I had just finished reading Revelation, so I decided to back up a few pages and read James, since I hadn’t in a while. And I was quickly reminded that this little book has a way of tackling big topics, taking on difficult subjects one after another. Here are a few that left me convicted, once again:

For the Christian, suffering and joy belong in the same thought: “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.” What? James says that for the Christian, all kinds of good blessings come out of bad circumstances, such as perseverance, which helps us to become mature and complete, “not lacking anything.” Quite an insight.

Let’s try an easier one: God gives wisdom “generously to all without finding fault.” But there is a caveat—the Christian must believe and not doubt. There is no room for the in-between person. I know that reality all too well, don’t you?

On to a harder one: God’s view of poverty and wealth is not the same as ours. In fact, it is reversed in most cases. The same goes for favoritism, which Christ does not exemplify. Well, actually he does. He favors the poor over the wealthy who demonstrate condescending behavior toward impoverished situations.

How about standards for being religious? Now that should catch our interest. You can’t be considered religious, James says, if you don’t keep a tight rein on your tongue. Let’s contemporize that by expanding it to a tight rein on your fingers, as you use your electronic device to communicate to the world.

One more: how about “pure religion,” especially the kind that God looks favorably on. For most of us, that “pure religion” list would be rather long. For James it has only two components: take care of widows and orphans, and make every effort to not be polluted by worldly views, values, and conduct. That’s it? For James, that is “it” in a nutshell, because these two qualities tell us a lot about true grasp of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Many of you might have noticed that we have scarcely finished chapter 1. There’s a lot more, and it is just as powerful. What’s the point of all this? As Christian leaders, Jesus calls us to a higher standard (see 1 Tim. 3). Not perfect, but high and challenging. We are the first to admit that we often fall short of this standard, but I am thankful we have forthright, get-to-the-point early Christian leaders like James to remind us of the key to it all. Here’s how he puts it in excerpts from 4:7-10: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you [...]. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

May it be so.