Examining the Scriptures - James 1: Part 1 - Trials & Temptations

The first chapter of James (NIV, NAS, MSG) is one of those landmark passages in the Bible that exposes much about the Christian life. Many Christians can find themselves nodding when they read James because they know exactly what he's talking about. They have lived it because, as Hebrews 8 says, God has written His law on their hearts. It is a chapter with something in it for every Christian, and that's why I want to examine it here on my blog.

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.

James is writing to his fellow Christian Jews. They share the commonality of the old covenant and the fledgling faith in the new covenant. What stands out to me is that James isn't standing on his credentials here. He simply writes that he's a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't need to emphasize his experience or his education. He is simply a servant.

Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James starts his letter off with a bang! This is something that probably knocked the scribe off his perch when he first read it. Instead of crying foul and singing the blues over persecution and "trials of many kinds," James goes the other direction entirely. He doesn't just say to be willing to go through it, not just "don't worry, be happy." He says to consider it pure joy! Be as happy as you can be that you're going through a horrible time, because it makes your faith real. Like a muscle, faith has to be exercised to be useful. The more you exercise your faith, the stronger it becomes.

Anyone who has exercised knows that building up muscle is painful and difficult to put up with. Moreover, I've climbed mountains, and I know that only the most conditioned, seasoned veterans can make a serious effort to conquer Everest. The training takes years of work, but candidates for the climb endure it willingly because they want to be ready and able to go. They work to have the endurance to make it to the top. They have put in so many hours strengthening their bodies to endure the greatest challenge in climbing.

Unlike the Everest hopeful, however, the Christian exercising their faith does not have an summit in mind. Instead, James offers a mature and complete faith as the goal for the Christian, being ready for anything that comes. Our perception is extremely limited, and we are in no position to declare, "At last, I've arrived!" The moment we do, it's our undoing because either we let go of the training or we allow pride to set us up for a fall. This is why James immediately advises going to God for wisdom. Wisdom guards the Christian against these mistakes.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Faith leads to believing that God can do what He offers and promises. Doubt is essentially anti-faith. Where faith says, "I believe," doubt says, "I disbelieve." So those who believe in God need to go all-or-nothing. You can't have two minds about anything in life and expect to go anywhere or do anything of consequence. Someone like that will not make use of any gift he is given. God, Who knows our thoughts, won't give what won't be used.

Solomon is a great example. When God offered Solomon anything, he asked only for wisdom, and God greatly blessed him. Solomon would later make great use of the gift. Here the offer of wisdom from God extends to everyone in the faith. This is not the worldly wisdom, the cover-your-tail, get-all-you-can and can-all-you-get wisdom. It is godly wisdom that does not go forward in spite of the supernatural, it goes forward embracing the supernatural. It looks beyond the temporary illusion of this life toward the eternal, lasting and real. James illustrates to this transcendent wisdom in the next few verses.

9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Christians can make the error of believing that riches are a sign that God approves of a person's heart. On the other hand, we can also mistakenly believe that only the poor can be spiritual. James makes the point that riches and poverty are not good or evil of themselves, but each offers its own opportunity to move forward in the faith. The poor Christian develops faith by relying on God for daily providence and the rich Christian develops faith by looking beyond temporary riches and seeking God's eternal glory.

If it isn't good or evil, why does James link the poor with high position and the rich with low position? It seems that he is taking Matthew 23:12 into account when Jesus said, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." James views his world with the topsy-turvy glasses of the Kingdom and uses the irony of high vs. low to emphasize the difference between worldly and Kingdom perspectives.

James ties it all together in the last verse here,

12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

That is the result of our goal! We will have "arrived" only when we receive that crown of life. God makes the award to us when our time is over and we have completed the test. He is the ultimate judge and only He can give something that is eternal. Anything man gives is temporary. Even that Awana award you may have earned in the 5th grade is landfill material. The lasting, eternal award of life is what we truly crave, and we only get it when we've stood the test.

13 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James is trying to help us understand that while God allows us to be tested, He does not do the temptation. The desires of our hearts drag us away from God and entice us to sin. He doesn't point out Satan as the source of temptation, as dualism would have us believe. No, Satan is an accessory to the crime, not necessary for sin to come forward.

Christians can be lead into a time of testing just like the testing the Spirit led Jesus to face. Jesus had to stare down the darkest desires of His fully human heart and steadfastly resist those desires using the Word of God. He did not use his human strength, but God's strength, to resist the desire. Verse 15 paints a picture that every farmer, shepherd or parent can understand. Desire conceives sin and gives birth to it, and once sin itself is fully developed, it gives birth to death. Sin is something that seems good at the time, but when it plays out, yields death to the user. It's also necessary to point out that having desires is not sinful, but the act of entertaining those desires allows sin to be conceived. We are not sinful for having human desires for power, sex, money, etc. It is when we pay attention to those desires, when we feed and nurture those desires that we blunder forward into sin. Temptation toward death can't come from the same source as the source of life. Instead of God tempting us, God gives us gifts that lead toward life and love.

16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created.

The same God who created the sun is unchanging and constant, in other words, completely unlike the Greek gods of the time who saturated Mediterranean culture. Greek gods were capricious and arbitrary in their dealings with men. Instead, God persists in giving life to us, re-birthing us from death to life through the Gospel, making us the forerunners, the standard-bearers of the new heaven and new earth, crowned with this new life.

Stay tuned for part 2