Douglas Moo On Misunderstanding James 4 in Planning and Profit

We are going through the book of James on Sunday mornings and this is a good place to share some extra meat and scraps from the table:

"However, we need to guard against a misinterpretation at this point. It would be terribly tempting (and some interpreters have succumbed to the temptation) to find here a rebuke of those who are out to make a profit at all. The economic system we call capitalism, in other words, might be the real target of James’s polemic. But, whatever we might think about the compatibility of Christianity and the profit motive of capitalism, it would be wrong to find any critique here. As the following verses make clear, James is not rebuking these merchants for their plans or even for their desire to make a profit. He rebukes them rather for the this-worldly self-confidence that they exhibit in pursuing these goals—a danger, it must be said, to which businesspeople are particularly susceptible. And we should guard here against another kind of misinterpretation: the idea that James is forbidding Christians from all forms of planning or of concern for the future. Taking out life insurance and saving for retirement, for instance, are not condemned by James; these may very well be a form of wise stewardship. What James rebukes here, as v. 16 will make clear, is any kind of planning for the future that stems from human arrogance in our ability to determine the course of future events."

Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2000. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.

Dare To Be A Sinner… You Actually Already Are!

“Confess your faults one to another” (James 5:16). He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

"But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come, as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. “My son, give me thine heart” (Prov. 23.26). God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The mask you wear before men will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are, He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to go on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner...

"In confession the break-through to community takes place. Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the Gospel breaks into darkness and seclusion of the heart. The sin must be brought into the light. The unexpressed must be openly spoken and acknowledged. All that is secret and hidden is made manifest. It is a hard struggle until the sin is openly admitted. But God breaks the gates of brass and bars of iron (Ps. 107:16).

"Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of a Christian brother, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders; he gives up all his evil. He gives his heart to God, and he finds the forgiveness of all his sin in the fellowship of Jesus Christ and his brother.

"The expressed, acknowledged sin has lost all its power."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Thoughts on Fear While Ministering at the Hacienda

Empathy Not Sympathy

We recently had a time of testimony during a worship service about our outreach at the Hacienda (a recovery home for women coming out of addiction and incarceration). What stood out during this time was the great fear that many described they had to overcome.  Following the service, Alice Witt offered some helpful insights on our obvious (and perhaps misplaced) “fears” when dealing with people in recovery from addiction and prison. There is a real danger of pride in thinking that we are "better" than they are.  That because our sins are more respectable, we may become proud. And that some of our fear is related to this perception. I asked her to write out some thoughts for us, and with a few edits, they are below. They can help us take another step in learning how to love our neighbors in need.

People in recovery are frequently referred to as “those people.” You know, the scary ones with extra earrings, tattoos, extreme haircuts, and the lingering smell of nicotine. Their “sins” are obvious. The outward manifestations and consequences of their sin are visible to the world. Some of our sins are not so obvious, but the wreckage from all our sins is the same. And so is the price that Jesus had to pay for our redemption. ACTUALLY, I’m one of those people. Daily, I face the consequences of sin in my life.

Recovery really means learning how to live with and grow my scars, patterns of sin, and deepest struggles. “Those people” struggle with shame and trust issues at the core of their being. Trusting anyone could be dangerous. The answer for them is isolation and defensiveness. The antidote for shame is empathy, not sympathy. Empathy brings people together; sympathy can separate them. We may ask, what’s the difference? Actually, the terms are often confused. Empathy says, “Sister, I know. I struggle too.” Sympathy says, “I’m so sorry you struggle with that (inwardly thinking, “I’m so glad that’s not me”). We need to be loved in spite of the sin in our lives. We need to be loved by people who recognize that they too are deeply involved in heinous sin. All of us are “icky” and “messy."

When I think of working in recovery ministry I often feel self conscious because one of us is an outsider…probably me. The feeling is awkward because I wonder what I have to offer. If I have empathy, then what I may have to offer is a sense of hope. Hope because Jesus took my sin at the cross and He uses trials and temptations to make me more like Him. There is a real risk that we will be rejected by people in recovery if we bring the mentality of “doing good in the hood”. By this I mean doing anything that may make me feel good about myself because I helped out the heathen. We shouldn’t feel sorry for people we are trying to bring the message of hope to because feeling sorry causes shame. Unconsciously, this attitude can creep in when I think of ministering TO others. My efforts will be met with scorn if I somehow convey that my sin is not so bad as theirs. This is a ministry “with”, not ministry “to” people as we recognize our similarities not our differences… “brother I know. I’ve been divorced, drink too much, spend too much, use sarcasm, have had dishonest business dealings, cheat on my taxes, lie, steal, cheat, even Murder (there’s a new law in the land…).” In this ministry with our “brothers and sisters” in this brokenness, we must show them that we love them as they are, that we are no better than they are, and share with them the hope we have found in Jesus.

A number of years ago The Well Community Church found that when providing Christmas gifts for families who could not afford to buy Christmas gifts for their families, the father’s were conspicuously absent at the time of delivery. Inquiries led to the discovery that the fathers were feeling shame because they were not the ones providing gifts for their families. In subsequent years, church members continued to buy gifts but instead of delivering the gifts to the homes of each family, they used those gifts to stock their thrift store. Families were then invited to shop at the thrift store. Instead of avoiding the distribution of gifts, the father’s came and did the shopping. Instead of shame, they felt empowered as the providers for their families. Hope was instilled and shame healed.

Ministry to people in recovery must exude the attitude that we are each “one of those people.” I promise to love you in spite of your hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Will you love me, too, in spite of mine?