In his Cru Press study of the New Testament Letter of James, Rick James identifies the letter’s main theme: maturity, or completeness (p. 8). Spiritual maturity integrates faith with life; immaturity allows for double-mindedness, even duplicity.
So what does this immaturity look like? James calls out an array of attitudes and behaviors, such as: wavering between faith and doubt (1:6-8); being hearers but not doers (1:22); showing favoritism toward the rich (2:1-7); claiming to have faith while lacking evidence of it in good works (2:14-26); reckless, hurtful speech (3:1-12); jealousy and selfish ambition (3:14); quarrels and conflicts (4:1-2); presumption about the future (4:13-17); trust in wealth (5:1-6); and grumbling (5:9). Healthy spiritual growth is stunted by such practices.
And remember, this NT epistle is addressed to churches. Over and over James prefaces his gritty warning and challenges by saying, “My brothers” (1:2, 16, 19; 2:1, 5, 14; 3:1, 10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19)—meaning fellow Christians, men and women.
So let me ask you (as I ask myself): how does it feel, week after week, to be confronted from Scripture about our spiritual immaturity? Are we tempted to say, “I hope so-and-so is listening”? Or are we honest enough to admit that we all struggle with spiritual growth—that James is God’s Word for us, for our church… and that we need it?
An expression of spiritual immaturity is the tendency to compartmentalize our faith—to set up spiritual “departments” in our lives, while other areas (and ambitions and pursuits and pleasures) are deemed “secular” and unrelated to life with God. But the sacred-secular dichotomy is off base. Wisdom admits that all of life is sacred; everything we do takes place in the presence of God.
It’s important that we take this rebuke rightly: the Lord is not out to condemn us. Rather, he admonishes us out of love. Yes, when James puts his finger on our sins, it stings. But it’s all for the best—for God’s honor and our joy, for the building up of believers and bearing witness to a lost world. The holiness of Christians and the humble, Christ-like servanthood of the church are all for good!
