James 1:9-18
Remaining in the Way

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

New International Version

If we aren't careful, we can find ourselves reading this letter from James in the same way we read the book of Proverbs, as if each little nugget of wisdom is only marginally related to the ones around it. Many commentators tell us there is a greater truth in this book if we examine larger sections of James's letter and ponder how what seem to be separate thoughts interrelate with each other.

Before we can consider this larger passage, we need to consider differences of opinion between the interpretation of the words "trials" and "tempted". If we read the second and third paragraphs in the scripture above as unrelated teachings, we would interpret a "trial" as an experience that builds our faith, while a "temptation" would be something that lures us away from our faith. Likewise, God rewards us for coming through "trials", but God never "tempts" us. Many writers treat these two paragraphs as separate concepts, based on a contrast James appears to make.

However, the Greek words translated here as "trial" and "tempted" have the same root word, meaning "attempted" or "experimented". If we treat these two words as representing the same idea, I think we can tie the larger passage together in a strong progression. In the first paragraph, we are presented with ways people at opposite stations in life are tempted, telling us that everyone is tempted. In the second paragraph, those who grow stronger in resisting temptations of whatever kind receive God's blessings. In the third paragraph, we have a warning that defines the nature of temptation as coming from our own evil desires and leading ultimately to death. In the fourth paragraph, we have a contrast to our evil desires with God's good and holy desires for us.

I believe that James means for us to find very practical advice for living the Christian life in this section of his letter. The first of these is considering how God sees us rather than how we see ourselves. James' message for both the poor person and the rich person was fundamentally the same, that we have value because God values us, and not because of who we are. When James wrote this letter, he was the leader of the Jerusalem church, and so he fought against misconceptions in the Jewish community that people who were rich must have been specially blessed for their goodness. We don't have that misconception today, but we experience both the sinful pride and the personal belittling that James wrote about. We know that "pride goes before a fall", but so, too, does sin gain a stronger grip if we don't think we matter or that we can do any better. The Creator loves us, which makes us precious instead of unworthy, and which also dwarfs any greatness we think we have earned for ourselves.

All people have their weaknesses for temptation, and each of us will repeatedly be tested to see if we live out our faith or succumb to our weaknesses. James reminded us that the goal is to strive against the temptation, for when we come through the testing, God will reward us with the crown of life. For as long as we live this earthly life, we will be tempted, but our goal is to grow in our faith because of the temptation. God is not requiring us to be perfect, but to become perfect by relying on God.

Beware the specific weakness James identified in the rich man, who was so involved in his business that he failed to follow God! There is a stronger contrast in this passage than we perceive in English, because the Greek word used here for "business" is literally the word for "journey". The followers of Jesus at this time were called the followers of the Way, from John 14, when Jesus taught that He was the Way, or literally the Roadway. We are in danger of wandering off in our own pursuits rather than following the only road that leads to eternal life. We need a discipline that keeps us from being distracted onto side paths, and we need a sense of urgency that encourages us to follow the one Way.

We recognize throughout James' writing the chastisement when we do wrong, but we can miss James' encouragement for doing what is right. James tells us that, just like all temptation comes from evil, all that is good comes from God. God has chosen to bless us with eternal life, with a new birth. Even though we know that James was adamant about the evidence of our faith expressed in works, he was clear that it was the Will of God, and nothing that we do, that gives us good and perfect gifts from above. If we understand the Source of our blessings, and if we appreciate the gift of Life, and if we see that our ways are evil and God's Way is good, we will follow that Way with all of our being.