James Study - Leader

James connecting the dots

James writes to those in the dispersion – those who are dispersed in the world and away from their true home. This is how we should read it as well, as those who have set their eyes, not on this present world, but on the world to come. In the introduction, James provides something of an over-view of the major themes and issues he is going to address in the exposi-tion. He begins with a life of joy in the midst of adversity, and ends with a definition of true religion (highlighting how contrary to the world religion is). Faith in Jesus Christ entails a reversal of the world, such that Christian wis-dom understands struggles, faith status, temptation, and values as directly opposed to the worlds. In the context of this study, ‘connecting the dots’ refers to the central Christian truth that our faith in Christ Jesus must per-meate all areas of our lives.

12 Studies in James

1) 1: 1-12: ‘Getting the right perspective’.

2) 1: 13-27: ‘Where is your heart?’

3) 2: 1-13: ‘God’s unconditional love in an unjust world’.

4) 2: 14-26: ‘Faith in action’.

5) 3: 1-12: ‘The power of the tongue’.

6) 3: 13-18: ‘Two kinds of wisdom’.

7) 4: 1-10: ‘Drawing near to God’.

8) 4: 11-12: ‘Repentance: Don’t judge each other’.

9) 4: 13-17: ‘Repentance: Don’t boast in arrogance’.

10) 5: 1-6: ‘Repentance: Don’t trust in wealth’.

11) 5: 7-11: ‘Reason for hope’.

12) 5: 12-18: ‘Prayer – A way of life’.

Introduction

The Aim of this book:

The Aim of this book is to understand wisdom as a posture of humility be-fore God and to call Christians to a life of integrity between word and deed.

Important themes:

• Wisdom – wisdom is, for James, a way of life based on an allegiance – to the way from above. Christian wisdom en-tails a dependence upon God from the heart to love him and our neighbours as ourselves. Main image for lacking wisdom: being tossed to and fro like the waves.

• World – the world should not simply be seen as an entity (“earth”), but as a structure and value system which seeks to undermine the gospel by imposing values, judgements and hierarchies. The church’s response is the wisdom from above which is the kingdom of God.

• Poor – the poor have a very strong presence in James’ writ-ing, probably because they are the perfect example when worldliness sets in – the poor are undervalued, judged and neglected. They are seen through worldly eyes rather than through the eyes of Christ.

• Heart – this is central to James but can be overlooked. He weaves it throughout so that is the foundation of the whole. By one’s heart wisdom flows forth, and therefore the world cannot be blamed as something external to us – but evil flows from us to create “the world”.

• Tongue – speech matters. Judging others, teaching falsely, being quick to speak, claiming your future, are held in con-trast to prayer, confession and admonishing one other.

Sharp contrasts: above/below, Godly/demonic, humble/prideful, wise/ foolish, light/darkness, single-minded/double-minded, perfect/imperfection.

James| connecting the dots

LEADERS GUIDE MOBILISE

James writes to those in the dispersion – those who are dispersed in the world and away from their true home. This is how we should read it as well, as those who have set their eyes, not on this present world, but on the world to come. It is important to express the idea of the world as a value system not the entity planet earth or simply the culture we find ourselves in. Getting the right perspective means viewing life and all its different en-tities as God would see them. In other words, loving what he loves and hating what he hates.

Questions:

1) James is writing to Christians scattered throughout the world away from their spiritual home. In what ways as a Christian can you relate to this experience of being dispersed in the world (1:1)? Throughout the book of James you will come across the concept of the world (1:27). What do you think James is talking about? How do verses 9-11 help answer this question?

2) How have trials/difficulties that you have come through shaped your perspective on life?

3) What is wisdom?

4) James uses our inevitable death (1:11) to put our pursuits in per-spective. How does death orient your life?

5) If someone was to ask you ‘What is life all about?’ how would you go about answering this question?

Prayer Focus:

Focus on cultivating a posture of humility before God for this year and seek His strength to remain faithful in and through all circumstances as ones who live in dispersion.



1: Getting the Right Perspective

[James 1: 1-12]

In this second study the main idea is to build upon the idea of adopting a posture of humility (from the first study: ‘adopting a life that admits dependence upon God’) and bring in the idea of connecting the dots between the reality of what we say and what we do. Humility grows (as opposed to despair) as we recognise the following:

i) Recognise the fact that sin resides in our hearts (1:13-14).

ii) Recognise the need for obedience and integrity of word and deed (1: 19-27).

