James the Masochist
When we read today's passage, we would be quite justified in saying that James sounds like a masochist! Who in their right minds enjoys pain??? James urges his readers to consider trials with pure joy! How do you do that???
From the historical background information we have, scholars surmise that James' readers suffered from poverty, persecution, and even division. How on earth can James tell them to consider a trial to be something to be joyful about?
To make matters worse, James goes on to affirm something we have feared all along: that trials are not optional - they are an unavoidable reality. He does not say "Consider it pure joy if you face trials of many kinds..." - He says "whenever" ! Trials are not a matter of "if" but "when."
So how can James be so positive? He has his focus, not on the trial itself but on one of the possible outcomes of a trial. Depending on how we face the trial it can either weaken us or strengthen us.
As far as James is concerned, a trial can be a trail to a new destination. The testing of our faith is an opportunity to stick it out and to develop spiritual toughness. We don't develop muscles and fitness without sweating. When hardship crosses our path, it is an opportunity to grow in perseverance, maturity, and faith.
Learning to see the difference between an attitude that turns a hardship into a trial and the attitude that turns a hardship into a trail is not easy. This is why we need God's help to give us wisdom and insight. This is always a leap of faith! We can't sit on the the fence!
| Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.(James1:2-8) |
