James 2:1-4 (NIV)
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
So, in church this morning we discussed this scenario as described. First is the inherent humourous emphasis, as I don't imagine that churches were literally asking people in shabby clothes to sit by their feet (literally "under my footstool") rather than in a chair. I think James took the nature of discrimination seriously enough to hyperbolize to make his point. Secondly, the example is specific to social class, which obviously has special significance, but the first phrase can likely apply to other ways that we would prefer one group or perceived "type" of person over another.
In the original language, "fine clothes" literally means "shiny", while "shabby clothes" implies that the person is so dirty they probably have feces on them. This is a pretty extreme, and obvious, difference. So in the conersation this morning it was pointed out that we rarely have "smelly" people joining us for a service or gathering. For the most part, we're all very comfortable around one another. Though we'd probably like to think we're diverse, we're similar in a lot more ways than we're different. And we're small. The truth is that while we can each apply this verse personally, we're not having many opportunities as a community to be tested in the example the scripture gives.
Someone also pointed out that we don't have many "shiny" people among us either. I guess that would make us . . . dull people?
But seriously, if we're to apply James to our community, and if we're truly a church of Jesus people, we should be in closer proximity to the poor, the lonely, and the marginalized than we are.
So that's our next steps. We want to start intentionally moving our community out of our buildings and programs and into the heart of communities of need. Based on suggestions made within our group so far, it looks like one group may start visiting a prison together, another a hospital, perhaps palliative care, and/or we may start playing poker at a retirement home.
The idea I've been most excited about so far is that we may take the midweek meals we've been eating together outside somewhere. Someone suggested soup at a parking lot downtown, but I'm keen to maybe try weekly (or so) barbeques at the river bottom. This depends partly on the size of the river bottom crew this year, but if it works out, I think it would be awesome.
When we lived in Australia we used to give out free lunches in the park (in Byron Bay, a total hippie/new age hub). It was awesome. All of the homeless people knew about it, so they came regularly and became our friends. But we also offered it to anyone passing by, like tourists or local business people. It became a community thing, we would bring our drums and hang out afterwards. I miss it so much!
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