Download discussion questions:  James 1:12-18

It has been a few weeks since we went back to the basics of Observation, Interpretation, and Application in our methodical, inductive study approach.  This week we started our discussion time concentrating on observation in the passage.  (The O-I-A approach should always be the foundation of our discussions, but it is always good to go back to refresh those skills.)

We are studying what James wrote in small segments each week.  In order to see the continuity of what was, after all, a letter, we looked for connections from the passage from last week.

Marking the passage on the handout (as suggested in the Observation section) helps to see connections between paragraphs and to understand more about the flow of James’ thinking in his letter.  Our shared observations resulted in a number of links between the passages:

• Trials (vv. 2, 12)
• Testing (vv. 3, 12)
• Steadfastness (vv. 3-4, 12)
• Perfect (vv. 4, 17)
• Brothers (vv. 2, 9, 16)

There are several possibly related ideas, in different words:

• Full effect (v. 4), Crown of life (v. 12), Good gift (v. 17)
• Gives birth (v. 15), Brought forth (v. 18)
• Double-minded (v. 8), Variation (v. 17)
• Trials (vv. 2, 12), Tempted (vv. 13-14)

We briefly discussed the connection between “trials” and “temptation” and “testing” (examined in an earlier study).  “Trials” (peirazō, peirasmos) can have the general meaning of a difficulty to be faced (James 1:2; Mathew 6:13) or to see how someone will respond (John 6:6), but it can also have a very negative suggestion, such as a trap (Matthew 22:18, 35), or a solicitation to sin (Matthew 4:1, 3).  On the other hand, “testing” (dokimazō, dokimion, dokimos) almost always implies the desire for authentication (1 Peter 1:7), or a successful, positive outcome (2 Corinthians 2:9).

Temptations

The question naturally arises, “What is the temptation that James has in mind?”  Several members of our group offered ideas:

• The temptation to blame God: I can’t trust Him.
• The temptation to blame ourselves: What did I do to deserve this?
• The temptation to blame others: They got me into this.

James makes it absolutely clear that whatever trials we face, God is not “tempting” us in the sense of laying a trap or trying to make us fail.  Verses 2 and 12 make it clear that trials lead to the authentication of our faith, resulting in increasing joy.  Doubting God’s good intentions because of our difficulties brings to mind a statement by Oswald Chambers, “The root of all sin is the suspicion that God is not good.”

That temptation to doubt (v. 6) God’s goodness makes us vulnerable to being “lured and enticed” in worse directions.  As one member put it, we are more easily distracted from what God might be doing in our lives.  We look for other sources of joy or meaning or satisfaction, or simply for relief from trouble.  Another suggestion was that we begin to think that God is holding out on us, so we need to find escape from trials on our own.

Life Cycle of Sin

We outlined what one writer called the “life cycle of sin”[1] that James presents:

1. Desire lures and entices (fishing and hunting terms for bait and attracting prey) by distracting from the truth of God’s goodness. The “bait” divides our vision between God and some other attraction, resulting in “double-mindedness.”
2. Because of the distraction, desire “conceives” and brings the temptation to life. One person commented that, like literal conception, the temptation “takes hold” and is implanted in our thinking.
3. We allow the conceived temptation to grow in us, perhaps even nurturing its embryonic form, in our thinking and in our imagination. The result is a successful birth – of sin.  We finally give in and yield to the temptation, making choices that we never would have made if the “life cycle” had been interrupted at any earlier stage.
4. The fully grown sin ultimately ends in death.

While that “life cycle” sounds complicated, it reminded me of a comment by a pastor years ago.  On the topic of lust, he suggested that when a man notices a woman, the first look is just that, noticing her.  A second look may progress to recognizing that she is attractive or provocatively dressed.  His point was that the wrongdoing actually happens between the second and third look.

The life cycle of sin is not necessarily a drawn out process, it can happen in the blink of an eye.  Recognizing the subtlety of that slippery slope from following a lure into sin is critical.  If we are aware of the lures and enticements that distract us, we are more likely to follow the warning James gives, “Do not be deceived” (v. 16), and to be able to focus on the good and perfect gifts from the Father of lights.  His unchanging stability and goodness and commitment to making us “perfect and complete and lacking in nothing” (v. 4) is the only sure antidote to the trials and temptations we face throughout life.

Firstfruits

Our group considered the meaning of “firstfruits of His creatures” (v. 18).  The first results of a harvest were offered to God (Exodus 23:16; 34:26, etc.).  One comment was that this was an intentional act of faith.  A change in the weather could wipe out the rest of the crop after the firstfruits had been given.  The firstfruits were a sign of trust that God would continue to provide.  For Christians to be “the firstfruits of his creatures” is a similar expression of faith.  God is at work in us and through us to accomplish His purpose (“His own will,” v. 18).  We considered that “creatures” at the end of the passage could refer to the spread of the gospel around the world beginning with those early believers.  Or “creatures” could be a reference to the redemptive work of God in all creation, signaled by His initial redemption of sinful persons.  Either way, James makes the point that even when we may not understand what God is doing as we face trials, we can be confident that He is telling a Larger Story for His perfect purposes.

God’s Larger Story

James makes it clear that the process he describes is the work of God Himself, who “out of His own will brought us forth” (v. 18).  God is always at work, even as we face trials we don’t understand.  That sure knowledge can give us the confidence to trust whatever God has for us.

George MacDonald was a nineteenth-century pastor and writer who greatly influenced C. S. Lewis.  A scene in one of MacDonald’s fantasy stories has an angelic figure in the form of a woman asking Curdie, the young hero,[2]

“Now, Curdie, are you ready?” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” answered Curdie.

“You do not know what for.”

“You do, ma’am.  That is enough.”

Before he understood what he was being called to, Curdie trusted the wisdom and plan of the One leading him.  May we have Curdie’s confidence that when we don’t see a purpose, God does.

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[1] Craig L. Blomberg, Mariam J. Kamell, James, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Zondervan, 2008), 72.

[2] George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie (Baltimore, Maryland:  Penguin Books, 1976), 56.