The Epistle of James:
A Book by Jimmy*
Courtney Allen
The Life-Context of the Interpretation
In
I
live in southeastern
Although Southern religion is socially practiced, its focus is rarely on social justice or on practicing a ‘social gospel’ of how Christians are to interact with the world. People go to church and believe in certain principles, but a call to social action is not an obligatory part of faith for many. Many issues such as slavery, the rebel flag, racism, and homophobia are not addressed from the pulpit. It seems as though southern religious
people embrace their religion to justify what is going on around them rather than to use their faith as a catalyst to promote change in the community and further God's kingdom. Often, works are not important because salvation is understood to be received through faith alone.
I
also come to the text as a student at a prestigious university. The student population at Vanderbilt is known
to have one of the highest expendable incomes of any student body around. The number of designer handbags and luxury
cars owned by students would probably shock you. But, two blocks away from the university
great poverty exists. There is always
someone asking for money at the local businesses across the street. The projects are not far away, and 2,000-3,000
homeless people live just down the street in the dark and sometimes not so
hidden corners of downtown
But,
mostly I come to this text as a person who cares deeply about the community
that exists outside of the bubble. I
work closely with the community that is often hidden and excluded by those who
have so much, and I am interested in this community interprets the book of
James. I have had the opportunity to
form relationships with members of the homeless community through an incredible
program called Room in the
b) Analyzing the Life Context
The
book of James will be read by a community of believers who do not have the
riches of the world. But, needless to
say, the lack of riches of the world does not preclude individuals from
interpreting scripture through their own lens.
Ironically, the ways in which the context of homelessness affects how an
individual reads scripture hold great riches.
One very observant reader named David, mentioned that Jesus himself was
homeless (a thought I had never considered).
But as Matthew
There
are several parts of the text that resonated strongly with this community and
with me. James says that the rich will
be brought low and even disappear.
Material goods are not considered useful or even greatly meaningful to
the community. For me, material goods
are a struggle between what and how much is truly necessary or needed and what
is unneeded and unnecessary. As the
community and I read in the midst of a place that suffers from ‘affluenza,’ the
distinction between basic needs and excess is hard to determine (but still, more
difficult for me). The exclusion of this
group of believers from many places in the city and often by the people of God
is an important part of the context. The
community sees that there are 1500 churches in the
A
problem exists between how marginalized members of the community are treated by
religious groups who understand themselves as the people of God, specifically
members of well-off congregations in
The text produces the above questions for me, but obviously different questions and teachings for the homeless community. The teaching of the text involves the importance of endurance and emulating Christ not merely by following the letter of the law, but by doing more than what is called for. Another teaching of the text involves not making broad generalizations about the goodness of the poor and impiety of the rich, for good and bad exist within each group. The group reading helped me rethink the way I have dichotomized the rich and poor. David pointed out that my attitude toward the rich and the poor does not need to be so slanted toward those without the riches of the world.
This
context is in many ways different from the life-context of Cristina Conti from
Conti,
the homeless community, and I do share a context of economic disparity and
social injustices. A large gap between
the rich and poor exists in each of our countries. But, in
Conti’s
interpretation finds James to be uplifting, hopeful, and empowering. She views the text as an “empowering word”
which reinforces her community’s identity as a part of the family of God
(Patte, 59). Based on the community
reading, the book of James reflects a message of how to get along in the world,
although this brings its challenges and reinforces one’s identity as part of
the family of God. This reading
understands the text as “family album” because it reinforces for the homeless
community their identity as a member of the family of God (Patte, 59). But for me, there is an element of
frustration with the failure of others to respond to the call of being “doers
of the word.” I view the scripture as a
“corrective glasses” that show what is acceptable in the
Contextual Commentary
Overview of the Book of James
The book of James is a book that does not disclose many details about where or when it was composed. Consequently, the book seems to have a universal message that still speaks directly to communities of believers today, but of course it is written for a specific context with its own cultural and religious understandings of the universe. The book does not deal with issues of a specific community, but it examines some universal problems of community life and temptations of the human heart. Although some disagreement exists, the book of James is believed to be composed by James of Jerusalem, the brother of Jesus. But, there is no solid basis for this assumption.