The basic point of 19-27 is that true religion is about receiving the word of God in such a way that it bears genuine fruit in our lives. Specifically for James, fruit in terms of self-control (bridling one’s tongue) living according to the law (you can highlight the summary of the law (1:25) as love of God and love of neighbour). The title remains important as this should be a re-ality check (the looking in the mirror moment verse 23) as to where we are actually at in that journey. James’ description of the goodness of God (1: 16-18) reminds the reader of his kindness and mercy towards his children and gives reason for confidence in approaching areas of weakness and sin in our lives.



2: Where is your heart?

[James 1: 13-27]

Questions:

1) What does it look like to accept responsibility for sin in your own life? (1: 13-14)

2) How can we start to prepare to deal with temptations that are a reality in our lives?

3) In your own opinion what is religion?

4) What kind of picture of God do verses 17 & 18 give you? Why does James focus on these attributes of God?

5) Re-read James 1: 19-27; what does it mean to be a good listener to the Word?

6) What is good fruit according to James? (19, 25, 27). Why does James focus on the tongue? What does the tongue tell us about our heart?

Prayer Focus:

In smaller groups focus your prayers on desiring to mature with God with an emphasis on looking into the mirror of your own life. Ask for His help to deal with the reality of sin in your heart and pray about temp-tations that come from living in your particular environments.



The main idea is that being accepted and forgiven by God must alter your perception of others. To judge others according to a worldly standard (wealth, education, clothes etc...) is to dishonour God’s judgement of you (which did not take your worldly standing into con-sideration). By failing to love one’s neighbour we become transgressors of the law. The theme of God’s future reversal of the fortunes of the rich and the poor should motivate the Christian community to reflect in tangible ways God’s impartial love. Parallels exist with Jesus’ teaching on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 & Luke 6). James has a pointed and practical message which should be reflected in the end point of any discussion.

Questions:

1) How would you define Justice? Give some examples of injustice that you are aware of both on a small scale and larger scale.

2) One of the major themes in James is that the poor in society are most often on the receiving end of injustice (2:2-3). Does God preferentially love the poor?

3) How can our friendships or social structures dishonour God’s Royal Law of Love (2:8)? What about our Church community, what would it look like to love impartially? (2: 2-4)

4) What parallels do you see in James’ teaching with that of Christ’s?



3: God’s unconditional love in an unjust world.

[James 2: 1-13]

5) Why does James use our capacity to show mercy to others as an indicator of the reality of our walk with God (2: 12-13)?

6) Having identified areas of injustice (Q 1), what do you think God would have you/us do to address these areas in such a way that we minister his mercy?

Prayer Focus:

Reflect as a group and as individuals in what ways your lives mirror God’s unconditional love. Practically speaking, reflect on how His love is made known through your group. The focus can be on seeking to model un-conditional love in word and deed.



The call to be a Christian is a call to life under God. Faith empowers and gives direction to our life and our perception of others, the world and the kingdom of God. James is not arguing that to get saved one has to achieve a level of morality. But rather, James is arguing that if you have received God’s gift of salvation and been grafted in to the vine (John 15) then there should be evidence of the life of God invading all areas of your life. Faith is what connects you (the branch) to Jesus (the vine); true faith, therefore, is that which bears the fruit of a life of faithfulness before God. Faith that does not permeate all areas of life is dead. Conceptually, John 15: 1-17 is an excellent parallel passage to convey this idea of active faith born out of a relationship with God. The following are references to texts where Paul places a similar emphasis on how genuine faith expresses itself: Gal. 5: 16-26, Eph. 4: 20-32, Col. 3:1-14, Rom. 6: 1-4, Rom. 8: 5-17,

Questions:

1) What is Faith?

2) What is your initial reaction to reading this emphasis on works? (2: 14-19)

3) What kind of response is James seeking to elicit?

4) Practically speaking, in what ways does dead faith mani-fest? Write down specific areas of your life in which you see God least at work.

5) Can you think of passages where Paul expresses a similar sentiment to James?

6) In light of this passage, how would you describe in simple terms to a non-believer what biblical faith is all about?



4: ‘Faith’ in Action

[James 2:14-26]

Prayer Focus:

Focus on bringing all of your life under the reign of God. You may want to get into small groups to share more specifically areas you listed that God has little influence.

Encourage repentance where dead faith has been prevalent. Pray for each other the filling of the Spirit. It may be helpful to reflect on Eph 5; 15-18 and thinking of ‘filling’ in terms of handing over control to God.



