by Logan Ames
Without a doubt, love is one of the most talked about subjects in the Bible. This makes perfect sense when we consider what else the Bible says. In 1 Corinthians 13:13, Paul declares, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." One reason why it’s the greatest is that 1 John 4:16 tells us, “God is love." No single word can truly sum up the Creator of the universe, but perhaps “love” comes the closest to doing so. Jesus spoke of love often. He told Nicodemus that God loved the world so much that He willingly gave up His only begotten Son so that anyone who believes in Him could have everlasting life (John 3:16). He told His disciples that “laying down one’s life for his friends” is the greatest love (John 15:13). And of course, Jesus summed up the entire Law and Prophets by saying that the two greatest commandments were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40). These passages reveal just a fraction of the truth about love according to the whole counsel of Scripture. Yet, there is probably no subject about which true followers of Jesus are lectured more than love.
Because the world grossly misunderstands and misrepresents love and then points at those of us who adhere to Biblical teaching and refers to us as “not very loving," it is appropriate for me to end my current series on the Book of James - and my Worldview Warriors writings for now - with a post about Christian love, as the New Testament writers saw it. Since most of you who have faithfully read my posts and supported me over the years do not know, this is my last weekly post for Worldview Warriors. I’ve been blessed to be with the organization since 2011 when I lived in Ohio and have written over 300 weekly posts. After taking one previous break, I returned to writing weekly almost exactly two years ago after my wife and I moved to Pennsylvania and I accepted a full-time pastor position. Since then, I’ve learned and lived the stress of full-time ministry, both on myself and my family, my wife and I bought our first house, and we’ve welcomed our precious daughter (now almost 15 months old) into the world. On top of all this, we anticipate more ministry and family opportunities in the future, so it is time once again for me to step away from writing weekly. I need to be focusing my efforts on showing the true love of Christ to my family and those in my current community and ministry context. I will leave the door open regarding lesser involvement with Worldview Warriors going forward, so you may still hear my name or see me around. For now, though, I bid you farewell with this post and I thank you for your support and encouragement.
It just so happens that James wraps up his letter to the early church by talking about true love, though it is not obvious at first glance. In James 5:19-20, he writes, “My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins." While the word “love” is nowhere to be found in these verses, there is no question in my mind that James “knows what love is” (cue the Forrest Gump line). It’s interesting that he chooses a specific phrase when addressing accountability and repentance, that the one who holds a person accountable and helps them repent “covers over a multitude of sins." You’re probably wondering where else you’ve heard that phrase, and I’m here to remind you that it’s exactly what love does. Peter, another early church leader, wrote, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). We can be certain that James and Peter knew each other as leaders and spokesmen for the assembly of believers (Acts 15:6-21). While James does not use the word “love” in his final thoughts where he urges the brothers and sisters to turn each other back to the truth, there is no doubt in my mind that he is promoting sharing the truth in love.
In a world where it is constantly hammered into us that refusing to condone one’s selfish or evil behavior is akin to not loving them, the truth about love that James and Peter express needs to be promoted. In a world where those of us who acknowledge sin according to God’s Word are considered by many to be hateful, bigoted, and out of touch with Jesus, we must be willing to turn one another away from behaviors that lead to destruction and toward righteousness. Refusing to do so is refusing to love each other with the truth. Paul says that “love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). When I point out a sinful behavior that is being widely accepted in the church, I’ve heard other pastors tell me that “Jesus would love these people, not condemn them." It is true that Jesus does love all sinners, including you and me. But this argument is used to insinuate that Jesus doesn’t approve of Christians addressing sin directly when speaking to the sinner. It’s an argument that completely ignores the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11. Jesus shows us that it is possible to love someone, refuse to condemn them as people, and still acknowledge that their behavior is sinful. When all the Pharisees and hypocrites just want to stone the woman, Jesus sends them away and then chooses to let the woman go, but not before He commands her, “Go now and leave your life of sin” (v. 11). If He said, “Go now and keep doing what you did before, even though it will ultimately destroy you," He wouldn’t have been speaking the truth in love.
Getting back to the closing words of James’ letter, it is clear that he is writing about Christians who fall away, not those who have never known true freedom and righteousness in Jesus. He addresses brothers and sisters, then writes, “If one of you should wander from the truth…" James is not advocating for Christians to go around and hammer a lost world regarding their sins. That’s not very loving. If someone does not know Jesus, we should assume they are caught up in sin because they have yet to experience freedom from it. However, WITHIN the church, sin should always be addressed. Paul declares this truth in 1 Corinthians 5:12. James has already supported in his letter the resistance toward sin and the confession of it, so now he encourages repentance from it. He recognizes that when we are caught in sin, it is more that we “wander from the truth” without even realizing it than a deliberate decision to reject the truth. This is why we desperately need other Christians who can see with clearer eyes to point it out to us. It is popular to talk about how this must be done in love, and I agree. But so often people determine whether it’s being done in love by how it makes them FEEL. That’s not reality. None of us celebrate the exposure of our sin. It hurts. It feels awful. But it MUST, because Godly sorrow is the only way we’ll come to repentance and never look back (2 Corinthians 7:10).
My friends, I’m leaving you with this post regarding the truth about love because I believe there is nothing more important to the success of the church’s efforts to impact the world for Jesus today. Don’t ever be afraid to look at a brother or sister in Christ who is caught up in sin and address it with them. Don’t ever be ashamed to admit your own sin and allow someone else to hold you accountable for it. This is VITAL to our mission in the world. Yes, you have to consider if what you’re doing and saying is loving. But that has more to do with your own motives and potential hypocrisy than it does how the other person feels. People in the church will tell you to mind your own business and to stay out of theirs. But don’t allow their rejection of you to keep you from doing what James, Peter, and Jesus all agree is LOVE. Remember that to “turn a sinner from the error of their way” will rarely be a quick fix. You’ll need to build loving relationships, you’ll need to allow them to walk away from you, and you’ll need to love and forgive them even after they falter yet again, which means you’ll start back at square one addressing the sin. These are all the things that Jesus does for us. His blood, His truth, and His love for us have already covered the multitude of our sins. Go and do likewise for one another. God bless you all!
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by Logan Ames
Theologian J.I. Packer, author of the popular book Knowing God, spent a lot of time studying and writing about the subject of human beings attempting to understand the mind of our Creator. In a separate work called Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God, he established this conclusion: “A God whom we could understand exhaustively, and whose revelation of Himself confronted us with no mysteries whatsoever, would be a God in man’s image, and therefore an imaginary God, not the God of the Bible at all." We’ve probably all either gotten frustrated ourselves or known others who have gotten frustrated with trying to figure out what God is up to in their lives and getting absolutely no answer. This quote from Packer reminds us that we worship a God who is unattainable, indescribable, and beyond what we can fathom. Sometimes, we just have to accept that we cannot know and will not know until we are with him face-to-face (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Of course, this acceptance does nothing to help us overcome the frustration of not understanding why the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth would allow certain circumstances to happen in our lives. In my view, the only way to begin to deal with what we can’t understand is to stop trying to figure out the mind of God and start seeking the HEART of God. It is true that God Himself says in Isaiah 55:9: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." However, nothing is mentioned there about God’s heart. You might ask, “What’s the difference between God’s mind and His heart?” I’d answer that by suggesting you consider the difference between your own mind and heart. After all, you were made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). The mind is how we process things and make decisions, but the heart is whatever we are passionate about at our very core. My wife and I have to use our minds to process decisions regarding finances, food choices, and parenting, but we are passionate about the Lord and our heart has been stolen by our precious daughter, Evangeline. We just melt when she laughs, cries, does something for the first time, or learns new words and phrases. In my ministry context, I use my mind to handle administrative tasks and make sound decisions, but my heart and passion are definitely in teaching and proclaiming God’s Word!