It
is interesting to note the understanding of the book of James for Christians
such as Martin Luther and how the book the book has been accepted or rejected
to promote a specific theology or doctrine.
Luther referred to the book as an “an epistle of straw” because he
believed deeply in justification through faith alone and not works. This belief later became one of the
fundamental principles of Protestantism.
Although one of the great reformers of the Christian tradition did not
accept James as an important or legitimate book of scripture, it has important
lessons for Condi, the homeless community, and me in our current life
contexts.
The
book of James is clearly on the side of the marginalized and excluded. The sympathy that James expresses greatly
differs from the attitude present at my ‘prestigious’ university. The author creates sharp moral contrasts
(2:8-13,
A
situation that occurred in the midst of the community reading of James speaks
to these distinctions. If you are clean,
you are allowed certain privileges. If
you are dirty, you are not permitted to share the table with those who are
clean. James says that it is impossible
to love God and love the world. It is
impossible to have faith without works.
And, it is not right to be partial or exclusive to others who are not
like us. The distinctions that James
makes as well as the demands that he makes of Christians, directly relate to
the decisions that we must make in our own lives today. As a Christian, can my faith be the only
necessary part of my Christianity? Or is
it required that I be socially engaged and advocate for those who are
understood as powerless? As a member of
the homeless community, how do you react when you are excluded by those in
power?
A
simple outline of the book goes as follows (Adapted from The Student’s Chronological New Testament):
Introduction 1:1
a. Dangers of the tongue (equated
with rudder, fire, spring, fig tree)
The outline above is adapted from the Student’s Chronological New Testament, which is edited by A. T. Robertson. The outline is interestingly enough presented as a non-interpretive outline. The original outline only included the numbered main headings, while the lettered subheadings were added by me. The editor of The Student’s Chronological New Testament considers this a non-interpretive outline because the main headings do not ascribe any instructional value in themselves. The editor does not interpret the specific nature of how to take trials or how to show one’s faith; he just states that there are instructions concerning how to act regarding these situations. This claim by the author regarding the non-interpretive nature of his outline is arguable.
The way in which Robertson (and I) ground the reading in the text is by focusing on the subversive thrust of the text (Patte, 61). I emphasize the struggles for justice within the text. The church, as a religious authority, is examined in terms of what the text advocates for believing communities. This subversive thrust clashes with what is considered good in society (and in my university). This emphasis of the text attacks the predominant value system that is acceptable in my culture.
Conti analyzes the text in terms of
its structural nature. She makes an
analytical choice of focusing on the symbolic message of James (Patte,
61). She looks at the text in terms of
which topics are addressed and the order in which those topics are
presented. She understands the author of
James to have written in a concentric structure with the main message of the entire
text at the center. James has an order
and coherence that frames the text and its main message with the verses on each
side of the center sharing a parallel meaning.
Conti emphasizes the construction of the text as a coded feature which conveys
the religious meaning to her community in
The
main passages that the community reading focused on are as follows:
James 1:1-4 How to take trials and the importance of
endurance
“My brothers and sisters, whenever you face
trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the
testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full
effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James 1:9-10 Justice
between the rich and the poor at a future time
“Let the believer who is lowly boast in
being raised up, and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will
disappear like flower in the field.”
James 2:1-4 On not showing partiality towards rich or
poor in public worship
“My brothers and sisters, do you with your
acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a
person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a
poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one
wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here, please,” while to the one
who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or “sit at my feet,” have you not made
distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
James 2:5-7 The
poor as divinely chosen to be rich in faith
“Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor
in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has
promised to those who love him? But
you have dishonoured the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not
they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name
that was invoked over you?”
