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Do you want to mature as a Christian? I do! So here’s the first step…
…you may be mature and complete not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God… (James 1:4-5).
The dictionary defines mature as “complete in natural growth or development; fully developed in body or mind as a person.” The Bible has a higher definition of maturity. The phrase mature and complete (the King James Version actually says perfect) is just one word in the Greek: teleios. It’s the same word Jesus uses when He sets this standard for maturity:
Be perfect [teleios], therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect [teleios]. (Matthew 5:48)
Yikes! Talk about a high standard! I certainly can’t reach that level of perfect maturity on my own! That’s why James says we should pray for wisdom. The kind of wisdom God gives is heavenly knowledge that is perfectly practical on earth. It fits with the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth, even as it is in Heaven.”
But there is more to maturity than just asking for wisdom. I have ASK for wisdom and then I have to ACT on that wisdom—but when he asks, he must believe and not doubt (James 1:6).
Growing in maturity is never a passive process; I must be actively engaged. God will not waste knowledge or experience. He won’t give it to me unless I’m going to be obedient enough to mature by its application.
Ask and act. God wants you to be teleios (perfectly mature) because it brings glory to Him. So ask for wisdom, but then be ready to act on it. This is the only path to godly maturity.
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Sometimes life is hard and we can lose sight of a very important fact. Through the trials, and the testings, and the difficult situations, and the valleys, and the times we’re tempted to throw in the towel, you must remember this one fact…
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In this era of LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, and the like, we are so concerned about connections, friends, followers, and likes that it consumes our thoughts.
We self-promote and pray for popularity.
Well, I don’t think anyone is actually brazen enough to pray, “God, make me popular.” But we often live as if popularity was the answer to a prayer.
We gain our status by who we know, what we’ve done, what we are doing, the places we’ve worked, and the number of “friends,” “followers” and “connections” we have accumulated.
Instead he simply said, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Not even the servant, as if he were distinguished among others, but the indefinite article a servant. The Greek word here (doulos) means:
A slave
“One who gives himself up to another’s will for Christ to use his service to advance His cause among men” (Strong’s Greek Dictionary)
Devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests
Any connections, friends, followers, skills, talents, or opportunities I have are wholly God’s. He gave them to me so I could serve Him and serve others. I am merely a steward of what He’s given me—I AM DOULOS.
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Do you remember when you got your first job that came with your name on a business card? What about when you were promoted to an office with your name on the door? Even better: what if you became so influential that your name is now on the stationary, or even becomes a part of the organization’s official name?!?
Look at you! You’ve arrived!
At least that’s how a lot of people see it. The more their name is plastered all over something, the more powerful they feel.
On Sunday evenings our Next Level Bible study is looking at the Book of James. In the first week of our study, we barely got past the first word: James. Who was this guy that has his name attached to a book in the Bible?
James was the half-brother of Jesus. In fact, since his name is listed first, he probably was the next oldest sibling after Jesus. Isn’t this the carpenter’s Son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? (Matthew 13:55).
Since Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus) is not mentioned again in the New Testament, many feel he died while Jesus was a teenager. As a result, after Jesus began His public ministry, the head-of-the-household responsibilities would have passed to James.
James met with Jesus one-on-one after His resurrection. Then [Jesus] appeared to James, then to all the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:7).
James was recognized by others as the leader of the Church in Jerusalem. James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars… (Galatians 2:9). He was also the chairman of the Council in Acts 15, and his decision was the final decision at that meeting.
From all appearances, it looks as though James has arrived! He’s got his name in all the right places, and is one of the most influential people in the early Church.
Yet look at how James referred to himself: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1).
If James thought he had “arrived,” it was only to arrive as a servant. His name may have been on the business card, or the church door, or the church letterhead. But he was only there to serve!
History gives us two other names for this great man: James The Just and Old Camel Knees (because of how much time he spent kneeling in prayer, and kneeling in service to Jesus and His followers).
If I ever “arrive,” I pray that like James I’ve only arrived to serve!
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The book of James is written to a bunch of Christians. James knew his audience was the Church (see James 1:1).