It seems to me that James has the idea of seeking God’s heart in mind when he writes to remind his readers of the prophet Elijah. In James 5:17-18, he explains that Elijah experienced great results from his “earnest prayers," both when he prayed for no rain and when he prayed for rain. Now, we must not misunderstand this: Elijah could not “make it rain." Elijah didn’t have some special power to turn the raindrops off and on. Though he got the results he prayed for, Elijah did not change God’s mind. Rather, he sought God’s heart. James is directing the early Christians regarding their prayer life and encourages them to take everything to God in prayer and to do so fervently. But an unspoken theme and message has emerged in this section of his letter: pray the heart of God.
If you’re not sure that unspoken message is there, just go back and take a look at James 5:13-16. Check out the specific situations and things that James mentions regarding the need to pray. He says we should pray when in trouble and when happy, both of which can come from God to fulfill His purposes. He says we should “sing songs of praise," which obviously bless God. We should seek the Lord when we are sick and we should also confess our sins to one another and to God. All of these things are important to the Lord! James doesn’t write that we should seek God for the lottery winnings we wish we had, because that would not be consistent with the heart of God. In fact, James directly opposes that type of prayer earlier in his letter as “asking with wrong motives” (James 4:3). One of the most important things when we pray is to pray about and for that which we know or even sense is what God wants. It’s an effort to align our human will with God’s rather than trying to convince Him to do what we want.
Getting back to the example of Elijah, James declares to his audience that “Elijah was a human being, even as we are” (v. 17a). He wants them to know that being imperfect human beings does not mean we cannot seek the heart of God. To properly understand Elijah’s example, you have to know his story. I encourage you to go back and read it, but I will give you the cliff notes. Elijah entered the scene of ancient Israel during a horrible time. 1 Kings 16:29-34 gives us just a snapshot of what was going on at that time. King Ahab was on the throne and “did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him” (v. 30). He considered previous sins of the king of Israel to be trivial, married a foreign king’s daughter named Jezebel, and began to worship foreign gods. His evil reign also resulted in the deaths of many prophets of the Lord at the hands of Jezebel, as well as the rebuilding of the cursed city of Jericho that the Lord had already wiped out during the time of Joshua. All of these evil things are taking place in the land of Israel, the land that was promised to their forefathers for the people who were set apart by God as they trusted in Him to bring them out of captivity in Egypt. Elijah had to be thinking, “God has done all of this for you and your ancestors and THIS is how you respond to Him?”
Elijah had to have sensed that God would not tolerate this kind of blatant disobedience. Though He would always love Israel and never leave them without hope and a plan for the future, there were many times throughout their history where God chose to discipline them rather than bless them. God talked to Jeremiah about His plan to do this based on how the people behave and what is best for them (Jeremiah 18:5-12). Elijah, believing that this had to be one of the times of national discipline, comes to Ahab in 1 Kings 17:1 and boldly declares, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." This discipline had to hit Israel and Ahab where it counted. Without rain, the land would not produce the abundant harvest it was designed to produce. Without the abundant harvest, food would be scarce and people would die. Ahab even later calls Elijah the “troubler of Israel” (1 Kings 18:17), but Elijah reminds him that his disobedience toward God is what has caused the great famine and lack of rain. Elijah proved that he was close to God’s heart, while Ahab was far from it and couldn’t have cared less.
My friends, when you sense the heart of God, don’t be afraid to pray and pray earnestly for His will to be done. Sure, God might do it anyway, but He certainly wants to know whether you care about the things that are important to Him or just what feeds your own personal gain. You can read much about His general will and desires in Scripture, you can seek His more specific will in prayer, and you can fellowship with others who will help you understand it. Those things are all part of the process. Once your will has been aligned with God’s, even if only for that day, that is when James urges you to pray earnestly and watch God work!
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
by Logan Ames
I may be a pastor, teacher, and author right now, but those are far from what I thought I’d be doing when I got older, had you asked me about it when I was younger. Like everyone else, I have had different passions over the course of my life. At one point, I wanted to be a sports broadcaster, announcing baseball games and other events. I was a weird combination of a jock who loved sports and a math nerd who loved numbers and statistics. Basically, I was fantasy football before fantasy football was cool! What proved to me that sports announcing wasn’t going to be something I truly cared about was finding out that I’d likely have to go to college and major in journalism. That sounded like no fun, so I ignored that childhood passion. My first real job, other than landscaping for my neighbors, was working as a walking candy bar in Hershey, Pennsylvania. I had tons of fun in that job and I was passionate about making people smile, but short of making it to the big time (you know, like Mickey Mouse), I knew that wasn’t my future. In high school, I started going to my church youth group and that was where I discovered my true passion for God’s Word, studying it and teaching it, and that was one passion I would not ignore.
I was willing to go through all the necessary training and hard work to become an approved, reliable teacher of the Scriptures and I believe that was and is God’s will for me. Yet, I’m aware of how many other passions I ignored simply because it would’ve been difficult to pursue them. I’m sure you can relate. I’m blessed enough to be doing what I love right now and earn a living doing it, but I know so many who have just settled for way less than what God wants for them. I definitely settled early on in my life until God made it clear what my true passion was. What about you? What do you REALLY care about in life? Do other aspects of your life reflect your answer? It’s necessary for all of us to step back every once in a while and take inventory of ourselves to see where and how we are “settling," which is almost always the enemy of progress regarding our faith and obedience to the Lord.
While my focus here so far has been on our overall passions in life, I want to use it as a springboard to discuss our prayer lives. The title of this piece comes partially from a sermon series I did at the church I pastor on the book of Acts. In Acts 20:24, Paul says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." Paul’s life reflected that he didn’t care about much else and was willing to go through every trial and give up every possible thing to complete this task. Earlier in the sermon series, we came across Acts 12, which tells us of another apostle who gave up everything to obey Christ and do God’s will. It’s the story of Peter being put in prison by the ruthless King Herod, who intended to make a public example out of Peter and execute him (Acts 12:1-4). But in Acts 12:5, we read, “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." This shows us that Paul and Peter taught the early church, the same people to whom James writes, to not only aim high for that which God wills, but also to pray earnestly, fervently, and powerfully about the things they care about. David Guzik says that our prayer is often powerless because we are busy asking God to care about things we don’t care too much about.
In his letter to the early church, James concludes his writing by focusing on what it means to pray in faith for the things we care about and the things we know God cares about. In James 5:15-16, he specifically identifies several components of the prayer of faith. First, he writes, “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well” (v. 15a). This is a very interesting sentence. It appears that James is telling us that as long as we have enough faith, God will heal our loved one who is sick. This could be detrimental to the faith and growth of seekers if it were to be understood that way. What if God chooses not to provide the healing? Does that mean the person praying doesn’t have enough faith? A closer look at the original language is necessary here. The phrase “to make well” in the Greek is the word sodzo, which means “to save." It’s where we get the theological word “soteriology," which is the study of salvation. James has much more loftier goals in mind than simply a temporary, physical healing.
