Day 16 (For Real). James 1.

We've all had one of "those days". You know when everything seems scattered, you face spiritual battles everywhere, and it's hard to stay focused. We've all had them. But James is writing to an audience who knew more about that than many of us ever will; the Jews dispersed and living in unsure times, away from their homeland, yet still thriving in their faith.

In the middle of addressing this group, he makes a bold and striking statement. He doesn't salve their wounds, offer them a promise of deliverance, or vendecate their anger. Nope, he flips the script in verse 2:

Hardships aren't fun. Suffering isn't heroic, but is one of the most powerful tools God uses to bring about the purification of His children. Like a Divine blacksmith, He uses heat and pressure to strengthen, refine, and shape us into the image of His Son.

This is a concept which has escaped the modern West for some time. Our culture is geared around comfort and avoiding hardship at all costs. We've been deceived into thinking the "good life" is the easy life. James begs to differ. He would say ...

Trials aren't a threat to our faith, but reveal its true depth and strength. When our lives are upended or unstable, like James' audience, it's easy to fall into the temptations of the flesh, whether feeling sorry for ourselves, entertaining anger and bitterness, or relying on our own strength  instead of God's provision and Grace.

But James asserts temptation doesn't actually come from outside, from other sources, but are planted and germinating in the soil of our very own hearts. He gives us a formula (and you know I hate formulas) that is helpful in understanding how sin takes hold in our hearts.

Sin doesn't ambush us, it grows where we allow it to take root. But James doesn't meet us with condemnation and shame, he offers us a wakeup call. He gives us razor sharp vision into the battlefield in front of us, like spiritual night vision goggles in an ever-darkening landscape of pitfalls and traps for the soul.

And just like that, as if he could sense we would muster our finest argumentation, steeped in offense, he hits us with verses 19-20:

Again, taking James' admonition to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, and heading his warning about anger would de-escalate much of the outrage we see in professing Christian social circles today.

Somehow we've been convinced if we are loud enough, angry enough, or offended enough, then maybe we will "win" the culture war ... a war we were never asked to fight. I read somewhere that ...
 

The kingdom doesn’t grow through clenched fists, but through transformed hearts.

Which is why he places a premium on obeying the Word as noted above. Unread Bibles do no more to transform our hearts than disobeyed commands. I say it all the time ...

James doesn't call us to a faith "sounds right", but a faith that lives right. Faith present in trials, faith which leads to endurance, overcomes temptation, and rejects anger and outrage as a spiritual strategy. He calls us to obey the Word, not just agree with it.