James 2:1-4
“My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in, and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, “Sit here in a good place;” and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool;” haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?”
The Letter of James, written likely in the mid-first century CE by James, the brother of Jesus, to Jewish Christians scattered across the Roman Empire. He urges them to live out their faith through practical actions and ethical conduct, warning against hypocrisy and social favoritism within their nascent communities.
What unspoken expectations of status or worth do we carry into our communal spaces today?