The question is, what do you really care about? James is encouraging the believers to ask God for physical healing while understanding that a person’s sin and separation from God is of much greater concern. It reminds me of the story of Jesus and the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus heals all ten guys of their condition, but nine out of ten never even come back to praise God and give thanks. The one who does is a Samaritan, and Jesus is astounded at the lack of gratitude shown by the Jewish men. He then looks at the Samaritan and says, “Your faith has made you well” (v. 19). The Greek word for “well” in that verse is also sodzo. Jesus is making the point that all ten lepers were physically healed, which is only temporary, but the one who gave thanks and praised Him showed faith that SAVED him permanently, beyond the sickness of this world. I believe that James has the same focus in his letter. It’s important to ask the Great Physician for healing and to explore practical methods for getting healthier, but if our focus remains only on the present physical condition of ourselves and our loved ones, then we aren’t aiming high or praying very high.
James tells us that if we are made well (aka “saved”), then our sins will be forgiven. But we have to walk in that forgiveness and walk away from the sin. An important first step to walking away from sin is acknowledging it, and an important second step would be surrounding yourself with those who will hold you accountable. Hence, James continues, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (v. 16a). This is a part of prayer and seeking God that today would be seen as an awkward and foreign concept, yet right there it is in Scripture. There are some obvious guidelines we should follow when confessing sin, particularly if it’s done publicly, to avoid causing greater distress for the hearers and potentially tempting them into further sin. However, James considers confession a necessary part of the prayer of faith. The Greek word for “confess” can actually be translated “to agree." In other words, confessing sin is important because the sinner acknowledges before others and God that the behavior was a sin. Keeping it in the dark breeds opportunity for the offender to justify it, and for the offended party to wonder if the offender even understands what they did. When the sin is confessed and brought into the light, it breeds unity, forgiveness, and healing.
Finally, James says that the prayer of faith must be “powerful and effective” (v. 16b). Other translations say that the prayer is “fervent." I shared earlier about the church earnestly praying for Peter when he was imprisoned by King Herod. That’s an example of fervent prayer. It’s not that our spiritual fervor will in any way influence God or convince Him to do what we want. That’s not the point James is making. He’s simply saying that we ought to be fervent about the things God is fervent about. We ought to truly care about God’s will and that which we are seeking Him for in prayer. In the rest of the chapter, which we’ll look at over the next two weeks, James uses the example of the fervent prayers of Elijah in the Old Testament.
What do you really care about? What things really are important to you? Does your prayer life reflect your answers? How much time do you spend in prayer each day? Are your prayers fervent and earnest, with a fire that won’t be put out until you see God move in some way, or are they more lukewarm, with an attitude of indifference? These are important questions to answer so you can determine whether you have been settling for a mediocre prayer life because you haven’t gotten the immediate results you want. If so, I urge you to seek the Lord with all your heart and all your might, to pray even to the point of exhaustion. You cannot ask God to care about the things you don’t even truly care about.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
by Logan Ames
According to this study from several years ago, subjects who participated in it calculated that 85% of the things they worried about never actually happened. In addition, 79% of the feared things that did happen were found by the participants to be easier to handle or teaching them a life lesson that was necessary for them to learn. Overall, the study revealed that about 97% of what human beings worry about is based on misperceptions, hypotheticals, and exaggerations. Despite this reality, it is highly likely that you, valued person created in the image and likeness of God, has been paralyzed by worry at some point in your life or you’re at that point even right now.
In the same article that explains the study, we find this great quote by Michel de Montaigne: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which has never happened." Even in the church and amongst the family of God, there are many people who are constantly battling their thoughts and fears regarding negative circumstances they cannot control, people who know the victory is won in Jesus but still have a hard time viewing the devil as the defeated foe that he is. One big cause of stress, worry, and fear is the unwillingness to seek the Creator of heaven and earth in prayer. The great hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” spells out this problem at the end of the first verse: “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer." Is there even one person out there who can say they literally take everything to the Lord? I doubt it. I’m just thinking about myself on the day I’m writing this and I’ve been a bit down and feeling somewhat lonely today. I feel disheartened by some of the things happening in my ministry context, I feel misrepresented and misunderstood by someone who attacked my character over what he perceived through social media, and I’ve got some family drama issues weighing on my mind. Yet, regrettably and quite unbelievably, I haven’t taken ANY of it to the Lord yet!
What is wrong with me? Why do I forfeit that peace? The answer is that these are things I desperately want to control, and the fact that circumstances have made it crystal clear that me having control isn’t going to happen here has not stopped me from worrying and trying. James wrote in his letter to the earliest Christians that it simply cannot be this way. It makes no sense to complain, swear, mistreat one another, or worry when we have the freedom to take everything to God in prayer. That is something I am going to do in these situations and it’s something I’m going to keep doing because, truthfully, what other option do I have? What other viable option do you have in the situations that cause you to worry and fear? When things are out of our control, when frustrations and stresses in life are going from bad to worse by the minute, you can either take it to the Lord in prayer or you can destroy yourself from the inside out doing everything you can to rely on yourself.
In James 5:13-14, the early church leader and brother of Jesus declares what the believers should do instead of acting out toward each other, grumbling about circumstances, or swearing by heaven and earth to change things (all responses he condemned in previous verses). James writes, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray” (v. 13a). What kind of trouble is he talking about here? I think he is not specific because trouble comes in many different forms. You could be afraid. You could be awaiting a sentence for a crime you committed. You could be having marital troubles. You could be struggling financially. You could be working overtime to cover up your sin due to fear of exposure. You could be dealing with bitterness over being misunderstood, misrepresented, or mistreated. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that the word “trouble” describes hundreds of circumstances. Yet, they all have the same solution according to James: pray.
He goes on to write, “Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise” (v. 13b). Prayer is central to our relationship with God but one could say that singing songs of praise is just another part of our conversation with God. The Greek word psallo that is used in this passage is used other places in the New Testament and almost always refers to public worship, often with instruments accompanying the singing. James puts these two thoughts - prayer when in trouble and singing praises when happy - together because they both should happen not only privately, but also publicly. There is value in both when the family of God comes together, whether it’s a few people together in a home or thousands gathered in a church service. Admitting trouble publicly and seeking the Lord in prayer for it reminds others that they must do the same. Singing songs of praise publicly reminds everyone that there is still a God in heaven who is worthy to be praised in ALL circumstances. In addition, the suggestions here by James could be reversed, and they are reversed in other places in Scripture. We must seek the Lord even when we are happy and continue to do His will, and we must be willing to praise God even in the midst of affliction. These perspectives and attitudes are what separate believers from the rest of the world.
In the second verse in this section, James writes, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord” (v. 14). Being sick is a separate condition from being happy or being in trouble, although sickness certainly leads to other sorts of trouble. Yet, conversation with God is still the appropriate answer. However, there is a second appropriate response here that does not apply to those who are happy or in other kinds of trouble, and that is the anointing of oil.
It’s interesting that modern churches have turned the anointing of oil into a totally spiritual exercise. But if there is one thing we’ve learned about James throughout this series, it’s that he is very discerning about how the spiritual and the practical work in unison to serve the will of God. The anointing of oil wasn’t a spiritual method to invoke some miraculous healing; that’s what prayer is. Oil in this context in the Middle East would be most likely olive oil, which has always been commonly used in the healing of multiple PHYSICAL ailments. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan takes pity on the robbed, beaten, and afflicted individual and one of the ways he helps him is by “pouring oil and wine” on the man’s wounds (Luke 10:34). Since James knew of the medicinal uses for olive oil, we can conclude that he encouraged the believers to seek the Lord and trust Him while also using the things He has already put at our disposal to help us.