Keep that firmly in mind when you read these words from James 3:2—
We all stumble in many ways. (New International Version)
For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. (Amplified Bible)
Indeed, we all make many mistakes. (New Living Translation)
I hate to break the news to you, but that means:
Your pastor’s not perfect
Your church isn’t perfect
You’re not perfect
You attend a church with people who stumble, and offend, and mess it up. Your pastor stumbles, and offends, and messes up. And so do you!
Isn’t that wonderful?! We all make mistakes! So we all need to give and receive the same forgiveness. We all need to extend grace to others and receive grace from others. You need to help others back up when they stumble, and you need to admit when you’ve stumbled, and let others help you get back up.
Abraham Kuyper wrote—
“Sin is a destroyer that creeps in everywhere. Therefore we must expect an imperfect church. In fact, we church members carry the sin of the world with us into the church, too often hiding it under a veil of spirituality. If the church were not the Bride of His Son, surely God would in holy wrath destroy not first of all the church, but rather first of all the wretched sin-ridden church.”
To these beautifully imperfect Christians, James concludes his teaching with these words:
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. … My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:16, 19-20)
It was a time of explosive growth. And with that growth came challenges, questions, problems, and opportunities! I’m talking about the Church in its earliest days in Jerusalem.
The Bible tells us that God prepares people in advance (Colossians 2:10) to do the works that He has equipped them to do. Into this environment of rapid growth and previously unheard-of opportunities stepped a man named James. His leadership and wisdom were just what the church needed then.
And his leadership and wisdom are just what the church needs now.
That’s why I’m leading our Next Level study group into an in-depth look at the book James wrote. The wisdom that is found in the Book of James has been called “the proverbs of the New Testament,” and we’ll be learning how to apply those proverbs to our lives and our church.
Please join me for this fascinating and informative study at 5pm each Sunday afternoon.
It’s always been a difficult verse for me. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds (James 1:2).
I am still wrestling with this verse and probably will be for as long as there is suffering. But I trust God. I believe He is working out something which will bring Him full glory. I know, as the apostle Paul said, that I only see through a dim glass now. But what I see of God’s love and goodness is more than enough for me to continue to trust Him.
This video is an amazing story of how suffering and disability actually brought a family to Christ—and they brought glory to God.
This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.
A Friend Of God & Enemy Of The World
The Bible says that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…,” and yet it says that if we are friends of the world we are enemies of God. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). The difference is that God loves the world so much that He goes to all lengths to remove the wrong from it, and we must have the same kind of love. Any other kind of love for the world simply means we take it as it is and are perfectly delighted with it. … It is that sentiment which is the enemy of God. Do we love the world in this sense sufficiently to spend and be spent so that God can manifest His grace through us until the wrong and the evil are removed?
Do I love the world the way God so loves the world?
Am I willing to let Him use me to change the world?
Am I willing to spend and be spent for God’s glory?
Jesus said, “You are salt and light.” But my salt does the world no good at all unless I allow the Holy Spirit to shake it out of me. And the light doesn’t benefit anyone if my apathy is not allowing the love of God to shine brightly through my life.
I must be a friend of God and an enemy of the evil in the world which keeps anyone from coming into a relationship with Him.
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. (Proverbs 4:5)
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7)
How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! (Proverbs 16:16)
Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding. (Proverbs 23:23)
I like T.M. Moore’s insight on this…
“Wisdom is that skill in living which comes as Christ is formed in us and lives His Word, in the power of His Spirit, through our lives. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Psalm 111:10). But we’ll have to work hard and in many different ways to bring wisdom to a higher state in our lives. Solomon prayed for wisdom, but he also applied himself diligently to studying and contemplating a good many subjects in order to acquire that which he was trusting the Lord to give him. So we too, if we would increase in wisdom, must devote ourselves to ‘getting’ it by all the ways God makes available to us.”
In other words, we can (and should) pray for wisdom, but then we need to get busy to actually get the wisdom. God won’t simply pour wisdom into our hearts and minds.
Wisdom is earned through experience
Godly wisdom is earned through experiences that the Holy Spirit helps us evaluate and assimilate. The experience might be pleasant, or it might be painful. It might come through reading your Bible, or it might come through prayer. It might come in a pastor’s message, or it might come in a friend’s words. You might get it by going to your job, you might get it while taking a stroll along the beach on your vacation.
God’s wisdom is constantly being revealed to us. Are you getting it?
It’s a great question that the apostle James asks: What good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? (James 2:14)