The main idea of this passage is that one’s speech bears the fruit of one’s heart, therefore, that speech shapes the direction of your life. The tongue exposes the old man and the new – it curses and it blesses – therefore put off the old. James outlines the positive potential of speech (3:2b-5a) and the negative potential of speech (3:5b-8) and then points out the possibil-ity of inconsistency (3:9-12). In Sum, your speech reveals your heart; there-fore allow it to lead you to humility before God. This passage guides the reader towards reflecting honestly and seriously about the value of what they say. The reality for the Christian is that they have to work with God’s Spirit in order to progress towards consistency and maturity.

Questions:

1) Read 3:1 in parallel with 1:19-20. Think about the emphasis in the New Testament on unity among God’s people in light of these passages. Have you seen the damage the tongue can do in the church?

2) How does our speech give insights into the condition of our heart?

3) Where in your own life does your speech lead to division and broken relationships?

4) Read Matthew 12:33-37. How do your words help shape your life?

5) Why do you think the tongue is so hard to “tame”?



5: The Power of the Tongue [James 3: 1-12]

Prayer Focus:

The book of Proverbs recognises the positive power of speech as well as its potential destructiveness eg:

• The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life (10:11a).

• A gentle answer turns away wrath (15:1a).

• Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed (15:22).

• Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise (15:31).

• Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones (16:24)

The Negative Potential eg:

• A harsh word stirs up anger (15:1b).

• The mouth of the fool gushes folly (15:2b).

• A perverse tongue crushes the spirit (15:4b).

Reflect on some of the above passages and take time where needed to confess anything God brings to light in your own heart.



In this passage James sandwiches his discussion of ‘wisdom from below’ (3: 14-15) between descriptions of ‘wisdom from above’ (3:13 & 3:17) to emphasise the latter. The pointed question James wants to get at is un-doubtedly; which wisdom is governing your life? One commentator sums up well James’ thought on the two wisdoms in saying, ‘[N]o compromise is allowed, for they are true alternatives, standing in contrast to each other in origin, characteristics and results’ (Motyer, 133).

It is important to note that knowing which wisdom is ruling our lives is not necessarily obvious or easy to discern. However, James points categori-cally to the fruit of our actions in our relationships as being rather telling of which wisdom is at work. Wisdom from above produces the outcome of peace (3:18) whereas wisdom from below produces division and jealousy (3:14). Therefore, let godly wisdom work itself out in your life in deeds of gentleness.

There is a connection to James 1:18-19 in that this wisdom from above is not natural but graciously given by God. In this regard we should make connections to the reality that ultimately only God’s Spirit can bring about this wisdom from above.



6: ‘Two Kinds of Wisdom’

[James 3: 13-18]

Questions:

1) Hand out a sheet of paper to each person, and have them draw a vertical line down the middle. On the left side, have them list spe-cific ways wisdom from above is currently bearing fruit in their rela-tionships. On the right side, have them list specific ways wisdom from below is manifesting in their relationships.

2) How would you sum up James’ teaching in this passage? How does it relate to what James says in 1: 18-19?

3) What are some ways you have seen ‘wisdom from below’ in your church experience?

4) What do you want church to be like? How could this become a re-ality?

5) How would you describe what sort of community group you are becoming?

6) What needs to change? What needs to stay the same or develop further? What needs to stop?

Prayer Focus:

Reflect on the big picture of what sort of community we are becoming. Ask yourselves afresh: what sort of community is God calling us to be? What does this mean individually/corporately?

Reflect personally on James’ pointed question: what wisdom is governing your life?



James locates the problem of worldliness and strife within the human heart (4:1). He calls for believers to recognise ‘wisdom from below’ (3: 14-16 & 4: 1-4) and ‘duplicity’ in their own hearts and then encourages be-lievers to turn to God and become single-minded (4: 4 & 4: 7-9). The greater grace (4:6) gives the believer confidence that God’s grace dis-played in Christ Jesus is sufficient to deal with our divided hearts. There-fore, in drawing near to God we have to be prepared to deal with any sin that is a hindrance towards us serving God whole-heartedly.

Some parallels exist with the following passages: Hebrews 10:19-24 & He-brews 12. We can never ‘fix ourselves’ with regards to our sin and dis-placed loyalties; however, we are also never passive in the Christian life with regards to drawing near to God. As we play our part in dealing hon-estly with God He always provides the greater grace.

Questions:

1) James locates the origin of conflict and evil within the human heart (4:1). What are some of the implication of this for the Christian life?