James put the onus on the individual who is sick to be the one to contact the elders of the church and ask them for prayer and also practical help. In fact, he put the onus on everyone he talks about in this section to take the lead on the change. Too often today, people are desperate for others to pay attention to them and for others to pray for them when they aren’t even willing to seek God in prayer themselves. Many others simply won’t ask for help due to their own pride, something James has already repeatedly addressed in his letter. Heeding the words of James, the appropriate response to any trouble, joy, or sickness is to first individually seek the Lord and His grace, then make it public and invite others to pray for and help us. I urge you to follow James’ instructions so that you are no longer forfeiting the peace that comes through trusting the Lord, the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
by Logan Ames
For years, I’ve heard friends of mine talk about putting money into their “swear jar." Now, I can’t honestly say that I have ever actually seen a swear jar at the home of anyone I knew, but it became somewhat of a popular assertion to suggest paying a swear jar in an effort to punish oneself for foul language and hopefully eradicate it from one’s vocabulary. It sounds like a good idea in theory because having to relinquish money for a mistake generally makes a person think about it a bit more (think of how much you began to watch your speedometer more closely immediately following your first speeding ticket). But, if no one else has control or access to your jar and the money goes back to you anyway, it’s an exercise in futility.
The subject of swearing is certainly addressed in the New Testament, but it has very little to do with what our current society recognizes as “curse words." To be clear, Paul writes against “unwholesome talk” in Ephesians 4:29 and directs believers to avoid any “obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking” in Ephesians 5:4. This means that the words which we commonly refer to as “curse words” are wrong in God’s eyes as well. However, the problem of swearing carried much greater consequences than mere bad words. James felt it was important enough to warn his audience about it in his letter to the early Christians. In James 5:12 he wrote, “Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. Otherwise you will be condemned.” His words are very similar to those of his older brother, Jesus, in Matthew 5:34-37.
This is a bit of a confusing topic in Scripture because while the verses in James and Matthew appear to prohibit all oaths, there are examples of Godly men all throughout the Bible who invoked the name of God as their witness to the truth of what they were saying. Just to give you examples from each Testament, Elijah did it regarding his proclamation that there would be no more dew or rain in 1 Kings 17:1, and Paul did it regarding his reasons for not returning to Corinth in 2 Corinthians 1:23. In addition, God Himself occasionally swears an oath. In Hebrews 6:13-14, the writer refers to the oath God swore by Himself to Abraham regarding the promise.
So then, what is the difference between those oaths and what James and Jesus were talking about? I believe the answer lies in the cultural context that we can’t see directly in Scripture. As David Guzik explains in his Enduring Word commentary on this verse, Jewish people of those days understood the difference between binding oaths and non-binding oaths. Oaths which invoked the name of God were considered to be “binding," while oaths that merely mentioned other things and did not mention God’s name were considered to be “non-binding." Many of the Jews, including those new believers who were part of the earliest church, used this distinction to their advantage. They could give the appearance of being serious about their statements while knowing they could easily ignore what they had originally said as long as they didn’t mention God’s name. It was the ancient version of “crossies."
If you pay close attention to the words of both James and Jesus, the non-binding oaths are what they are condemning. Swearing by heaven (the sky), the earth, one’s own head, a city, or anything else with the full intention of ignoring the oath would leave them in danger of condemnation. James simply tells believers not to do it, while Jesus explained in His words that God controls all of those other things, too. So, those who felt they were less responsible for honoring their word if they swore by things God created rather than the Creator Himself were sorely mistaken. Since all of those other things matter to God, one cannot simply swear an oath by them and think that God won’t care if it’s broken.
The bottom line in James’ warning is that those who consider themselves believers and followers of Jesus should always consider the impact of their words and ought to place high value on keeping one’s word. Anyone who has to rely on workers or volunteers in order to complete necessary tasks knows the frustration that occurs when someone doesn’t show up after committing to be there. In my own life, I have friends who I know I can count on to show up and work when they said they would, and I have other friends whose word simply cannot be trusted. But beyond my own evaluation of those friends, James declares that those who have to swear by something more than just giving their own words are actually betraying themselves. Their need to say more than a simple “Yes” or “No” reveals that their word is very weak. And those whose words cannot be trusted will be judged accordingly by the Almighty Creator.
If you have been someone who has gone back on your word so many times that you don’t even recognize when you’re doing it anymore, it’s time to stop and heed the warnings of both James and Jesus. You might think just because your society has gotten used to it that God and His people don’t care either. You might also think that trying to earn people’s belief in you by swearing some sort of oath is acceptable in God’s eyes. You must know that you could be in danger of eternity without God! Words matter to Him and anything you could swear to would reflect poorly on your character, and that character deficiency will be dealt with when Christ returns. I encourage you all to be men and women who are keepers of their own words and doers of the work of the Lord.
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by Logan Ames
When I was just seven years old, I had an experience that certainly shaped me going forward. My uncle was visiting us in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and our entire family decided to go to the local swimming pool and take him with us. My uncle was 48 years old at the time, which seems young to me now but back then I thought he was ancient. We were hanging around the deep end of the pool near the diving boards and my uncle decided to show off by going and doing a full front flip off the low dive. I remember being impressed, only to have my appreciation turn to fear when my dad and my uncle both challenged me to go and do the same thing off the high dive. I said, “No way," but they insisted that if my uncle could do a flip off the low dive at the age of 48, I should be able to do the same thing off the high dive at my age. Well, seven year-old Logan wasn’t about to take that from anyone, so he was going to show them that he isn’t a chicken and will step up and complete the challenge. I proceeded to climb the ladder, take the ill-fated leap, and land directly on my back when I hit the surface of the water. The sound of my back smacking the water reverberated across the swimming complex and was only drowned out by my screams as I came back above the surface.
When I think back to that moment in my life, I learned that pride, stubbornness, and even arrogance were within me. Those were the traits that led me to give in to the pressure, even though they were mostly joking. I’ll point out that they both encouraged me and my dad helped me from the water even as I was in pain. Even though it was prideful to assume I could do what they said even with never having tried it before, I realize that at least part of my reason for going for it was my knowledge that my uncle had completed a similar difficult task before me. I was comforted, whether I recognized it at the time or not, by witnessing the success of someone else who abandoned safety and overcame fear to accomplish the goal.
Hindsight is always 20/20, and obviously I shouldn’t have followed their challenge or given in to peer pressure. But there is something inspiring and motivating to us when we watch someone else go through what we are about to go through and come out alive and well on the other side. This is especially true in ministry and in the Christian life. I have other pastors that I meet with regularly and even some long distance friends that I communicate with who have been through difficult experiences that I now face.
James understood the importance of looking at the examples of others when we are trying to endure the difficulties we face. I’m calling the examples “the faithful footsteps," but another appropriate name would be “the patient footsteps." James urges his readers to consider the patient examples of the prophets who are written about in our Old Testament and to also consider the whole life of Job as they are dealing with intense suffering (James 5:10-11). The prophets of old all suffered in some way for speaking the word of the Lord as they were commanded to do, and perhaps none suffered more than Jeremiah, who was put into stocks, thrown in prison, and later dropped into a cistern with no water and only mud.
