Ignoring James

A friend pointed out the other day that I seem to focus a good deal of attention on the New Testament Book of James. I thought about her comment a few minutes and realized she was right. James wrote a straight-forward, short letter to believers that says, “You want to call yourselves followers of the Risen Christ, then do this …” He doesn’t pull punches. He tells his readers there will be trials, tough times, pain and difficulty, but you go forward, “consider it all joy …” because these tests produce endurance. I still remember the first time I read those words when everything (no exaggeration, I mean everything) was lost. James’s words couldn’t be any clearer, I thought to myself sitting in that cell at the jail. Suck it up, tough it out, endure, persevere, overcome … have faith.

James is so blunt. Perhaps that comes from being the Lord’s half-brother (think about that: “Mom always treats you better … like you’re God!”); or perhaps James just understands that to be a believer you can’t just “talk the talk.” No, you have to “walk the walk.” As he puts it, “But prove yourself doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” I thought about those words the other afternoon as I once again saw the hypocrisy in our politicians’ words.

“Obama would rather spend money on food stamps than a strong military.” Those were the words put forth by former Vice-President Dick Cheney reacting to budgets and troop reductions in the Pentagon proposed by the Obama Administration. And, I thought of my Bible reading and remembered a number of instances where Jesus fed the masses and ministered to the poor. I couldn’t think of a single instance where the Savior told his followers to spend more on weapons. I thought about the Book of Judges’ Story of Gideon. How God told him to only use 300 soldiers, not 10,000, so that God could show by His power our enemies are vanquished. We profess we are a Christian nation yet we somehow think by our own hand, our own might, our military strength we live free. We are deluding ourselves. James reminds us to care for “the widows and orphans.” We are judged by our compassion and our mercy, not our human might.

Then there was the member of the Virginia House of Delegates who recently commented on the failure of a bill that would have drastically cut phone rates for inmates. Phone call rates for those behind bars – and their families – are beyond usurious. A twenty-minute, in-state call from the facility can run over $15.00. Why? Because the state signs exclusive, kickback contracts with one of three “corrections telephone system providers.” That provider then kicks back a percentage of the annual revenue to the state. Virginia derives $3 million from their sweetheart deal with CTL.

What did this politician say when pressed for comment on a bill that would have 1. made phone rates in prisons and jails the same as competitive rates on the streets, or 2. specifically earmark all monies “earned” by the state under the CTL contract for prison education and re-entry? He said, “They broke the law, they can pay the higher rates.”

Really? Let’s see … there are thousands of men and women sitting in jail cells who have not yet been convicted of anything. And for those who are convicted, over 90% will return to their communities. Most are from poor families (I know this will come as a shock to the delegate, but income disparity, education level, and race play significant rules in who ends up in prison). The Commonwealth talks out of both sides of its mouth. On the one hand, they spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to prepare incarcerated men and women for release and reintegration in their communities. And they know family connections are a major factor in a released offender’s success. On the other hand, the state has in place policies which bleed poor families. Outrageous phone rates lead to less family contact.

But this isn’t about economics; it’s about hypocrisy and “being a doer” of the world. This same delegate talks about the push toward marriage rights for gays as an affront to what God believes marriage should be. Well, here’s the thing about tossing your alleged Christian views into the mix. Most of the time, your views line you up with the Pharisees, not Jesus. I’d like the delegate to point out any case in the New Testament where Jesus turned his back on those who were different. He didn’t. In fact, he drew the outcasts closer. It was the Samaritan woman whom He explained to about the “water of life.” The lepers, the mentally ill, the blind and deaf were made whole. It was a law-breaker (the adulterous woman) through whom Jesus taught us to avoid judgment because in God’s eyes, we are all sinners. And, it was the thief on the cross who full of remorse for his wrongdoing was given eternal life.

We live in a world that professes one thing and does another. Jesus never denied aid to a hurting person based on their race, creed, nationality, or sexual orientation. Jesus never sided with those living by their definition of the law; He sided with those living the law in their hearts. And so it goes today. Are we really much different from Palestine in AD 30?

“If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in the mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”

James was pretty clear with his admonitions to believers. Seems like its time we start paying attention to what he said.