poor? I guess it is political - how you treat others on a personal level (not judging, no distinctions), followed to its institutional conclusion.
I'm with Crystal. I think we aren't to judge the rich or the poor. The point is not to assume the rich are better people (that their wealth has been a reward for righteousness) or to prefer to be with them.
I may be speaking from a warped perspective because my denomination has historically been a very comfortable one, and I think some of these messages do get seriously soft-pedaled in my church. However, I don't agree that we are to literally prefer the poor to the rich, I don't think we are to prefer anyone and its possible that the veneration of the poor is hyperbole because people so greatly prefer the rich. Of course, I could just be the mouth-piece of Satan on this one...
Re Condemning the rich: R.W. is right on there.
The important fact is that the love of wealth makes of one the proverbial rich man who Jesus said had as much trouble getting into the kingdom as a camel going through the eye of a needle.
This is the salient truth about wealth: it so often corrupts one.
Years ago I fell into some money and immediatedly got so charged up over it that I was spending all my time studying the stock market. I made some bad decisions and lost part of the money and swore off.
The way I interpret that experience is that the wealth was corrupting me, a sad fate from which God rescued me in the gentlest possible way.
I've known good rich men and bad poor men, although in my opinion the poor come out statistically ahead. If you're poor, thank God. You are thereby spared some very insidious corruptions.
Remember way back near teh beginning of thsis tudy I talked about something I called prophetic reversal? This is the notion that God shows forth God's power by turning our everyday expectations on their heads.
So when Jesus was born, he was born to an unwed mother and laid in a manger instead of being born to the house of Herod or of Caesar. The first shall be alst and teh last first.
These reversals happen in regards to wealth an uncomfortable number of times. James talks of at least two kinds of wealthy person. There's teh rich whjo persecute you. But there are aslo the wealthy Christians -- they do exist -- but at the same time they are advised to glory in their being humbled.
In Kingdom of God the poor are amde rich and the rich poor.
Friends,
I want to let you all know that I'm listening here, but don't have much to add. My initial response to this conversation however is this: Rich and poor is about dualism - separating people into groups based on somthing very external. Internally, we are all the same. And in this sameness, we all have this wonderful capacity to be awake to that which is truly our gift. It has little to do with what is in your pocket - and everything to do with what is in your heart. However, it may be difficult to explore your heart without the essentials of shelter, food, and physical needs being met.
Meredith
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