Jeremiah is the one who came to mind when I first read these verses. We should consider his patience and obedience when we face sufferings or persecutions. He even lamented his condition to the Lord when he said that he is mocked and ridiculed all day long and that God’s word has brought him nothing but “insult and reproach” (Jeremiah 20:7-8). But even in the midst of his complaining, he remembered that proclaiming the word of the Lord was what he was born to do and that even if he were to try not to do it, he couldn’t. He said, “But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9). Jeremiah faithfully spoke the word of the Lord even when he knew it would lead to suffering.
James writes that the early Christians “count as blessed those who have persevered” (James 5:11). This statement has nothing to do with earthly blessing. The world looks at people like Jeremiah and the other prophets and concludes that they suffered for nothing since they met their end by the sword or other methods of persecution. Church tradition suggests that the latter part of Jeremiah’s life was spent in the foreign land of Egypt after he was taken there as a captive by King Johanan. It’s easy for mockers to assume that Jeremiah was not blessed, but James reminds us that our end in this life is the beginning of our blessed eternity with God in heaven. Death is not the failure of their perseverance, but the success and completion of it. As the early Christians were facing persecution, James used the example of the prophets to remind them that their perseverance is not yet complete, but that if they continue to endure and hold on, they will soon receive their eternal reward as well.
After reminding his audience of the prophets, James also brings up the life of Job. You’d have to read the entire book of Job to understand the big picture, but here’s a summary. In Job 1-2, the man who is very wealthy yet righteous is attacked by Satan, but God wants to use it as a test. Job loses everything, including his health, his property, his servants, his home, and his children. He refuses to curse God, which was the entire goal of Satan’s attacks, but as time goes on and he continues to deal with his misery, he does begin to question why God would allow all of this to happen in his life. God deals with him at the end of the story by reminding Job that he was not around when God created the earth’s foundations, filled up the seas, and told the morning when to shine (Job 38). He never actually gives Job His reasoning for the suffering but simply reminds him that Job is not even close to being on His level of understanding. Job realizes his mistake in even thinking he has a right to know God’s reasons, acknowledges it before God, and repents in dust and ashes (Job 42:1-6). The very end of the story tells us that God blessed Job twice as much as the early part of his life, and the specifics are given in Job 42:10-15.
It would be easy to assume that Job received his full reward for perseverance while he was still alive on this earth, but ask yourself, would you ever get over the death of your child or children, even if the Lord blessed you with more? I can think of a half dozen believers who I personally know right off the top of my head who have experienced the death of a child, including one pastor I know who has had to experience it TWICE. Many of these individuals have other children, some of whom were born after the earlier loss. I can assure you that they never get over it, even as they remain faithful and experience other blessings.
Even for a wealthy man like Job who received double the earthly blessing that he had before, it’s not even in the same ballpark as the reward he would receive upon his death. Only in heaven with our Lord does one escape the pains of this life. Be encouraged by James’ words today, knowing that regardless of the suffering you are facing now, there is an eternal reward coming in a place with “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4). If you are having a hard time persevering through the suffering, consider these examples of old, and commit to following in their faithful footsteps.
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by Logan Ames
When I was in high school, I had to wear braces on my teeth for close to two years. I was told that was late compared to many people, but it was especially problematic for me because I played football during my sophomore and junior years. I had to wear a special mouthpiece to deal with my braces, and if I ever got knocked around a little harder than usual, the braces could easily cut into the inside of my cheeks and cause bleeding. On top of this, I remember how painful it was when the braces were first put on and how painful it was later when they were first taken off. There was an adjustment period during which I had to endure the pain. As my United States Marine Corps brother likes to say, “Pain is weakness leaving the body."
Part of what has made my brother and I have a high tolerance for pain has been the attitude and perspective instilled in us at a very young age by our father. Anytime I would whine and complain about the pain associated with having braces, my dad would say something like, “Just remember, Logan, it’s temporary pain for lasting gain." I knew what he meant. The lasting gain of a nice smile would make the temporary pain of an uncomfortable mouth seem worth it. But when all I could SEE and experience was the pain, that statement was irritatingly unhelpful!
I’m sure you all can relate as you think back to a painful time in your life from your past, or possibly even some pain you’re dealing with now. Someone close to you is telling you it will be okay or that it will all be worth it in the end, and you just want them to leave you alone and let you sulk. Truthfully, your friend is right. We’re all susceptible to developing a complaining spirit when we’re in pain, but Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:11 that a sign of physical and spiritual maturity is putting childish thinking and childish ways behind us. As mature adults, especially those who follow Jesus as Lord, it is imperative that we always keep an eye on eternity.
James encourages his readers who are experiencing suffering, which could’ve been as a result of poverty, persecution, or oppression, to focus on the eternal reward that awaits them. This is a huge matter of faith and trust in the God who knows and sees everything when all we can see is what’s right in front of us. In James 5:7-9, taken with the previous verses in that chapter, it appears that James is writing to the poor brothers and sisters who have been swindled and oppressed by the rich and the greedy. He urges them to be patient during the affliction they are facing “until the Lord’s coming” and uses the example of a farmer who waits for his crops to further illustrate the point. A farmer cannot control the entire process and he cannot know with certainty when his land will finally yield the valuable crop it’s supposed to be yielding. All he can do is work hard, take care of the things that are within his control, and then wait. He waits patiently for the rains in autumn and spring because he knows they will mean that the harvest is near. The farmer knows it’s not a matter of IF the rains come, but a matter of WHEN. In the same way, the believer and follower of Jesus knows it’s not a matter of IF He will return, it’s a matter of WHEN.
Because of the knowledge of Christ’s impending return, mature believers have good reason to “be patient and stand firm” (James 5:8). Being patient in the midst of pain simply means to endure it without complaining. When I’m impatient with my loved ones or in the middle of traffic, I generally have that complaining spirit and it’s like I’m dumbfounded that the rest of the world is not operating on my schedule and according to what is in my best interest. In those moments, I’m convinced that I could have patience if everyone else did what they are supposed to do and everyone treated me fairly. In other words, I could be patient and stand firm in my faith as long as I never experienced anything to test my patience or shake my faith!
Anyone who follows Jesus and tries to live as a disciple of Him can be certain of difficulties from now until the time of the Lord’s coming. It’s not possible for one to take an honest look at Scripture and see it any differently. Jesus Himself told His followers, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). It wasn’t a prediction; it was a promise! Later, after the Apostle Paul was stoned and dragged out of the city of Lystra and left for dead, he and Barnabas concluded, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). They rightly understood that if their ultimate inheritance and gain was to be with Jesus in the kingdom, then they had to be willing to suffer on this earth to get there.
Unfortunately, many people today, even Christians, are looking for the easiest possible path to receive the greatest possible gain. I’ve spoken to potential leaders and pastors over the years who are only willing to go through formal training and education if it’s relatively easy. My friends, this is the opposite of how God does things! There were even some individuals when I was in seminary who were caught plagiarizing, which is a form of cheating. Anyone who has been in full-time ministry knows that it can be very difficult, and that taking the easy path to get there will only set you up for failure and disappointment once you have the title or position.
At a recent small group Bible study, my friends and I discovered a striking difference between the Israelites in the half-tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim (together the “people of Joseph”). The story is found in Joshua 17:12-18. The people complain to Joshua that he didn’t give them enough land for all their people as he is doling out the allotments of the Promised Land to each tribe. They claim to be a “numerous people," but Joshua challenges them to go and drive out the Canaanites and take the land for themselves, IF they are as great as they think they are. Even though they are far more numerous than the native peoples AND God has promised to give them the land, they respond by telling Joshua that the Canaanites there have chariots fitted with iron. In other words, they want Joshua to give them more land, but they are not willing to do the hard work and endure the little bit of suffering required to earn it. In contrast, Caleb is an 85-year-old man who, in Joshua 14:10-12, is willing to go to battle to take possession of the land he and his family are being given and to go through whatever pain is necessary, even battling the Anakites who were literal GIANTS, in order to receive the gain he wanted. He had this boldness because he knew the Lord would help him (v. 12). Because of his willingness to depend on the strength of the Lord to accomplish whatever God set him apart to do, he is described in Joshua 14:14 as following the Lord “wholeheartedly."
