Theological Commentary: Click Here
James is a
very harsh book. James clearly comes
from a legal upbringing, meaning that he takes a serious Jewish Law bent on
most things. That doesn’t make him bad
or wrong, but it is important to remember that for context and perspective.
Furthermore,
James is writing in a time and to a people that are accustomed to
persecution. After Jesus’ death, the
Jewish leaders sought to drive Christianity out of Jewish lands, and especially
out of Jerusalem. When the Jews upset
the Romans, the Romans persecuted the Jews in return, lumping the Christians
into that category. By the time Nero
gets on the scene, Christianity is outright persecuted. This era of persecution is the background for
James’ letter.
Therefore,
it is no surprise at all that James says we should embrace persecution for the
testing it brings. We should be joyful
when we are persecuted for the faith.
The logic is a bit twisted, but it is absolutely sound. Nobody enjoys conflict, especially the side
of the persecuted! However, the fact
that one is being persecuted for something like faith means that the person has
faith to begin with! One cannot be
persecuted for being filled with faith unless one is actually faithful.
This is why
James says we should consider it joy. We
shouldn’t look forward to being persecuted; that is just masochistic. We should embrace that our faith is present,
real, and being noticed by others!
Persecution for our faith is evidence of it!
The rest of
this chapter then talks about perspective.
We shouldn’t blame God for our trials.
After all, our trials come from our own consequences. When we are persecuted because of our faith,
which as I just said is a good thing, it is our choice! When we are persecuted by our own sinful
choices, that is also our choosing.
God is never
to blame for our consequences, we are.
In fact, the opposite is true. God
is to be praised when in the midst of our consequences God joins us to walk
with us through our consequences.
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