Are You Stingy In Spirit? - May 1

Read James 2:1-6

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man.

Reflect

Are you ever tempted to play favorites? Are you stingy with your graciousness towards certain groups of people? Why or why not?

One of Dr. Seuss’s lesser known children’s books, Hooper Humperdink…? Not Him! carries the opening line, “I’m going to have a party, but I don’t think that I’ll ask Hooper Humperdink.” The narrator goes on to list all of his friends who will get an invitation. As his guest list expands, so do his wild ideas for this big extravaganza! But, he repeats over and over again that Hooper Humperdink is the one person who won’t get invited because, “That Humperdink! I don’t know why, but somehow I don’t like that guy!” The narrator was playing favorites and being stingy in his spirit towards poor Hooper Humperdink even though he couldn’t really explain why he didn’t like him.

In today’s passage, Jesus’ brother, James warned his readers not to show partiality. He used the example of honoring the rich while dishonoring the poor in the assembly of believers. James said that favoritism is a sin! We shouldn’t make distinctions between the rich and the poor among the body of Christ. For that matter, we shouldn’t make any distinctions between people in God’s family. In the KJV, Acts 10:34 says that “God is no respecter of persons" and we shouldn’t be either.

In his New Testament commentary, Dr. Warren Wiersbe cautioned us all: “The way we behave toward people indicates what we really believe about God! We cannot—and dare not—separate human relationships from divine fellowship.” In Christ, we are all God’s family—a divine fellowship.

But we are stingy in our spirits sometimes, aren’t we? We are stingy with our graciousness. We withhold love, acceptance, and grace from certain people because…we don’t know why, but somehow we don’t like that guy. We see someone new at church, obviously trying to find their way around but we want to talk with our friends or family. We refuse to give certain people a chance or the benefit of the doubt. We elevate some people and exclude others. And when we do that, the church becomes more of a social club or a clique in which everyone is welcome to attend the service but only some people are truly in.

But this should not be! After all, if it hadn’t been for Jesus and His sacrifice on our behalf, would we be in or out with God? You see, it doesn’t matter how much money we do or do not have. It doesn’t matter if we run with the ”in crowd” or not. If we love God, James wrote that we are chosen by God to be heirs of the kingdom. God was no respecter of persons when He chose you and me to be His children. If He was, we wouldn’t make the cut! But that also means that every other fellow believer was also chosen by God…even the ones you feel stingy in your spirit towards.

The story of Hooper Humperdink has a heart-warming ending. The main character has this realization: “A party big and good as this is too good for anyone to miss! And so, you know, I sort of think…I WILL ask Hooper Humperdink!” May the same be said of us when it comes to the Hooper Humperdinks in our lives.

Respond

Lord, I confess that sometimes I show partiality and make distinctions within Your family. Please forgive me for playing favorites. Give me Your gracious heart so that I can be generous, not stingy, in my spirit towards everyone. Just as You have been gracious and generous towards me. Amen.

Reveal

Be on-guard against playing favorites today. Ask God to help you be gracious and generous, not stingy in spirit towards anyone.