James 2:6

"But you have dishonored the poor man. It is not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?"But you have" -The situation described in the previous verses wasn't hypothetical, these Christians had been demonstrating prejudice based on external appearances. They had actually fawned over the rich and shown contempt for the poor. In contrast to God who had not discriminated against the poor, these Christians were. In fact, they were hindering the poor man from seeing that Christianity is for everyone. "dishonored the poor man" -to treat shamefully, insult. Poor people have feelings too! The poor man knew that he was being treated with contempt when they told him to stand over there or sit on the floor. The poor man would see no difference between the actions of these Christians and the actions of those in the world. In contrast, God commands us to honor all men (1 Peter 2:17). Each man or woman is created in the image of God (James 3:9), and Jesus died for every man and woman, this is reason enough to treat everyone with courtesy and respect. See Proverbs 14:21. In the Old Testament God made it clear to His people that the poor were important to Him (Psalms 68:10; Psalms 69:33; Psalms 140:12). They had not simply ignored the poor man, they had definitely treated him with contempt, as if he was an unwelcome guest. "Is it the rich who oppress you" -"Oppress"-"exploit, dominate" (Arndt p. 410). By this question, James reminds his readers that the rich as. group had been some of the most powerful opponents against the gospel. "The rich, whom they were favoring over the poor, were the very ones who had added to their misery through much persecution and oppression' (Woods p. 116). "and personally drag you into court?" -That is forcibly dragged against your will, the term implies violence and harsh treatment. Jesus warned His disciples concerning such mistreatment (Matthew 10:17; John 16:2; Matthew 5:11). Barclay notes, "No doubt this was for debt. At the bottom end of the social scale men were so poor that they could hardly live, and moneylenders were plentiful and extortionate…If the creditor met. debtor on the street, he could seize him by the neck of his robe, nearly throttling him and literally drag him to the law courts…They had no sympathy; all they wanted was the uttermost farthing" (pp. 78-79). Persecution also probably took the form of lawsuits (Hebrews 10:34), in which Christians were singled out. Nothing has really changed, to this day various wealthy unbelievers have. tremendous influence on legal verdicts, especially in nations in which there is. tremendous gap between the rich and the poor. Evidently, these rich unbelievers found that corrupt judges would uphold their false accusations or unrealistic demands.