“Picture in your mind a red-faced monkey”
Download discussion questions: James 1:19-27
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I encourage you to look at the passage in James before you read this Blog entry. What do you see in the text yourself? What questions come to your mind? How would you interpret what the writer says? After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.
Our group continues to consider the first chapter of the letter of James, a book often considered “controversial and misunderstood”[1] and one that “many Christians have avoided in their studies.”[2] We continue to find new questions to explore and nuances to examine. Slowly but surely we are learning more about James’s enigmatic introduction, “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.”
Therefore…What?
We were well into our discussion of the passage when someone pointed to verse 21 and asked, “What’s the ‘therefore’ there for?” (always a good question). A ‘therefore’ links what the writer has said with what he is about to say, and the natural question is, “What is the link? How does this conclusion follow what has gone before?”
As the questioner pointed out, James uses the strong language of “filthiness” (ῥυπαρία, rhyparia, only used this one time in the New Testament). The word “refers to external grime, as with filthy cloths, stained and muddy. But it also conveys the deeper meaning of moral defilement, of spiritual stains on our souls.”[3] But there was no previous mention of moral uncleanness in the letter. What does James have in mind? Why the “therefore”? How is verse 21 a conclusion from what has gone before?
Members of our discussion had several suggestions.
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- Perhaps there was a known issue of immorality among James’s audience. But since the audience was so general (“the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad,” James 1:1b), that explanation seems unlikely.
- Perhaps he was concerned with immorality in general, but then why use such a relatively rare word? One writer points out a possible connection familiar to the Jewish audience:
“And we find the same term used to describe the garments that the high priest Joshua must discard before being given a new, splendid set of clothes in Zech. 3:3-4…. James chooses a word that reminds us just how offensive and detestable sin really is.”[4] - Perhaps after just mentioning anger (v. 19,20), James is concerned about that particular sin. Someone reminded us of the context of “various trials” (v. 2). Hardship or suffering can make us more likely to be impatient with others. Maybe James was concerned about the pressures of persecution straining relationships among Jewish believers.
Requirement for Relief
Another person noted that when we experience discomfort (physical or emotional), our first desire is relief. We want to eliminate or at least dull the pain. We turn to supposed sources of comfort. We spend time in work or hobbies (or even in church programs). We overeat. We do good works for a charity. We binge on television. Or we turn to darker distractions. And we generally justify our actions because of what we have been through.
Several comments from our group confirmed that these are not solutions. Those efforts are self-obsessed strategies to ease our pain rather than God-obsessed responses to display His character.
That understanding follows from what James says a few sentences earlier. Our temptations grow when we are “lured and enticed” by desire (James 1:14). If relief is our highest goal (the definition of self obsession), we will cherish and nurture our desire to escape pain. We may look for someone to blame for our difficult circumstances. Another person mentioned James’s warning that trials or persecution can prompt us to blame God (v. 13). That charge against God’s character leads to doubts (v. 6) and confusion (v. 16) about His wisdom, love, and power. Those relational sins against others and against God might be the “filthiness” that James has in mind.
The second category James tells his readers to “put away” in verse 21 also relates to the desire for relief from suffering. The word (κακία, kakia) “wickedness” (ESV) or “evil” (NIV) “denotes evil in character or sin that springs from bad attitudes with one’s spirit.”[5]
The previous mention of anger in v. 20 and the parallel in 1 Peter 2:1 suggest that κακία (evil, wickedness) denotes ‘malice’ rather than evil in general.”[6]
In fact, several sources[7] translate the word as “malice” in almost half of the eleven occurrences in the New Testament. “Malice” is relational sin, the self-obsessed, self-protective response we have in difficult times. James is addressing people suffering persecution, and he wants to warn them against both dangers. There is the external “filthiness” of behavior we hope will distract from pain, and there is the internal “wickedness” or “malice” that turns us against others. We try to manage circumstances and manipulate people for our benefit above all else.
Put Away
What are we to do when we “put away filthiness and wickedness”? Too often we focus on what we are not supposed to be doing. Our attention is on the behavior we want to avoid. Consider an example that helped me very early in my Christian life.
Picture in your mind a red-faced monkey. Got it? Now, the moment you finish reading the sentence, erase from your mind the image of the red-faced monkey. Doesn’t work, does it?[8]
Continually concentrating on not sinning can be self-defeating. But that isn’t what James has in mind. The word he uses for the command “put away” (ἀποτίθημι, apotithēmi) is used figurtively in the New Testament regarding sin (e.g., Romans 13:12, Ephesians 4:22, 25; Colossians 3:8, etc.). We saw the same word in our earlier study of Hebrews to describe a runner’s preparation for a race. Two New Testament uses simply describe actions:
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- In Matthew 14:3, Herod “put away” John into prison.
- In Acts 7:58, the mob “put away” their cloaks at the feet of Saul.
In both of those literal examples, what was “put away” was no longer of interest, no longer the focus, not even at the edge of attention. The mob wasn’t thinking about their garments, and Herod wasn’t concerned about John.
That sense is helpful to see James’s meaning. Whatever actions comprise the “filthiness and wickedness,” whatever substitutes we use to distract us or to dull the pain of difficult circumstances are no longer to attract our attention, no longer to be part of our thinking. Our energy is not concentrated on avoiding those self-obsessed habits. Instead, James offers a positive alternative, “receive the implanted word.” Our efforts will be more productive when we are drawing near to God rather than concentrating on avoiding sin.
