Exploring the Epistle of James

As per Year 1 RI, the answer to every question is ‘JESUS’! As we get older it may become, “believe in God”, or we might say, “come on, follow me to church.”

As Christians, we can make great claims but may become guilty and contradictory by the way we live; by our actions. Of course I know you and I would never do this, but you would agree that professing Christians sometimes say the right thing and all the while they’re clinging to the things of this world.

In a no-nonsense way, James, full of energy and passion, confronts this form of lifestyle head on. In fact – using my paraphrase – he tells us it is not good enough to talk the Christian way, we need to live it, breathe it, embrace it, and leave the world behind.

In the words of one of my heroes, “[We’re] only visiting this planet. [We’re] just passing through.”*

I look forward to exploring James together with you over the next two months. We begin this Sunday with chapter 1, verses 1-18.

*'Reader's Digest', 1972. Lyrics by Larry Norman. From the album Only Visiting this Planet

Featured image: Papyrus 20 - Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1171 - Princeton University Library, AM 4117 - Epistle of James 2:26–3:9, late 3rd century. https://library.princeton.edu/libraries/firestone/rbsc/aids/papyri/APISJames1.html