James 1:22-25 Doers of the Word
“But be doers of the word, and not merely
hearers who deceive themselves. For if
any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at
themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away,
immediately forget what they look like.
But law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but
doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing.”
Analysis
of the Text and Contextual Issues
These
passages listed above were each discussed with members of the homeless
community, specifically those who participated in Room in the
James 1:1-4 How to
Take Trials and the Importance of Endurance
In
this passage, the writer describes how the people of God should approach
trials. Hard times should cause the
people of God to be joyous because endurance is being learned. When this endurance is fully realized, a
level of completeness exists. During the
reading at McDonald’s, David said that he believed the passage meant that he
should be grateful for his adverse conditions.
Another man named Matthew said that he would not trade his experience
with homelessness for anything because he had learned so much from it. He had had experiences and realizations that
he would have never had, if he had not seen the world from the perspective of
the homeless community. Although the
experience of being homeless is a trial, he agreed that it had produced
endurance in him, and eventually, a broader more inclusive world view. David mentioned that as the “end of time”
approaches, God wants more and more people to endure a similar lifestyle as that of Jesus (This man understands
Jesus to be homeless himself (Matt.
In
my own life, the trials that I face are very different than those of the
homeless community. It is not a struggle
for me to have three meals a day and a warm place to sleep at night. The trials that I endure in my everyday life
are many times miniscule in comparison to this group of people. But, there are real trials and hard times
that I go through. Having one’s basic
needs cared for does not negate the existence of other true trials and
hardships, whether they be emotional or physical. In the past year five members of my family
have died, all from different causes, but my life context has not necessarily
made it easier to endure. This has
definitely been a series of trials that have been difficult and wearying to
endure. Obviously, all people of all
walks of life face trials and must endure.
I find this teaching from James to be important and comforting. The text says, “Let endurance have its full
effect, so that you may be mature and lacking in nothing.” This teaching reminds me how each hardship
and experience that I face affects who I am, and eventually can help produce a
more mature faith.
James 1:9-11 Justice between the Rich and the Poor at a
Future Time
For
the group that read the passage together, the idea of the flowers withering
meant that the rich would find out that their riches will not sustain
them. One man said that the riches
metaphorically disappear because the riches have not been “doing the rich any
good anyway.” When asked about the stark
contrasts between the rich and the poor in the
When
asked why humans have not learned to share in 2,000 years, a reader mentioned
that it is hard to let go of security, and many people see the riches of the
world as security. The point of the
metaphor is to give oneself away and trust God.
The rich have a fear of losing everything, according to this group of
homeless men. The rich must protect
their own ideals and they do not want to face the fact that a person could have
a happy or satisfied life without all of the possessions. If you can be satisfied without the
possessions of the world, what value could a person who is constantly trying to
acquire more have?
This passage is a difficult one for me. It puts things in such a stark contrast. If the first two verses of the text are read literally (and I am not sure how else to read it), the text makes me very uncomfortable. It concerns me because the place that I come from (i.e. my family) lacks nothing that is essential, and has an excess of almost everything. There is a great deal of “security” in the life that I live, and it is hard for me to let go of this security, as David pointed out. Then, this provokes the question of whether or not I am called to let go of all this security. Another part of the passage that concerns me is the part about the rich withering away in the midst of a busy life. My family does lead a “busy” life, and the text says they will wither away. But, out of the same busy place, are a group of kind-hearted and loving people who are “doers of the word” and people of God. From these verses stems a deeper question that haunts me: Can a person be rich and be a Christian? In this question the contextual and the theological intersect.
Conti understands this passage as a critique to the rich in the church. A humble person can boast in being exalted by God. But, the rich brother who does not become humble can boast in his humiliation. Conti does not expound on what she considers to be the root problem in her context, only that the humiliation of the rich could affect their social and economic status.