Is your faith wholehearted like Caleb, or half-hearted like the people of Joseph? That question can be answered by considering how much you are willing to endure any pain that is associated with receiving the gain that is coming your way when Jesus returns. James knows that when we are not willing to go through a little bit of pain and we are about to give up, that is when we lose patience and even begin to grumble with one another. We expect someone else to fix it for us. James says we cannot do this because we are opening ourselves up to God’s righteous and holy judgment (James 5:9). Instead of blaming others for our suffering, let’s all commit to encouraging one another to endure it as part of the process of receiving the eternal gain that awaits us. May God bless you as you patiently persevere!
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
by Logan Ames
Anyone who is even a marginal fan of The Shawshank Redemption should know what comes immediately after the phrase in the above title: “AND THAT RIGHT SOON." That sentence just about sums up the plot of what is, in my opinion, one of the top five movies of all time. Andy Dufresne is the intelligent banker who is erroneously convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover and sentenced to life behind bars at Shawshank Prison. Warden Norton is the man who runs Shawshank with abuse, corruption, and dishonesty all while pretending to care about the inmates and quoting favorite passages of Scripture as if he follows it. When he learns of Andy’s financial prowess, he realizes he can take advantage of it and use Andy to “cook the books” to the warden’s direct benefit. Warden Norton gets rich while the innocent Dufresne gets nothing more than a few minor privileges for his forced participation in the crimes.
Every night when Dufresne is done with the paperwork, he has to put it in a safe that is behind a picture on a wall. The picture has a design along with the word, “His judgment cometh, and that right soon." Warden Norton sees it as a reminder to Dufresne and others not to cross him or challenge him, because he has the authority within Shawshank to pronounce judgment on his prisoners. Dufresne, however, knows that he has something very special planned for Norton that he is preparing for 19 years. He bides his time and endures many unfair hardships, trusting that the true, righteous judgment will pounce on the unjust soon enough. When the time comes and he escapes from Shawshank with proof of all of the warden’s crimes, the warden and his minions can no longer hide from the judgment that is coming soon.
The fictional story portrayed in this great movie is pretty close to what James had in mind when he warned the rich about the judgment that awaited them in his letter to the early church. The biggest difference is that Andy Dufresne accomplished his own revenge and justice on the warden this side of heaven, while James urges the oppressed and mistreated to trust in the God who says, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay” (Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19). James understood that in his day, there were many wealthy individuals who had neither earned their riches nor received them from God, but they had swindled and manipulated their way to affluence. In James 5:1-6, he wanted to make sure they understood, as they continued to revel in their dishonest gain, that God was not pleased with them and would not overlook their oppressive actions unless they repented.
It’s not that being rich is a bad thing automatically. Jesus definitely had some followers who were pretty well-off, including Zaccheus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Barnabas. However, if you go back and read each of those men’s stories in the Gospels and in Acts, you see that their wealth did not stand in the way of their obedience to Christ. Zaccheus was a tax collector who no doubt ripped people off, but when Jesus came to his house, he repented and agreed to pay back anyone for what he had cheated them, plus interest, and he also gave half of his remaining possessions to the poor (Luke 19:1-10). Joseph of Arimathea, who may have been among the Jewish authorities, owned a new tomb cut out of rock and used it to bury Jesus’ body for just a couple of days because that’s all was needed (Matthew 27:57-60). Barnabas owned a huge piece of land, but he sold it and gave the money to the Lord’s work in the early church (Acts 4:36-37). In the Old Testament, Job was one of the wealthiest men of all time, but he loved God more than his riches and didn’t hesitate to worship Him even when everything was lost.
Rest assured that you can still follow Jesus and obey him even if you are wealthy. The question is, how much do your riches mean to you? Who did you have to step over or step on to get them? If God is calling you to abandon it all for a life of service to Him, are you willing? James specifically addressed some individuals who only focused on what they could gain in this life and not on treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20). He urges them to weep and wail because the riches they have treasured are going to disappear very soon and they’ll have nothing left (James 5:1-2). Their condition before God will actually be even worse than that. What could be worse than losing everything to moth, rust, and corrosion? James tells them: “Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days” (James 5:3). The point here is that on the day of judgment, it will be revealed that they did not concern themselves with the things of God but instead lived their lives arrogantly independent in the way James just condemned at the end of chapter 4 (see last week’s post).
Anyone who focuses solely on earthly treasures, whether by intention or a lack of care for God and others, should heed the warning in this section of James’ letter. By nature, we all seek comfort and try to avoid suffering, and we know that riches do alleviate some suffering for a little while. But if we really understand the judgment and eternal suffering that could be coming our way, it’s a no-brainer where our efforts should be focused during the short time we have here. English commentator John Trapp said, “Better weep here, where there are wiping handkerchiefs in the hand of Christ, than to have your eyes whipped out in hell. Better howl with men than yell with devils."
While James directs his warning toward the rich in this section, his words are also a comfort to the poor, especially those who have been cheated by the wealthy. In those days, the poor were willing to work wherever they could find it. Those who were wealthy enough to own land would hire workers to tend it. When the work was done and it came time to pay up, the laborers had no recourse if the landowners would choose not to pay. The rich would occasionally take advantage of the lack of accountability and either pay the worker less than the agreed upon wages or just not pay them at all. James has this travesty in mind when he writes, “The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty” (James 5:4). In other words, the rich might think they are getting away with their oppression, just like Warden Norton thought he was getting away with his crimes. But as Numbers 32:23 assures us, “You can be sure that your sin will find you out." The “Lord Almighty” could be more accurately translated “Lord of hosts." He is the God of angel armies and He’s got a whole fleet - though He needs no one else - that is ready to take the fight to anyone who oppresses another.
I think we can all be honest and admit that we don’t want to find ourselves in a fight against God and all His angels. That’s not going to end well for any of us. For this reason, it would seem to be in our best interest to make absolutely certain we are not cheating anyone else in order to succeed in the world’s eyes, and also that we are doing everything we can to assist those who are in need. If we stand before God and all we have to show for our time on this earth is a bunch of “stuff” that is corroded and destroyed, then the judgment we assumed we’d never face is coming our way. Since we never know how “soon” it’s coming, let’s make an effort to store up treasures in heaven, starting today!
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
by Logan Ames
One of our most beloved words in the English language is “deserve." No, I haven’t taken a poll of any sort, but I am making that judgment based solely on the sheer volume of people I’ve come across in my life who complain about not getting what they feel they have a right to have. When I worked at Hershey’s Chocolate World as a teenager, I occasionally had the job of handing out FREE miniature candy bars to people after their completion of the FREE tour ride. It always amazed me when, every so often, a person would walk up and ask if we had a specific kind he or she likes and if the answer was “no," that person would walk away complaining. Sometimes, I just wanted to ask, “What’s wrong with you people? It’s FREE!” As I’ve gotten older, I’ve witnessed more and more adults applying the “I deserve it” attitude to jobs, promotions within their agencies or companies, and benefits or rewards for their hard work.