2) How can we discern if our desires are good or not (4:2-3)? James suggests there is a wrong form of prayer; how can we guard against praying like this?

3) How do you deal with temptation? How should we deal with ongo-ing temptation in our own lives in light of this passage?

4) What is the difference between ‘saying sorry’ and repentance (4:7-10)?



7: Drawing Near to God

[James 4:1-10]

5) How can we avoid ‘self-help spirituality’ when it comes to dealing with actual sin and brokenness in our own lives?

6) How can we play our part in conforming to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? (4: 7-10)

Prayer Focus:

Hebrews 12: 1-2; “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...”

Use the above verse to focus on what it means for us to remove stumbling blocks in our lives that prevent us from whole-heartedly serving God. Be open to God’s Spirit identifying areas of sin that He wants us to address. It might be helpful to recall the image of the mirror (1:23-24) and emphasise w h e r e J a m e s s a y s . . . S u b m i t . . . R e s i s t . . . D r a w near...Wash...Purify...Mourn...Humble yourself (4:7-10) in terms of how we deal with it.



This is the first of 3 marker’s James gives which indicate whether or not a person has truly humbled themselves before God and re-orientated life around God. The marker in this study is speech. James addresses a com-munity and it is from within this context that he fleshes out further what it means to repent. For James, if we are postured appropriately before God we will not judge other believers because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. One author has summed up well in saying, “if we are really low before God we have no altitude left from which to talk down to anyone” (Motyer. F).

James warns us that when we criticise one another we are ignoring God’s word by refusing to apply God’s command (Lev. 19.18; Mk. 12.31; Matt. 7.12) in all situations. We are judging the law (4.11) in the sense that we are standing over the law by picking and choosing which commands we obey. In sum, James’ solution to this plight is fourfold:

i) We are to see other believers as our brothers and sisters,

ii) Understand the need for obedience to the law,

iii) Recognise that God alone is able to judge,

iv) Take up a humble position before others in light of how freely God has forgiven us.



8: Repentance - Don’t judge each other

[James 4: 11-12]

Questions:

1) Why is criticism and slander so offensive to God?

2) What is the difference between judging one another (in the sense of this passage) and assessing/analysing one another’s actions?

3) Can you think of biblical guidelines for challenging each other’s behaviour?

4) James encourages his readers to see themselves as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Why is this significant?

5) Re-read these verses. What are four lines of argument James uses to reinforce his prohibition of Christians slandering/judging one an-other?

6) How can community groups strengthen your church fellowship in this regard? What is your experience of getting close to other Chris-tians?

Prayer Focus:

There is a reminder in this passage of the reality that God could have justly condemned us but rather chose to save and redeem. Take time to talk honestly about failures with regards to loving one another as Christ loved us. Pray through and bring in to light any ways a judgemental attitude is affecting your faith.



This section in James is essentially about the temptation of autonomous planning and failing to take into account the will of God in one’s life. Christians should not make decisions and plans regarding the future as if they are in complete control but rather make plans within the sphere of God’s sovereignty. As Christians seek to discern God’s will they may make many plans but always leaving room for God to re-direct. We should re-call that Christians are commanded to be ‘slow to speak and quick to lis-ten’ (1:19), therefore, we should regularly leave enough time to prayerfully listen to God allowing His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. This submissive planning is the second marker of a life oriented around God. Discernment is ultimately more about our character and the state of our heart before it is about making the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ decision in life.

Questions

1) Think of one small and one large decision you have made within the past couple of months...Discuss how you went about making these decisions. How did your attitude compare to this passage?

2) What exactly is James warning against in this passage?

3) What is the difference between sinful presumptuousness and sensi-ble planning?

4) What steps can we take in our lives to stop presumptuous plan-ning?

5) How do we discern God’s will in our lives in such a way that allows room for His sovereignty?



9: Repentance - Don’t boast in ar-rogance

[James 4. 13-17]

Prayer Focus:

Spend time in prayer dealing with specific plans you are making at this time. In light of James’ wisdom in this passage pray into the different situations perhaps using the Lords’ prayer as a guide, ‘thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’. Ultimately, the humble can find peace and security under the wings of God’s protec-tive sovereignty.



How we view wealth and money is a key indicator in to what we be-lieve to be true about God. In this passage we see that the rich tend to demonstrate ‘wisdom from below’ by being self-sufficient. For James, accumulating wealth is often related to injustice and he condemns the condition people live in because of their lack of practical concern for the needs of the poor. We cannot say we love God or our neigh-bour if we do not help those in need. Worldly wealth is ‘an area of high risk in the battle to walk humbly with God’ (Motyer, 171). This section of the book can be understood as addressing Christians and non-Christians alike. The reason for hope becomes apparent in the subse-quent section. However, this section causes the believer to stop and think about how they treat money and wealth in light of James’ re-buke.

