James presents believers with 2 kinds of wisdom… The wisdom of the world that leads to wisdom that is, “earthly, unspiritual, demonic.“ “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

Though every wild animal on earth has been tamed by mankind, the tongue still defies subjugation — that is, unless we submit our whole lives (including our words/speech) to the empowering presence and lordship of Jesus!

James 2:14-26 contrasts a faith that is false with a faith that actually does justify—a living faith that by its very nature reflects the One on whom our faith rests, delighting to love others in concrete ways.

There is a fundamental incompatibility of holding faith in Christ and showing partiality among people — especially based off social status. Favoritism and discrimination are violations of the Kingdom law of love.

If the content of our local churches don’t move us to do something — and if there aren’t people to do those things with and hold us accountable to do them — then we’re simply deceiving ourselves!

When James says, “count it all joy… when you face various trials,” he definitely has economic distress as one of those “various trials.” So what does it mean to be “lowly” and “boast in [our] exaltation?”

We hope you’ll join us as we move our Sunday Gathering outside this coming Sunday, May 7 at 10:30 AM. And to make things even more festive, we’re following it up with a catered Picnic.

“To ask for “wisdom” is almost to ask for an ability to “endure” with the ethic of Jesus (justice (1:20), love (2:8–11), and peace (3:18)) when pressure is put on people to live otherwise.” — Scot McKnight

As we dive into the book of James, we’ll see that he is calling us to live into true wisdom that embodies Jesus’ summary of the Torah by loving God and loving our neighbor.