James 2:3 KJV
[3] “and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:”
It is not the prosperous man wearing the gay clothing, nor is it the poor man wearing the vile raiment that gets my attention in this verse. It is the partial man who is ushering these two men to their seats. This usher seems to be short-sighted and snooty. He is a man that cannot see beyond the superficial. He only sees a man wearing goodly apparel and a gold ring, but he cannot see beyond the temporal things. He never stops to think about how his decision will affect him in eternity.
It is not a sin for a man to be rich, and it is not a shame for a man to be poor. But it is both a shame and sin to treat men unequally like this snooty usher. Christianity places every man on the same level. We have all heard it said, “The ground is level at the foot of the Cross.” This statement is true for every sinner, but it is also true for every saint. The only thing special about any man is that God has saved his soul.
We must be careful that we do not elevate people because of their status or success in life. We must also not overlook the blessing of knowing people who are poor by this world’s standards but have much more to offer than silver or gold. I also think we should heed the warning to avoid being snooty and mistreating others. The worst testimony is when someone acts like they are better than somebody else. It is disgraceful to lift up some people and put other people down. We must remember that the Lord found us all in the same pit.