The Gold Ring

The Gold Ring

James 2:1-4 says the following:

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives.”

For many years I have thought that the story of the man with the gold ring dealt with wealth. I now know differently.

HarleyDad visits different churches from time to time. Perhaps it is because I believe in Jesus Christ or perhaps it is to assuage guilt from a very imperfect life. None the less I visit. Recently I have noticed some interesting distinctions. Sometimes churches are geared to certain classes. After all, church growth gurus say that churches that are aimed at the same class of people grow faster.

I guess I can understand. Many years ago as a young deacon I remember visiting a family where the father played on a professional football team. I remember thinking to myself about how fortunate we would be if this family came to our church. Wouldn’t it be great! In effect, I had dressed this football player in the uniform of a man with “a gold ring and fine clothes.”

As I recently visited a church aimed at the young and athletic I found that I had joined the “out group.” I was not young, beautiful or athletic and this particular church was designed to attract those types of people. I did not have the “gold ring and fine clothes” decreed by that church. As I met the young pastor, I could sense that somehow I did not meet the standard of the member that his church was seeking.

And so I left knowing that although the church was about relationship; I was not one of the people targeted for relationship. And I took my place with the black person who visits a white church or the handicapped person who visits a church that sees them as a liability.

The reward of course of being one of the unchosen, is that you would never have felt comfortable there in the first place. And so even though I do have an ostentatious, gold ring with diamonds in it, I still will not wear it next time I go church visiting.