At the heart of this attitude is an arrogance that assumes we deserve anything that we have in the first place. It’s the opposite of the humility that James encourages throughout his letter to the early church. He writes in James 4:13-17 that we should never live our lives without knowledge of the reality that our entire existence depends on God. We’ve just recently celebrated our nation’s Independence Day here in the U.S. It’s the time of year that we display our pride as a country that defeated its oppressors and has maintained its freedom and independence from any other nation ever since. God has blessed us with these freedoms. However, notice that we have no day on our calendar when we celebrate or remember our dependence on God. Maybe I’ll start writing to Congress and the president and suggest it. For Christians, we can certainly say that our National Day of Prayer, which is annually the first Thursday in May, fits that bill. But it’s probably not something the nation as a whole or even our leadership will ever agree to enact. Why? Because, as human beings, we all generally resist any insinuation that we are not in control!
James has some cold, hard truth for those who still think they deserve everything they have, and I’m sure his words were quite challenging to his intended audience of boastful Jews in the early church. He doesn’t mince words. Instead, he declares, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). In the big picture, we are only here a fraction of the time and that is why he says we ought not be walking around saying all the things we are going to be doing tomorrow or next year in another city apart from God’s will because we don’t even know if we’ll be given tomorrow (James 4:13-14). James is not against making plans; he is against making plans outside of the will of God, with absolutely no consideration for what the Creator of the universe might want you to do with the life He has given you.
Francis Chan, in a video Bible study shown on Right Now Media, relates James’ statement about the vanishing mist to the steam that comes off of a tea kettle that is only there for a few seconds or minutes until it is gone. True humility is learning to see ourselves this way compared to a God on whom we depend for each day and every breath we take. If you aren’t certain that our very breath comes from God, I encourage you to read the Creation accounts at the beginning of the Bible. Genesis 2:7 tells us that “the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Without the breath that God gives us directly from Himself, we are nothing but lifeless clumps of skin and body parts.
James believes that this realization should make us consider the Lord’s will in everything we do. He writes that we should say “if it is the Lord’s will” before or after each plan that we say we will carry out (James 4:15). Now, I’ve never read this verse to mean that we must actually say those words before every mundane task we plan out. I don’t think I need to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, I’m going to make bacon and eggs in twenty minutes." What James is describing here is an attitude that accepts that not even the next twenty minutes are guaranteed. Charles Spurgeon said, “There are two great certainties about things that shall come to pass - one is that God knows, and the other is that we do not know." The ones to whom James wrote were talking about their future plans with no regard for what the Lord wanted. They not only considered their future something they knew about, but they also primarily saw their future as an opportunity to travel more and make more money (v. 13). It was all about themselves and what they desired.
There are actually two issues addressed by James in this section, one being the sovereignty of God and the other being our submission to Him. Many believers accept that God is sovereign over everything yet still live as if He is not. We might chalk it up to enjoying our “independence," but the best life is to admit dependence on God and seek to please Him in whatever we do and wherever we go. Once we’ve accepted the fact that He is sovereign, the only logical response is to ask, “What does He want from me?” Since some of the early believers did not demonstrate such an attitude, James wanted them to know that their attitude of independence was actually sinful. He referred to it as arrogance and said that the type of boasting that ignores the need for God is evil (James 4:16). Most of us probably don’t realize it’s that big of a deal to talk about our life goals and plans without first considering the Lord. We don’t recognize it because it is so common. Nevertheless, it is something that God clearly opposes, according to James 4:6 and many other passages in Scripture. If you live your life apart from God’s will, you cannot expect Him to bless it.
James concludes this section of his letter with another statement we don’t typically think about. He says in James 4:17, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." Most believers are familiar with all the sins of COMMISSION, meaning the person chose to do something that is wrong in God’s eyes. Here, James says there are also sins of OMISSION. Since sin just means to “miss the mark," we can miss the mark God has planned for us because we are choosing not to do what we know we’re supposed to do. This is a lack of submission to God and His will. James 1:27 tells us we must look after orphans and widows in their trouble. Jesus tells us all the things we must do to be considered his followers in Matthew 25:31-46, and our salvation depends on it! These and many other Scriptures regarding good things we must do are not even debatable. Yet, so many believers arrogantly ignore them in favor of wanting to “do their own thing."
Friends, if you have been ignoring God’s will for your life, it’s time to recognize His sovereignty and live in submission to Him. He will equip you for anything He calls you to do, if He hasn’t already equipped you. Get rid of all the other goals in your life that are independent from God and choose, like Paul in Acts 20:24, to simply aim to complete the task God has given you. That’s all that really matters beyond this life anyway.
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
by Logan Ames
Because of my former position as an investigator for child abuse and neglect cases at the county level in Ohio, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know several judges pretty well. The judges I came to know worked hard for many years and demonstrated good judgment at lower levels of the court system in order to rise to the positions they held when I knew them. They went through all of the necessary steps to be counted worthy of pronouncing judgment on others within their jurisdiction. Regarding matters of law, these judges are far from amateurs.
With all of that being said about those tremendous judges, they are all part of a system which takes into account that they sometimes fail or execute poor judgment. There is an appeals process that can reverse or uphold any decision they make. So, though they may be far from amateurs, they are also far from perfect. I even remember several cases where the deciding judge in the courtroom where I was sitting openly admitted to the defense attorney that his decision may give the attorney grounds for an appeal. Those who have to judge others for a living know that it is absolutely impossible to get it right every time, so they carefully gather the evidence and make the best decision they can.
We live in a society today where many people do the exact opposite. They have no formal training or experience, have not taken any steps necessary to earn the right to pronounce judgment on others, gather little or no factual evidence, and still routinely make judgments regarding others, believing they have a perfect track record. Just who are these individuals I speak of? There is a good chance we’ve all been in that “judge’s seat” at some point in time. But, with the age of social media, 24-hour news coverage, and presumptive reporting by news outlets, the rise of such “amateur” judges has taken us by storm.
In the past eight months, I’ve witnessed examples of people rushing to judgment on social media in two cases that made local news headlines but had to do with people who I know personally. My wife and I have close friends who tragically lost their child to a dog attack. When the story was released, and before anything else was known, people immediately jumped on social media and declared that the dog must have been known to be vicious and the parents must not have been paying attention. The vitriol spewed by some people on social media toward individuals they didn’t even know really opened my eyes to how easy it is for any of us to judge. Then, just recently, a pastor I’ve known for over 15 years was arrested and charged with a despicable crime. The evidence that led to his arrest was plastered on every news network, and the social media “heroes” came out in full force again. The word “monster” was used to describe this man and others said “there is a special place in hell reserved for him." He deserves to face the consequences of his actions, but obviously no one can judge his eternal state. Furthermore, having known the man for so long, the word “monster” did not cross my mind even after I found out what he did. Instead, I felt more sorry for his family and disappointed that he allowed the sin to continue in his life.
While those comments led to a different reaction for me than usual since I knew the individuals being accused, truth be told, I probably would’ve had similar thoughts as those “amateur judges” if there had been no personal connection. Like anyone, I read the headlines and a few “facts” reported in the stories and then make up my mind who was right, who was wrong, and who should’ve been paying better attention. But James 4:11-12 makes it clear to us that this is unacceptable. James just finished a section of his letter on the proper humility before God, so now he is discussing what that humility looks like in ACTION towards other human beings. He writes that those who have truly repented and humbled themselves before God ought not to be slandering one another, for that would suggest that one had not truly humbled himself.