Questions

1. “An affluent culture turns our hearts towards fleeting satisfactions and away from God, while unprecedented prosperity has left our lives full but not necessarily fulfilled”. How strongly could you agree with the above statement? Why do you think this is/is not the case?

2. What issues today are you aware of that relate to this lack of concern for the poor’s needs? How does this relate to you personally? How does this relate to community groups at large in church?

3. Are there aspects of capitalism that oppose the gospel? In your opin-ion, how immune are churches from the allure of wealth and prosper-ity?

4. Are you aware of any injustice in Aberdeen? Give some examples? How does the gospel answer these needs?



10: Repentance: Don’t trust in Wealth

[James 5: 1-6]

5. What is the difference between social justice in Christian terms and professional social work?

6. How can we build practices and place safeguards in our life to protect our faith against: Greed (5: 2-3), dishonesty (5:4) and self-indulgence (5:5)?

Prayer Focus:

Money and wealth are futile and destructive when taken outside the context of an accountable relationship with God who is impartial in his love. Take time to repent of specific wrong attitudes about wealth. Make yourself accountable to others about safe-guards you want to put in place to stem the tide against greed, dishonesty and self-indulgence.



This passage ties in closely to the previous section about injustice and wealth. James instructs believers to find reason for hope not by usurp-ing God’s role as avenger, nor by merely working hard against the op-pressors, but by displaying ‘persevering prophetic patience’ (Blomberg & Kamell, 216). In other words, Christians recognise that only God can fully and finally right all wrongs and He has promised to do so at Christ’s return. Our acts of kindness and mercy should always stand very much in light of this truth.

Our acts done in faith are prophetic in that they point to Christ’s return and the future reversal of the fortunes of the rich and poor promised in the kingdom of God. This is one key way our acts of justice are distinct from acts of social care. In sum, setting our eyes on Christ helps re-frame how we see suffering and compels us to reach out with acts of kindness and stand against injustice and in so doing, point to Christ’s future reign.

Questions:

1) In one sentence re-state James’ thought on the nature of Christian hope?

2) What is the difference between Christian patience and any other sort of patience? How does impatience manifest in your life?

3) How does this passage help us deal with suffering, pain or injustice?

4) Are there answers for every form of suffering or just some? If so what are some of these reasons?



11: Reason for Hope

[James 5: 7-11)

5) Is this patience that James calls for active or passive? What does it look like in practice?

6) How are Job and the other prophets an example to us today?

Prayer Focus:

Pray for a deeper trust and sense of hope in Christ perhaps also sharing how your hopes have been damaged in the past. Encourage one an-other towards displaying ‘persevering prophetic patience’ as brothers and sisters in the Lord (5:7).

Recall the previous study on money and wealth and prayerfully seek God’s guidance in applying Christian hope to the circumstances previ-ously discussed.



In this concluding passage James returns to the notion of becoming single-minded (5:12). It is not a coincidence that the closing emphasis of this book is on prayer. Prayer is the primary mode of expressing our de-pendence upon God. Re-calling the purpose of this book, (to understand wisdom as a posture of humility and to call Christians to demonstrate in-tegrity between word and deed), we can see how this is impossible with-out God. Mature Christians are therefore praying Christians in all seasons. In all situations prayer is vital and powerful. It does not always yield ‘results’ as we would want or expect but it does always take us deeper in our trust and relationship with God and will always be effective in accomplishing His plans and purposes.

Questions:

1) In smaller groups identify some ways you think you have grown in single-mindedness. Encourage one another in ways you have seen growth in each other.

2) How would you describe the role of prayer to a non-Christian?

3) How would you answer someone who suggested with the advent of modern medicine, those are sick should call in their doctor rather than their church leader?

4) What aspects of prayer in this passage do you find most challeng-ing?

5) James finishes with this section on prayer because of the centrality and necessity for prayer. How does your life reflect James’ empha-sis?

6) How would you describe your prayer life? What can help your prayer life develop?



12: Prayer: A Way of Life

[James 5: 12-18]

Prayer Focus:

Re-call and give thanks for signs of growth in each other’s lives.

Re-commit to a life fully depending on God.

Pray for the Spirit to fill and consume every area of each other’s lives.



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James Study - Leader