James 2:1-4 On not Showing Partiality towards Rich or
Poor in Public Worship
This
passage was the most directly related part of the text to the immediate life
context of the homeless men. On the
morning that the reading occurred, a very interesting and unbelievable thing
happened. As mentioned earlier, signs
prohibiting backpacks or bags hang on the doors to the McDonald’s. As I entered the restaurant with several of
the homeless men, I was carrying a large bag with books and papers. But, I ordered my breakfast with no trouble
at all. No one threatened me or asked me
to leave because of my bag.
After
we sat down in a booth to eat our breakfast and begin the reading, a Native
American man walked over to our table and said, “I’m not asking you for any
money, but could I just have a bite of something?” We said of course, and asked Johnny to sit
down with us. We shared a cup of coffee
and he ate some hash-browns with us. Johnny said that he had not eaten for
several days, and he was stranded in
After
a few minutes of conversation, the manager of the store came over and tapped Johnny
on the shoulder. He said that it was
time for Johnny to leave the restaurant because the police were there. Apparently, the manager had called the police
in order to force Johnny to leave for no apparent reason. I looked up at the manager with a confused
look and said that we were all just sharing some breakfast together and having
a conversation. I told him there was
nothing going on at our table and that there was no reason for Johnny to have
to leave. He finally conceded and
allowed Johnny to stay with us. The manager
still didn’t say anything about my large
bag.
Then,
David pointed out to me that the situation that had just transpired was exactly
what the book of James describes in 2:1-4.
I honestly did not even know what to think. Our new friend Johnny had been purposefully
excluded because of the clothes he was wearing and because of his current life
situation. I was wearing clean clothes,
but I was carrying a large bag, which the McDonald’s prohibited (but it seemed
to only apply if you are homeless). He
was not clean, but had no bag. One man
at the table explained that these sorts of things happen all the time to
members of the homeless community. They
are explicitly excluded from public places.
If you are dressed a certain way, you can sit on a park bench all day
long. But, if you are carrying a
backpack and do not look very clean, you are almost guaranteed to receive a
citation for vagrancy. This is the
‘free’ country that we live in. The
contextual problem is the lack of freedom from judgment that this group faces,
based purely on their exterior appearance.
David,
who sat at the table and witnessed the interaction between Johnny, the manager,
and me, said that if a person or a group is partial to one person over another,
it is a sign of a lack of integrity. For
David, all parts must fit together or coincide if integrity is to exist. He believes that when people act in a
condescending way toward others, it is a sign of a conflict in one’s state of
mind. David said that Christians are
supposed to lose their ego and attitude.
He said we need to replace the “I, me, and mine” of ourselves with “Us,
our, and we” as part of the whole. He
believes that Christians should not have condescending or judgmental feelings
toward others, but they should have feelings of peace and inclusiveness. For David, the goal is to feel peace toward
one’s neighbors. “Making distinctions”
is not part of how David understands the
I
asked the table of men what they thought this passage says to the people of God
in our community who do not open their doors for Room in the
This
passage resonates strongly with me in the way that I strive to interact with
all others. I do not want to exclude
people or be partial to some. To do so,
especially in the name of God, is against who I want to be and also against the
way I view the
I
sat down and talked to this man, named Robert.
I asked if he had been at the Campus for Human Development when we
picked the guests up, and he responded with an honest “no.” After a few minutes of conversation, I
realized that
This
was such an incredibly hard situation for me to handle. I believe strongly in these four verses from
James, and I felt that I was acting out what I despise so much. To have to close the door of the church, the
house of God, in the face of someone who did not have everything that he needed
was so difficult. I felt that it was so
contrary to the message that I try to live out.
But, as
This
passage is part of what Christina Conti considers to be at the center of the
concentric structure of James. Through
her emphasis of the text as a symbolic message, this passage is part of the
central meaning of the book: faith in Jesus and partiality toward others are incompatible. Conti believes that the text proves that
others cannot be judged by appearance.
When the rich man and the poor man are described, Conti points out that
nothing is said about the internal aspects of these individuals, which further
highlights the way that discrimination and partiality are based purely on the
external. Conti sees the root problem of
partiality as the wrong will of the rich.
