The book of James makes me feel like John McEnroe at Wimbledon in 1981. Check out the clip here to see what I’m talking about: http://bit.ly/46FWpQI. If I’m honest with myself, I just want to say: “James…YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”
“Count it pure joy … whenever you face trials of many kinds…” (James 1:2, NIV). ?!? And also: “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4). What?! I don’t want to face trials! And I certainly don’t want to endure them long enough for perseverance to do a bunch of work on me. I want the trial to end! I want to feel blessed. Favored. Healthy. Happy. “James…YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”
And yet he is serious—with God’s inspiration and approval. When we read the Bible, repeated words serve as an alert system. They tell us to pay attention. James uses the same word twice in one sentence in verse four: “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature…” You may need a reference book to see it, but “finish” and “mature” are the exact same word in the original Greek (teleios). It means perfect, mature, complete, or fully developed. James, you want me to sit with the pain of trials long enough for perseverance to fully develop its work in me? I’ll say it again: “YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”
And yet this is God’s will for his people: to endure trials. To let them take you beyond your breaking point—to a Garden of Gethsemane reckoning. Where you can feel the agony of injustice with no way out of that moment, and turn to God anyway to say: “Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42). God, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!
And yet he is. Jesus did that. Hebrews says Jesus is “crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9). And furthermore, he is called the pioneer of our salvation who was made “perfect (teleios) through what he suffered” (Heb. 2:10). He endured for you and me. Now he calls us to endure until his salvation becomes our eternal experience.
Christianity begins with his love for us, demonstrated by what he suffered on the cross. It continues as we express our love in response, taking up our cross to follow him. And it lasts eternally as we enjoy eternal life in his presence. Wow! That’s an amazing promise. God, you would do that for me? YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!
And from the bottom of my heart…thank you.