Do not show partiality

Read James 2

"My brethren, do not hold the faith of our LORD Jesus Christ, the LORD of glory,

 with partiality.

For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, 

and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 

and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him,

 “You sit here in a good place,”

 and say to the poor man, 

“You stand there,” or “Sit here at my footstool,”

have you not shown partiality among yourselves,

 and become  judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my beloved brethren:

 Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith

 and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

But you have dishonoured the poor man.

  Do not the rich oppress you and drag you into the courts?

Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called?

If you have really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 

“You shall love your neighbour as yourself, 

you do well:

but if you show partiality, 

you commit sin,

 and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

For whoever shall keep the whole law; and yet stumble in one point, 

he is guilty of all."

                                                                          James 2:1-10

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal...” a quote from the constitution of the United States of America.
Long before that was written this truth was written down in Scripture.  These ideals were not only expressed in the New Testament, but are also expressed in the Old Testament also.
We have a God who sees the person’s heart, not what is on the outside.
Just because someone enters the church in expensive clothing, doesn’t mean that their heart is clean before God.
All too often, some of the biggest thieves in our society were wealthy.  Sadly, all too often, a person dressed poorly is judged to be lazy or bad.
What James is making clear here is, we are not to show partiality in anything: to people in the church, especially, because of their financial status. He harkens back to Matthew 7:1,2

‘Judge not, that you be not judged,

“For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, 

and with the measure you 

use it will be measured back to you.

Something to think about
Jesus states the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is,

“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’

                                                                                                    Matthew 22:39
James reminds us if we show partiality we sin.
Do you judge a person by the clothes they wear, the way there hair is done, the size they are, the way they smell?
How would you feel if someone with a blue Mohawk haircut wearing a studded leather jacket, jack boots, with a bad body odour came into your church and sat beside you?
Think about it.