The rich do not have the will or understanding to allow the poor to sit
anywhere besides below them. There is a lack of understanding the poor as
having human dignity.
James 2:5-7 The Poor as Divinely
The
reading of this passage provoked some interesting questions from those who read
it. One part of verse 6 was questionable
to David from a socio-historical standpoint.
He said, “Is it always the rich
who drag us into court? Today, the poor will sue you, too!” Someone asked if the poor of James’s day were
that different from the poor in
David
wanted to expand the admonishment of the rich in verse 7 to all who do not
follow God’s commandments. He said that
we defame the name of God when we do not give God the proper credence. He felt that these verses made blanket
statements about the rich and the poor that may not necessarily be true. “A lot of the poor are thieves and there are
a lot that you do not want to be around,” he told me. For him, the text may give too much credit to
some and not enough to others. He found
a certain bias in the text itself.
The men did not choose to
focus on verse 5 of this passage as I had expected. But, again, this was my attempt to read the
passage for
the community and not with the
community. Verse 5 of this passage
proposes that the poor are chosen by God to be rich in faith and to be heirs of
the
Christina
Conti notes that the word used for the poor in these verses is the word ptochoi, which refers to people who
“have neither work nor means of life.”
These people are forced into begging.
In her context, the ptochoi
are the unemployed, the homeless, the children who live in the streets, and all
who are below the poverty line. She says,
“Their lives depend on the charity of other people and on the mercy of
God.” Consequently, Conti believes that
the church and the people of God should have a message of hope in the face of a
seemingly hopeless situation. This
passage means that God “disapproves of inequality and favoritism, oppression
and injustice, and anything that might hinder the freedom and dignity of any
person.” The root problem in the context
of
James 1:22-25 Doers of the Word
When
asked what it means to be doers of the word, one response was to live, to try
to emulate the Christ, and follow the commandments. But then, another element was added to what
these verses mean. For one man, to be a
doer of the word means more than just following the letter of law. It is doing ‘extra’ like giving someone your
cloak as well (Matt.
He
gave the example of the poor widow from Luke 21:1-4 who contributed two small
coins even in her poverty, which was all she had to live on. On our way into McDonald’s that morning, I
witnessed David do this exact thing. A
man approached our group, asking for gas money.
I handed him a small amount, and I looked over to see that David was
opening his wallet to give the man money as well! David had two dollars in his wallet, and he
gave the man half of what he had. This
was an incredible act to witness. David
was the woman with the two small coins that morning.
But,
as we spoke more about what it meant to be doers of the word, David talked
about how scary it could be. He said,
“What if you give your only food to someone else? Is God going to sustain you
and provide for you later?” This was an
important question and understandable fear for someone in David’s
position. This could relate back to the
fear that one of the men mentioned as the reason that the rich cannot surrender
their possessions.
As
mentioned earlier, there are only 155 out of 1500 churches in the area who
participate in Room in the
To
be a “doer of the word” for me means to live out a social gospel that does not
make exceptions for some and not for others.
It means being in solidarity with the marginalized. It means listening to the needs that exist
and then acting upon them. It means
being an advocate for those who are powerless, in the sense that government and
society as a whole do not designate them as having power. Being a doer of the word means living as a
person of God not in isolation, but living as a person of God in this world, with all of its problems,
hurt, and injustice.
Christina Conti understands being a doer of the word as not only assisting those in need, but by teaching them how to help themselves and affirming their true humanity. She addresses the root problem of powerlessness by empowering the powerless as well as those empowered to assist others, all through the text of James. Conti views scripture as empowering word for her community (Patte, 61). The book of James provides a hope and an image of a new reality in which the powerless are empowered through affirmation of one’s true humanity.