Just Do It!
The things we typically turn to are not the source of relief from trials. But warnings are easy to hear and then to neglect. James has emphasized the importance of being “quick to hear” as a preventative for premature speech and for anger that misses God’s righteousness (v. 19-20). Now he moves beyond hearing, first to “receiving” or “welcoming” God’s Word that He has planted in us (cf. Jeremiah 31:33), and then to the practical application.
We considered what seem to be two ways that James uses “hear:”
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- “quick to hear” along with “slow to speak” which indicates a conversation, hearing another person (v. 19)
- hearing God’s Word (v. 22)
James makes it clear that listening to others is critical to relationships. Listening is essential to resist what one member called “our fix-it world” and to make relationships more important than solutions. James also makes it clear that listening is not enough. We also need to hear God’s Word with “a welcoming or an appropriating reception.”[9]
James pushes even further. A genuinely welcoming attitude toward God’s Word ultimately requires action.
Remembering Not to Forget
Warnings are easy to hear and then to neglect. James anticipates that problem with one of the many images “that makes his teaching easy to understand and to remember,”[10] the face in the mirror.
Someone described the ridiculous image James suggests. A person looks in the mirror, sees a smudge on his face and walks away forgetting the smudge. Others in our group thought of other ways we do just what James describes. We see a smudge but don’t think it’s bad enough to worry about. Or the smudge might be too difficult to remove so we leave it. Or maybe most commonly, we see the smudge and feel really bad about it, and scold ourselves repeatedly for having a dirty face. Or even after the smudge is cleaned, we continue feeling shame for having been smudged.
But the true effect of the implanted Word is not accepting smudges, and it is not shame or self-scolding over our sin. The implanted Word “is able to save your souls” (v. 21b). James is addressing “beloved brothers” (James 1:16, 19, 2:5), so it is unlikely he is describing salvation for non-believers. Rather, he is using “save” (σῴζω, sōzō) in the sense of healing or restoring. That use is common in the New Testament[11], including by James (5:15). God’s Word, implanted in us, certainly is able to save (heal and restore) our souls from guilt or shame, but only when we remember it in times of distress.
We talked about the importance of reminding ourselves and each other of the gospel. James describes “the perfect law, the law of liberty” (v. 25). We need repeated reminders that the gospel is good news, and the New Covenant is the law of liberty. The summary of the law is to love God and love others, and someone said that growing in our love for God is what enables us to grow in our love for others.
I think those are drawing near to heaven who in this life find that they need men less and love men more and delight more in being loved without being needed.[12]
Lewis’s last phrase, “without being needed,” is important. Realizing that God (and ideally others) love us unconditionally is key to the restoring power of grace. Knowing that we are loved without being needed frees us from the shame of failure when we let another person down or when we sin against God. The perfect law of liberty frees us from the burden of being needed in order to be loved.
Persecution and Perseverance
As we mentioned several times in our discussion, it is important to remember James’s context of trials. Someone pointed out that the previously secure safety net of Jewish family and society was left behind by those who followed Messiah Jesus. Those James is writing to are in exile and enduring persecution. All would be experiencing hardship, and some would be destitute. How many were questioning the decision to follow this Christ? How many could not think beyond their own survival. James exhorts his readers to consider the needs of others, particularly the most vulnerable (v. 27). That can be the starting point of our next discussion.
Joy in Perseverance
James calls his audience (including us) to practical action. Hearing must lead to doing, and doing leads to blessing (but not in the popular prosperity gospel sense). Consider the “bookends” of verse 12 and verse 25:
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life
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But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James began with that enigmatic equation of joy in trials (v. 2). His emphasis has been an explanation and expansion of that paradox. Joy results from obedience as we persevere through difficulties. Seeing God’s work in our life grows our trust in Him and draws us nearer to Him.
Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God.[13]
[1] Douglas Moo, The Letter of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2000), dust jacket.
[2] Craig L. Blomberg, and Mariam J. Kamell, James, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 21.
[3] Craig L. Blomberg, and Mariam J. Kamell, James, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 87.
[4] Douglas Moo, The Letter of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2000), 86.
[5] Craig L. Blomberg, and Mariam J. Kamell, James, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 87.
[6] Chris A. Vlachos, James: Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2013), 56.
[7] https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/kakia ;
John R. Kohlenberger III, Edward W. Goodrick, James A Swanson, The Greek-English Concordance to the New Testament With The New International Version (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 403;
New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1981), 1658.
[8] Peter E. Gillquist, Love Is Now (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 38.
[9] W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., “Receive, Receiving,” Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1996), 511.
[10] Douglas Moo, The Letter of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2000), 2.
[11] cf. Matthew 9:21,22; Mark 5:23, 28, 34, 10:52; Luke 8:36,48,50, 17:19, 18:42; John 11:12; Acts 4:9, 14:19.
[12] C. S. Lewis, “Agape” in The Four Loves Read by the Author (Dallas, Texas: Word Audio, 1994), audio cassettes, tape 2, side 2, 20:12. Note that the text of the printed versions of The Four Loves does not include the same wording as the audio production (a talk delivered by Lewis himself).
[13] Madeleine L’Engle, A Ring of Endless Light, (New York: Square Fish Edition, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2008), 277.