Day 4: James 2:1-13 - The Christian is a Dealer of Two Impressions

"Early impressions are hard to eradicate from the mind. When once wool has been dyed purple who can restore it to its previous whiteness?" - Jerome

Where does your first impression of someone come from?  The Bible tells us that a Christian has a new mind when born again.  However, the Christian also carries a second mind - a remnant of the mind of the flesh.  It is this second mind that is at work under the radar from the moment we wake up in the morning.  The main job of the second mind is to prioritize what is valuable and worthy to the flesh for the day and the many weeks to come.  The second mind also "sizes people" up and places them into worth categories - James calls this "evil thoughts" - v.2.4.  It is the renewed Christian mind that "resizes people" and re-sorts them into worth categories according to the word of God.

Let's see how your second mind has been at work.  Who are in each of your concentric circles of relationships? Where are the people of need located in those concentric circles - are any in your inner circle?   If you do not have people who gives you no advantage (but rather puts you at a disadvantage) in this world located in your inner circle, you are likely the one at a disadvantage in the Kingdom of God. It is not the early fleshly impression that matters, it is the lasting impression through the Holy Spirit that matters. 

"And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." - Matthew 25:40

It is not the people of need who has to have you in their lives - God can provide through other means.  It is you who needs them to make your life full, rich and happy.  Don't stop resizing people up for the glory of God and pray that your inner circle life is full of truly "rich" people in Christ - v.2:5.  Your very happiness in Christ depends on it.

Posted by Henry Jung on 6/3/2016

Comments

I don't know anyone that is not guilty of judging someone. Looking at people through God's eyes is never easy, but it does allow a new perspective. Even the raggedy man standing in the back has the equal opportunity to come to the front altar to worship the Lord. God sees past the Gucci shoes and the Maserati cars and looks at the heart of the man that comes before Him. It is the tax collector in the back who tears at his clothes crying out, "Who will save me from this life of sin?" that receives more grace than the rich man who shuffles pennies into the offering basket. When you look on people in God's eyes, it allows the opportunity to serve them with love as God loves them. God has a funny way of giving us opportunities to show love.

Diana Lim on 6/6/2016 at 9:08 PM

Another situation that I think this set of verses has application is when it comes to people generally different from yourself.

It's way too easy to be surrounded with people like yourself. But it leads to all sorts of issues like confirmation bias and a narrow view of how people "should be." And thus we become more like the Pharisees who take a shallow impression of a person without taking the hard road of taking the time to get to know and understand people. No one is merely the initial impression we get from them. It takes work to dig into what makes a person who they are.

Much as Jesus showed us what love is by dying on the cross, our love for our neighbors will show itself by how we die to our biases, comfort zones, and relational laziness.

Chris Moon on 6/8/2016 at 1:13 AM

Good word

Robert Han on 6/15/2016 at 1:39 PM

At work, we had to go through training about unconscious biases. The first step really was becoming aware about our unconscious biases. In the same sense, I think it is natural for us to judge others, either by their clothes, appearance, profession, etc. However, the only say to battle these biases is to recognize where your biases lie. A Christian spin on this is to then put those biases and people's values in the proper perspective. I did a Sunday School lesson on how the image of a super hero is so different in today's society vs. the Bible. The super hero is attractive, fit, popular, strong, has powers, etc. However, the heroes of the Bible really offer nothing to God; they are prideful, disobedient, complainers, and often look like fools or weak to others (Noah building a huge ark, David fighting Goliath). Yet God chose them, and that's what gives them their value.

Jane Lee on 8/9/2016 at 10:47 PM