Other
Issues
There
were several concepts that came up in the discussion that were not directly addressed
by the text. For instance, David
mentioned that the treasures of heaven were not mentioned in the book of
James. Because this was omitted, James
was trying to tell his readers how to live in the present. David says we should follow the themes and
concepts of James not because of what we ‘get’ from our deeds, but because it
is just the right thing to do. David’s
observation illustrates his non-consequentialist model of the moral life
(Patte, 69). David seems to employ a
deontological understanding of the moral life through which the book of James
illustrates obligations toward others and toward God.
For
some, the overall message of James was this.
Trust God above all things. Do
not think about what you can do to better your life, but think about what God
can do. It is a test to be rich or
poor. You will face battles and
struggles either way. David said that the poor should not understand this text
to mean that they are excluded from helping others or following the
commandments of God.
Comparison
of the Three Interpretations and Overall Conclusions
Each contextual interpretation, that of the homeless community, my own, and Conti’s, bring different concepts and understandings to the table because each is based in its own understanding of the world and of God. Conti focused on the structural aspects of the text, and then used the model of a concentric meaning to approach the central message of the text. She made an analytical choice to focus on the text as a symbolic message. The homeless community and I looked at specific passages and tried to understand each from our respective contexts. I made the analytical choice to focus on the subversive thrust dimension of the text, while many of the readers in the homeless community chose to focus on the voices from the margin dimension of the text.
Conti wants the church and the people of God to have a message of hope in the midst of a hopeless situation. But, she cautions this understanding of the text by saying that it must not be used as “an escapism” that causes the marginalized to accept their current situation and focus on an eschatological end. She focuses on empowering the powerless because lack of power is how she understands the root problem in her context. Because she recognizes the root problem in her context as such, the role of scripture in her interpretation is that of empowering word.
David, Johnny, Gary, and Matthew want the lines between poor and rich to be less rigid. The poor are not exempt from following the commandments and being doers of the word as well. All of the poor are not good, and all of the rich are not bad. They look at the existence of a ‘wrong will’ in many of the poor and a lack of will to help in many of the rich or privileged. Overall, it seems that these members of the homeless community view scripture as family album, or as a way to reinforce their place and identity in the family of God.
From
my own context of interpretation, I find that the book of James encapsulates my
beliefs about my role as a Christian living in the world and in the midst of
those who go without. The book of James
provides words of hope and words of challenge for me, as a “rich” student at a
prestigious university, but also as a socially engaged person in solidarity
with a marginalized group. One of the
theological issues that the book brings up for me is how a group can be the people
of God, but not act. A lack of action in
others, especially the many churches in
Throughout this paper, the question has been, for whom is the teaching of this text? But, the teaching is different for Christina Conti, for the homeless community, and for me. The way that each of us understands the role of God in our lives and our role as the people of God in the world differs. But, one central message that came from each interpretation was that we all (even the homeless community) have an obligation and a call to listen to the needs of others and to be in relationship with others. Whether it be by empowering others to help themselves, by giving out half of what you have as David has done, or by understanding the duty to let go of some security, being a doer of the word requires an action. The ways in which being a doer of the word manifests itself changes for each context because in each context people have different offerings.
This project has been a journey for me. It has helped me learn how to listen to others. My own frustrations in the lack of social action of others has been negated by my own search for what the book of James calls me to relinquish. I am thankful for all of the wisdom and insight that David, Gary, Johnny, and Matthew have provided me. They helped me see a different story in James, a story that I could never predicted they would tell.
Short Bibliography
Conti, Christina. “James.” The Global Bible Commentary. ed. Daniel Patte
David Smith
Gary McDonald
Johnny Mann
Luther, Martin
1522.
Preface to the New Testament.
.
Matthew Smith
Patte, Daniel
1999. The
Challenge of Discipleship.
Robertson, A. T.
1904.
The Student’s Chronological New Testament.
Stagg, Frank.
Fall 1969. “Analysis to the Book of James.”
Review and Expositor 66: 365-368.
*
The names listed above are fictional names, which refer to experiences with
actual people, although some characters may be compilations of several
individuals.