Family Chapel

Waiting and enduring well with full integrity of faith until the end is something that we are not to do alone. We need accountability and help in times of need. And the best way to provide both is in prayer. We need to actively pray for those who may not be well, and we need to persistently seek to turn back those who may be straying. In this way, we will help each other live a life consistent with our faith that endures to the end.

We hate waiting and we're terrible at waiting. But far from being a passive activity, waiting requires active intentionality. And here, James points out that we can faithfully wait by looking forward to Christ's return, by looking towards one another with kindness, by looking back at God's faithfulness, and by looking to hold on to our integrity. In this tough season of waiting, may we wait well!

With prophetic fury, James condemns "the rich" (the wicked wealthy) because they have trusted in money and power to save them, they have used money and power to take advantage of others, and they have lived selfishly with their money and power. In the face of such injustice, God promises to bring final judgment. As Christians who live entirely by grace, we are to instead be good stewards of the money and power that have been entrusted to us.

We all seek to make plans for our lives, but there is a right approach and a wrong approach to planning our lives. Rather than having an attitude of arrogant self-sufficiency, Christians should place humble dependence on God’s sovereignty, which brings freedom from tomorrow’s worries and strength for today’s obedience.

In the midst of life that is hard and full of trials, God gives us something better than life - namely, Himself. In our trials, we discover the goodness of God, as we engage in disciplined, dogged pursuit, as well as remembrance and repetition. And we can know that God is better than life because He satisfies us and He strengthens us. May we lean into the God who is better than life!

Building off of last week's teaching, James continues to point out marks of an inconsistent life that are oppositions to a thriving community. In this passage, James is calling for repentance over the quarrels, conflicts, and slander plaguing their communities caused by double-mindedness and a divided heart. He then exhorts his readers to humble themselves and turn away from all worldliness, selfishness, and fleshly desires. Ultimately, we see James teaching that a thriving community is built by thriving people who humbly follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

We're always on the search for wisdom to make right decisions, but we have to make sure we're leaning into the right kind of wisdom. Here, James contrasts false wisdom with true wisdom. Unlike false wisdom which is self-seeking and results in a destructive life, true wisdom is godly character and results in a thriving life. Ultimately, for James, true wisdom doesn’t just lead to taking the right kind of actions, but it also leads to becoming the right kind of person. And for us as Christians, we ultimately become wise people as we follow after Jesus, in whom is found all wisdom.

As we have been learning, James is calling for consistency in our lives that shows evidence of genuine faith. He previously called for no partiality, care for the vulnerable, and a faith that works. And so another area where James calls for consistency is in our talk. He calls us to take care to control our tongue because it is so powerful. And in our current cultural climate that looks to demonize and ridicule (social media and news is exhausting and depressing), we are called to not use our speech to tear down, but rather to build up. And ultimately, this means to deal with our hearts, for out of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Rightly understanding the relationship between faith and works is crucial to a thriving life. Here, James outlines the important relationship between faith and works. First, faith apart from works is dead. Second, faith involves orthopraxy, not just mere orthodoxy. And third, works are the proof of genuine faith. A working faith will work. A faith that is alive will change your life.

In a heavy honor/shame culture (very similar to our Asian culture in a lot of ways), James teaches that we ought not to show partiality based on wealth and status because it violates the royal law of "loving your neighbor as yourself". Showing partiality shows a heart that stands in judgment over others rather than mercy. The challenge for us is to ask: are we truly treating everyone (even the most difficult and of no benefit to us) with the same love, honor, and respect?