Aug. 3, 2008
Background Scripture: James 1
Devotional Reading: Psalms 92:1-8

Commenting on the Letter of James, Dwight E. Stevenson writes: “Someone has recently suggested that some of us have been inoculated with a mild form of Christianity which makes us immune to a severe dose.”

James does seek to rid us of our complacency with that “mild form” of the gospel. It is not that this kind of person “possesses no Christian convictions; it is rather that his Christian convictions do not completely possess him.” James challenges us to give evidence of our convictions, not with words alone, but also deeds.

That is why James reads more like a sermon than a letter. In fact, there are at least 14 similarities between James and the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5,6 and 7. Of the l08 verses of James, there are around 60 mandates intended to help the reader to understand how we should live.

If we follow these imperatives, we will demonstrate that our faith is more than empty beliefs, more than a mild and ineffectual case of Christianity.

Gospel wisdom

There is also an affinity between James and the Bible’s wisdom writings, particularly the Book of Proverbs. James abounds in short, pithy, proverbial statements. For example:

•“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (1:2);

•“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him” (1:5);
•“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like the flower of the grass he will pass away” (1:9); and

•“Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God”  (1:19,20).

Another of his wisdom mandates is one of the best known and the major theme, not only of Chapter One, but of the whole letter: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (1:22).

The word of God that we hear in Sunday worship is of little consequence if we do not incorporate that word into our lives and make it the ground of our living. Those who only hear, but do not do, the faith are cursed with a mild form of Christianity, deceiving both themselves and others that they are followers of Jesus.
Wonderful words

I have been reading United Methodism At Forty, a kaleidoscopic report on what has taken place in the United Methodist Church since 1968 when the Methodists and my denomination, the Evangelical United Brethren Church, merged.

I have been struck with the impression that, while the UMC has – so far – survived a variety of destructive storms while losing numbers in almost every statistical category, the pronouncements of our quadrennial General Conference have become increasingly insightful and profound – reminding me of someone in the 1960s who said that as our crises become worse, our reports about them become better.

 The churches are gifted with wonderful words, but these can also be a curse when they become substitutes for deeds.
While to outsiders it may seem that the essence of being Christian is to argue to get the words “right,” in reality we are called to witness, not wrangle.

Having cautioned Christians to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only,” James follows with one of the many applications of that teaching: Misusing the tongue in a manner destructive to the gospel.

The faith that is all talk and nothing else is a religion in vain.
But, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflicting, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (1:26, 27).

To do it, not just talk about it, requires a serious case of Christian discipleship.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.