This blog serves as an outreach for Pastor Randy Powell of the First Baptist Church of Franklin, PA. Feel free to ask questions or send me an e-mail at pastorpowell@hotmail.com
James, like John and Paul, warns of the danger of "friendship with the world". The question, of course, is what does this mean? Instead of reading into the text our own beliefs about the subject (which would be the error of interpretation called eisegesis), we need to allow the text to speak for itself, seeking out the original meaning of the author and the original understanding of the audience/reader (the correct mode of interpretation, exegesis). Therefore, any definition of "the world" which relies upon modern concepts like an anti-technology explanation or one concerning democracy or capitalism, is certainly an anachronism that would have been unintelligible to both James and his readers. This same concept is important in all areas of Biblical interpretation. In order to honor God's word and show it respect, we need to seek the plain meaning of the text first. Once we have ascertained what the text meant then, we can seek to understand how we ought to apply the text now.
So, what is "the world"? In the context of James, the world is everything which is opposed to God, all that carry someone away from God. James gives plenty of example of the types of behavior that we need to avoid, beginning in chapter two, and when we combine that contextual understanding with an overall sense of what Scripture as a whole requires of us, it becomes clear that "loving the world" equals disobedience to the commands of God.
We, as followers of Jesus Christ, cannot afford to be dual-minded, we cannot serve to masters, the choice before us is simple: Love God or love the world.
Why do people in a church fight each other? For that matter, why do churches or denominations quarrel among themselves? We know that these things shouldn't happen, certainly not if the one and same Spirit of Christ is in both parties to a fight, so why does it happen? James explains that fights and quarrels erupt among God's people because of unfulfilled desires, that is people not getting what they want. What do people want that they don't have? The primary desires are standard human failings: power, wealth, and sex. Far too many church disputes, even violence, has revolved around the desire for these. Churches have been split in two over fights for power or money or because of illicit sex between members. We need to understand that these desires are a danger if we are to avoid their destructive influence.
In addition to these, misplaced zeal for a religious belief is also a cause of disputes and divisions. Beyond the core beliefs of the Gospel (the Virgin Birth, Resurrection, salvation by grace through faith, the authority of the Scriptures, etc.) there are innumerable other things that well meaning and God honoring Christians will not always agree upon. What do we do then? Do we let a desire for uniformity close our hearts to others, or do we let grace abound and let God be the judge as he has told us that he is.
In the end, the Church doesn't need uniformity of opinion, we need to be one in Spirit and one in purpose. Our task is monumental, we cannot afford to allow fighting and quarreling to disrupt God's work, whether that be locally or in the Church as a whole.
What is wisdom, how do we recognize it, and where does it come from? Important questions, no doubt, to which James offers the answer by explaining that wisdom is something that is reflected in how a person lives as it must result in a "good life" and in deeds done "in the humility that comes from wisdom." This active wisdom comes from above, having God as its source, and stands in opposition to human wisdom, which revolves around envy and ambition. How we conduct ourselves, our attitudes, tactics, strategies, etc. must reflect God's wisdom, not man's. It is unacceptable for God's people to behave in a way that brings shame to his name, acting as if the ends justify the means, or as if a win at all cost mentality were acceptable to God. God does not require, nor does he desire, unscrupulous or immoral defenders. By way of example, one such self-proclaimed defender of the faith who by his actions has proven that God's wisdom is lacking, is Pastor Steven Anderson. When our speech is filled with invective, when our zeal causes us to claim that other Christians are following the devil (as he has with his KJV Only rants), it cannot thus be God's wisdom we are speaking. {For a video from Dr. Michael Brown on the topic of Pastor Steven Anderson's ranting, click on the following link: Dr. Brown on Steven Anderson}
God's people must instead be peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial, and sincere. That is what real wisdom looks like, and that is how we must act as the people of God.
How potentially powerful are the words that we say (and by extension the things that we write)? Historical examples abound of the power of communicated ideas, and we all could find an example of the impact of what someone said or wrote in our own lives, for good or for ill. James takes this level of acknowledgement of the power of the human tongue a big step further by warning us that what we say has the potential to ruin our lives (and/or the lives of others).
As Christians, we have an obligation to control our tongues, to utilize the gift of communication to promote righteousness, and not to spread evil. In addition, we must always bear in mind that each person we communicate with is, like us, an image bearer of God. How can we, as his people, praise him on Sunday, and with that same gift, curse those made in his image the next day? In the end, taming our tongues may be the most difficult challenge of overcoming temptation that most of us face, but it is a crucial task, and by the grace of God we will achieve it.
The following quote from John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 7, section 6) illustrates our duty as disciples of Jesus Christ. In light of the anger and vitriol on social media by Christian who should not be acting in that way, this reminder of what our Lord requires from us is certainly needed. Brotherly Kindness is not optional. Moreover, that we may not weary in well-doing (as would otherwise forthwith and infallibly be the case), we must add the other quality in the Apostle’s enumeration, “Charity suffiereth long, and is kind, is not easily provoked,” (1 Cor. 13:4). The Lord enjoins us to do good to all without exception, though the greater part, if estimated by their own merit, are most unworthy of it. But Scripture subjoins a most excellent reason, when it tells us that we are not to look to what men in themselves deserve, but to attend to the image of God, which exists in all, and to which we owe all honour and love. But in those who are of the household of faith, the same rule is to be more carefully observed, inasmuch as that image is renewed and restored in them by the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, whoever be the man that is presented to you as needing your assistance, you have no ground for declining to give it to him. Say he is a stranger. The Lord has given him a mark which ought to be familiar to you: for which reason he forbids you to despise your own flesh (Gal. 6:10). Say he is mean and of no consideration. The Lord points him out as one whom he has distinguished by the lustre of his own image (Isaiah 58:7). Say that you are bound to him by no ties of duty. The Lord has substituted him as it were into his own place, that in him you may recognize the many great obligations under which the Lord has laid you to himself. Say that he is unworthy of your least exertion on his account; but the image of God, by which he is recommended to you, is worthy of yourself and all your exertions. But if he not only merits no good, but has provoked you by injury and mischief, still this is no good reason why you should not embrace him in love, and visit him with offices of love. He has deserved very differently from me, you will say. But what has the Lord deserved? Whatever injury he has done you, when he enjoins you to forgive him, he certainly means that it should be imputed to himself. In this way only we attain to what is not to say difficult but altogether against nature, to love those that hate us, render good for evil, and blessing for cursing, remembering that we are not to reflect on the wickedness of men, but look to the image of God in them, an image which, covering and obliterating their faults, should by its beauty and dignity allure us to love and embrace them. - John Calvin.
