Believing and doing, the twins of vital faith

Recently I read the book of James from the New Testament. I found it challenging and exhilarating. I reviewed the history of the five-chapter epistle and pondered the controversies that have surrounded it in Christian church history. It is a great example of one more thing that initiates needed civilized debates.

Many church leaders have doubted that the book of James was worthy to be included in what we now call the New Testament. It was clearly not written by one of the disciples of Jesus nor by the James, who was thought to be a younger brother of Jesus. The book does not reflect the culture and concerns of first century Christianity. The best conclusion of scholars today is that we do not know who wrote this collection of sayings. Because of its emphasis on good works, James is criticized as being too Jewish in its perspective to be reconciled with Paul’s writings about salvation by faith and faith alone. Martin Luther concluded that James was not worthy of inclusion in the New Testament collection.

There is not much doubt, that Paul taught salvation by faith and faith alone. James says very plainly that faith without works is dead. “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can his faith save him?… So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” The difference between the two is more than a matter of perspective. The difference is real.

The book of James takes on more issues than good works as a necessity for valid Christian faith. The author of James moves from issue to issue without bothering with connections. In some ways the book can be compared to the Old Testament book of Proverbs. If there is a central theme it could be characterized as “what does a Godly life look like?” The writer leaves us with snapshot after snapshot. What is never in doubt is that a confessed faith must be matched by behavior patterns that are consistent with the professed faith.

Jealousy, bitterness and selfish ambition all come under criticism and are delegated to the unspiritual and devilish. There is no place for gossip among the people of God. War and greed are treated in some length. The two are tied together by the author, who leaves no doubt that Christian faith is completely incompatible with war and greed.

The audiences for whom James wrote were third and fourth generation Christians. Understandably the first generations of Christians were absorbed in trying to figure out who Jesus truly was and the significance of his death. They were aggressively evangelistic and spread with amazing rapidity. In addition we need to be reminded that early Christian believers were apocalyptic believers who believed they would be translated into the next life without suffering death. By the time James wrote, reality had set in. Christians were going to live out their three score and 10 years. James had the courage to ask the crucial question. How are we to live our lives?

Rereading the book of James was a reminder of the writings and work of Walter Rauschenbusch. Rauschenbusch was a Baptist minister, who taught at Rochester Divinity School in the early 20th century in upstate New York. His most famous book was entitled “Christianity and the Social Crisis” published in 1907. He observed that dominant Christian churches were allied with the powerful and the wealthy. He called for a new social order that addressed the evils of concentration of wealth with the few, child labor that made the wealthy even wealthier and income disparity. His book set in motion the Christian social gospel movement in America.

As I read the book of James, I realized that James was challenging the social evils of his own day that were being commonly embraced by confessing Christians, and that Walter Rauschenbusch merely restated the message of James for the 20th century. It also is worthy of note that Martin Luther King Jr. gave credit to Walter Rauschenbusch as one of his mentors in the Christian faith.

Today in America we do not have a James, we do not have a Walter Rauschenbusch and we do not have a Martin Luther King Jr. to speak truth to power. I take note that James wrote to his fellow Christians. He railed against confessing believers who gave deference to the rich. Rauschenbusch spoke primarily to his own fellowship of believers knowing full well that John D. Rockefeller was a prominent member of his own denomination. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham Jail pointed his finger not at racists but at fellow clergy who counseled patience toward racial bigots.

James, Rauschenbusch, and King all spoke as deeply religious people. They used the language of faith. They called sin sin and evil evil.

Today in America we have an unholy concentration of wealth in the bank accounts of the few. The concentration of wealth that we see in America is not earned wealth, but wealth acquired 1) by manipulation of economic systems, 2) the abuse of labor, and 3) the evil of inheritance. What has taken place is not merely the result of benign economic systems. It is the evil of greed at work, and those who have structured the systems and benefited by the system are evil people.

In America we have no shortage of confessing Christians. Too many of them believe that the book of James should not be in the Bible.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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