James explains that speaking against a brother or sister is the same as judging them, and to judge them puts oneself in the place of God. If you live as if you’re in the place of God, how can you ever say that you’ve humbled yourself before Him? James says, “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy" (verse 12). Compared to God, every human being is an amateur judge. Only God knows the heart of the individual being judged. When we make snap judgments based on very limited information, we’re basically willfully choosing to stick to our opinions rather than get to know people. In verse 11, the command to not slander other believers comes from the Greek katalalia, which carries the idea of gossiping about someone around others when the person is not able to be there to defend himself. James says this cannot be in a group of followers of Jesus. We should be defending one another and building one another up instead of speaking evil about each other behind the scenes.
It would do every one of us well to remember that the only One who can see everything, hear everything, and know everything is God Himself! That’s why He is the only acceptable Lawgiver and Judge. The rest of us are judging with limited information and evidence. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:12 that believers should judge one another’s actions. He says this in response to the open sin in the Corinthian church and the fact that the church leaders were allowing it to continue. Paul’s command to judge those inside the church may seem contradictory to James’ words, but we have to remember that Paul’s reason for judging is so that the man’s spirit will be saved on Judgment Day (1 Corinthians 5:5). In addition, Paul is talking about judging immoral actions, while James is writing against judging a person’s heart or character and then gossiping about it.
Since anyone but God who judges a person’s character and heart is doing so as an “amateur” with no true gift of discernment, we ought to be very careful. We also ought to be compassionate and gracious toward others. And lastly, we must remember that God will use the same measure of judgment against us that we use against others (Matthew 7:1-2). If you want to be judged with grace and mercy, it’s time to show it toward others. Begin with those closest to you like your spouse, children, or friends. Then let it flow out to all you encounter.
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by Logan Ames
Whether you are knowledgeable regarding Old Testament wisdom literature or are a big fan of late ‘60s rock music, you are probably familiar with the saying, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." If the Bible interests you, those words can be found in Ecclesiastes 3:1. Even if it does not interest you, just turn on your local oldies station on the radio and you may hear almost identical lyrics in the classic from The Byrds called “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)." Both the song and the Scripture mention some of those specific activities for which there is a season, including “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). It seems pretty clear that the writer sees laughter and dancing as the clear opposite of weeping and mourning.
In the New Testament, James sees things the same way and writes about a time when weeping and mourning is most appropriate. In James 4:6-10, he’s giving a step-by-step process of coming to the necessary position of humility before a holy and righteous God. After writing in the previous verses that some believers are allowing their selfish desires for whatever pleases them to affect how they treat one another and their relationship with God, he turns our focus toward what God does for us anyway. While we are enemies of God due to our spiritual adultery and evil deeds (James 4:4 and Colossians 1:21), God gives us grace. In fact, it says He gives MORE grace. Do you know why God gives us more grace when we are His enemies? It’s because we NEED more grace when we are His enemies!
God is always pursuing us, but what we receive from Him is directly related to our attitude. James quotes from Proverbs 3:34 and declares that God stands in opposition to those who are prideful but shows favor (that’s what grace is, by the way) to the humble (James 4:6). Think about why this would be. The humble heart recognizes its desperate need for God’s grace. The proud heart demands that God bless it on the basis of that person’s own merits, whether they are real or imagined. When James writes that God “opposes” the one who is proud, it literally means that He sets Himself in battle against that person. Picture “Lieutenant Dan” in the movie Forrest Gump when he is challenging God to a fight in the middle of the crazy storm, only it’s God who is calling YOU out if your attitude is proud. You don’t have to challenge Him because He is already prepared to let you have it.
There generally isn’t a better way than that to deal with pride. It has to be destroyed, and the proud person has to be knocked down a few notches. It’s what is often referred to as “eating a slice of humble pie," only God usually gives us a lot more than a slice. This is because pride is the natural enemy of grace. A proud person cannot receive the “more grace” no matter how much God wants to give it due to the inability to recognize his need. James explains that, in view of God’s stance toward the proud, we must submit ourselves to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). Charles Spurgeon had some interesting thoughts about this verse, recognizing that so many have it backwards - submitting to the devil while resisting God. Spurgeon said, “If he were a tyrant it might be courageous to resist, but since he is a Father it is ungrateful to rebel."
Those who don’t accept the Father’s free gift of grace or who use it as a license to keep sinning are like spoiled children who can no longer even recognize the precious gifts given by their parents and now act as if they are owed whatever they desire. Many of those people would argue that they submit to no one, but Spurgeon later said that even now, we are all submitting one way or another. He declared that if we refuse to submit to God, we are submitting to the devil. He added, “If you do not submit to God you will never resist the devil, and you will remain constantly under his tyrannical power. Which shall be your master, God or devil, for one of these must? No man is without a master” (Spurgeon).
Some of you feel like you are resisting the devil all the time and with all your might every day, yet you are still losing your battle. First, I want to remind you that even though James says the devil will flee from us if we resist him, that doesn’t mean he’ll never come back! The devil runs from the name of Jesus, but as soon as we start fading away from our Savior due to laziness or circumstances or whatever else drives us away, the devil comes back. Even Jesus didn’t get done with devil as soon as He resisted him the first time in the wilderness. Luke 4:13 says, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." When was that “opportune time” when Satan came BACK to keep tempting Jesus? Was it every time a Pharisee mistreated Jesus or tried to plot his murder? Was it when he hung out with sinners and prostitutes who no doubt offered Jesus opportunities to engage in their depravity with them? Was it when all of his disciples left him? I’m sure the devil tried to tell Jesus how worthless He was and how nobody even cared if He lived or died. How about the Garden of Gethsemane? I’m almost certain Satan was there as Jesus perspired drops of blood, and he was probably at all of these other moments as well.
James gives us more instructions regarding our humility when he tells us to “come near to God” (4:8), but he also adds that God will come near to us when we seek Him. This is not a one-time thing. Every time we are struggling with resisting the devil, we must draw near to God. Again, this is a mark of humility. A prideful person believes he can just keep resisting sin. He has made his own willpower an idol. But a humble person recognizes the struggle and tell himself, “Unless I draw near to God, I stand no chance against the devil and his schemes." Then, based on that recognition, he gets up and seeks the Lord in prayer, worship, and the Word, just to name a few common ways to draw near to Him.
All of the above instructions from James are what separate the character of a humble man from that of a proud man. But, perhaps the most important mark of true humility comes in James 4:9: “Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." When I used to read this, I’d wonder why James was such a downer. And if we take this one verse out of context, we’re left with those thoughts. That’s why we must read and understand the verse in context. James is writing about the humility we must have if we truly recognize the damaging impact of our sin and the amazing grace that God offers us. He wrote to people who seemed to be allergic to humility, people who claimed to follow Christ yet seemed joyful regarding their sin. It was like laughing in the face of God. His challenge to them was to humble themselves before Him, and to “grieve, mourn, and wail” over their sin and the offense it has been to the God who created them and loves them. In James’ view, this was truly the appropriate time for tears.
Friends, if the realization of your sin has never brought you to tears, I’d ask you if you ever truly realized your sin. I encourage you to appropriately humble yourself before God Almighty and repent of your sins to the point of tears that are not fake but come from a deep sense of the pain you’ve caused God, yourself, and others. As you humble yourself before Him, HE most certainly WILL lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6).
This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration. All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved. Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.
