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James 1:1-4 * Since we all live our lives by ‘faith’ (conclusions we have reached about life’s most important questions), what we are seeking is not ‘faith’, but “good faith”. * All of us desire a faith that’s authentic; a humble faith which has allowed us to be honest about our current condition, but has also expanded our vision for what the God-life can produce in us (i.e. more real, more in touch, more connected, more the people God intended us to be). I CANNOT BELIEVE, NOR CAN I ASK SOMEONE ELSE TO PUT THEIR FAITH IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THAT SEEMS TO GUARANTEE “LIFE AFTER DEATH”, BUT HAS NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON MY LIFE “BEFORE DEATH”. * The book of James is one of the most intensely practical books in the Bible. “Practical” because of its demands for a faith (belief system) which is authenticated through lifestyle. - He challenges a faith which is unable to withstand pressure, and even becomes resentful toward God for allowing such things to happen. - He confronts our attitudes toward wealth and the poor. - He challenges us to consider the viability of a faith which professes belief but is void of any deeds (lifestyle) to support such claims (“lifeless”). - He questions the heart which produces bitter, hurtful words on one occasion and sweet, refreshing speech on another. - He challenges an approach to life which makes presumes ‘tomorrow’ with no thought of God today. * What he is challenging is a “bumper sticker” approach to our faith. Jesus fish, “My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter”, “Jesus loves you and so do I”, “Follow me to church”, (or get out of my way), “Got Jesus”… “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”. That’s the equivalent of the Christian “Get Out of Jail Free” card! What it actually conveys is that I can be a Christian and live just like everyone else! * Most scholars would identify the author as the half-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:53-56), who himself, at first, did not believe anything to be unique about Jesus. James does not seek to establish a sense of notoriety through ‘name-dropping’, but simply refers to himself as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”. * James is writing to Jewish believers who had been scattered throughout various nations due to persecution or opposition. He writes to them, because under such pressure, many have realized the superficial or shallow nature of their faith. * We would assume that under such pressure, James would be more ‘sympathetic’, but he knew that’s not what they needed! He knew what was at stake. They needed to be reminded of the impotence of a faith that’s mere theory, but will not withstand experience. * Maybe your particular faith tradition introduced you to the children’s chorus, “If you’re saved and you know it”. IF YOU’RE SAVED AND YOU KNOW IT… …CLAP YOUR HANDS, … STOMP YOUR FEET, … SAY AMEN, THEN YOUR LIFE WILL SURELY SHOW IT! The “perfect Christian”… (tongue in cheek) “A person whose consistent and passionate (from the heart) pursuit of God is authenticated by increasingly practical and credible expressions of Christ-like character.” ILLUSTRATION: banana (when you go to the store, are you buying bananas or banana peels?) You just expect that what you see on the surface is consistent with what you can expect to find on the inside. * What’s being considered here is “integrity”… Integrity: literally, ‘completeness; wholeness’. The Hebrew word for peace, “shalom”, means everything fitting together… nothing missing, nothing broken. * Integrity is about having your outer life match your inner life. That what you see on the outside is an accurate portrayal of what’s on the inside. * One of the reasons why integrity is so rare in our society is that we have made it so easy to be hypocritical (it’s accepted that you can comfortably declare to hold a set of beliefs that has no hold on you!) (i.e. watching a reality show in which the young girl declared, “I’m not a Bible Christian. I believe what I believe, but I do what I do”.) That’s like saying, “I’m a swimmer, but not in the treading water way”, or, “I’m a marathoner, but not in the running way”. * It’s baffling at the very least, and self-deceptive at the very worst. * We’ve been taught, in so many ways, to ignore our heart. We’re offered endless options to keep ourselves “entertained” (lit. ‘to hold the attention of’); to keep ourselves pre-occupied with activity; to over-indulge so that if we’re not satisfied, at least we’ll feel full! (that kind of life is like a bad Chinese buffet… it wasn’t really good, but it filled me up! There was sure plenty of it!) * Or, maybe it’s because we don’t really expect our lives to be any different; or, we doubt that such a life is really possible in such a superficial society. Reflections… ► Integrity sweats the ‘small stuff’. In fact, it refuses to make the distinction because it sees everything as inter-related; it refuses to compartmentalize or categorize life. If we don’t, our lives will “disintegrate” (lit. ‘break up into smaller pieces); we become convinced that to deviate in one area of our life will in no way weaken or affect my desire for wholeness. ► Integrity expects that our lives will be unexpected! Do you ever get the feeling that unbelievers don’t really expect much of us anymore? They don’t really expect our lives to be any different from theirs? * Integrity not only understands that people are watching but actually invites people to imitate our way of life. 1 Corinthians 4:16 “… I urge you to imitate me”. 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ”. If we are people of integrity, others will be able to look past us to see God; if not, they’ll simply ignore him because of us! [In other words, people will either discover Christ because of us, or in spite of us]. ► Don’t settle for just looking like the real thing! Simply modifying our behavior will not allow us to realize the new life that Christ offered and anticipated. We realize that rules are merely an attempt to restrain what will eventually surface anyway! Ezekiel 36:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Philippians 2:13 “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (giving you the desire and the ability). * This is the divine-dimension of the change we desire (God working “inside-out”). He has not ‘scrapped’ his initial intentions for humanity to create something different, his work in us is about restoring us to better reflect the original. * The heart is the only place that God will be satisfied to occupy in your life because it’s vital and it’s real! (even if it’s flawed). ► Integrity allows you to do what you’re supposed to do without having to be told what to do! ► Integrity is not about being without sin (fault), just being without pretense. Integrity allows us to be the same person all the time! People of integrity readily admit that they are not yet the people they are becoming. That they are “forgiven”, but that there’s much more to the Christian life than that.
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