Radical Faith

As we have seen in our study of James, the author was concerned for how followers of Jesus responded to the political crisis in first-century Palestine. By extension, our own reaction to political events in our day is of the same significance. We cannot remove ourselves from life and life something akin to monasticism. We must be engaged in our communities and in the lives of our neighbors.

In John 17, the great prayer of Jesus on behalf of his followers is recounted. In that prayer, he prayed, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” Just as Jesus asked the Father, we are kept safe in this world as we serve Jesus. When being a witness demands we be active in the world of politics, we can be assured the Spirit of God will protect us in our pursuits. But, we must, for our part, insure our motives are what they should be. We must seek in all circumstances to be obedient to the Lord. His unfailing protection and care give us the security we need to be obedient even when obedience is dangerous.

Now, being politically involved was of secondary importance to James. Certainly, he wanted followers of Jesus to respond in the right manner to the pressures of their day, but to do so required more than keen political insight. To be a dedicated follower of Jesus in the political realm requires the same thing needed for being a committed believer in medicine, law, commerce, and all the other pursuits characterizing a culture. One must be a transformed follower of Jesus.

Reading the Epistle of James challenges us at the point of our personal priorities. James, in the manner of Jesus, required radical transformation in the lives of disciples of Christ. One cannot go through life casually oblivious to the complex issues we face. How we lived as a 16-year old is not adequate for life in the world as a 19- or 25-year old. We must change within if we are to be prepared for the ever-increasing demands of life. We must give thought to who we are, what is important to us and what God demands of us.

Sunday, we will look intently into the 2d chapter of James. For most students of the Book of James, their focus has been on what most see as a divergence by James from the teachings of Paul about faith. Personally, I do not believe James was giving a lot of thought to what Paul had to say about faith. What James was confronting was false faith and religious faith. James was concerned for his readers to see faith as the basis for obedient service to Jesus and not as the reason for ritual observance of the Law.

James saw faith as the springboard into a deepening relationship with God and as the foundation for relationships among believers. As we read the 2d chapter of James, we can observe James’s impatience with those believers who betrayed their faith in Jesus by showing preferences within their worshiping fellowship. Further, he was even more bothered by those who saw religious observance of the Law as the most significant expression of faith.

The first command of the Law James quoted was the same one Jesus used in answering the question of a lawyer. The question was, “"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus answered, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt. 22.37-39)

For James, loving God, and expressing trust in Him required complete obedience to the Lord and a total commitment to one’s neighbors. Only when we have been radically transformed by grace can we truly serve God. All the other stuff, tithing, church attendance, etc., are just manifestations of our faith; these acts are not the essence of faith. The believing Jews to whom James wrote were stumbling in their faithful obedience. The unbelieving Jews were convinced their ritual observance of the Law was good enough. James wanted both groups to see the true meaning of radical faith and obedience.

What we must decide what kind of persons we are. Are we the one who looks into the mirror of the Law and goes away unchanged, or the one who looks into the perfect Law, the Law of Liberty and is radically transformed. (James 1.22-25)