James 4: 1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts.
Unvarnished Christian thought – that’s what James provides. James speaks like he knows those thoughts you and I manage to keep swept under the rug. He knows we sin. He knows we sin a lot. He knows we think about our sin a lot. He knows we think about other people’s sinning so that we don’t think about our own sin so much.
James will never be as popular as Saint Paul, whose letters populate the new testament with tales (almost swashbuckling ones) of his travels, and ministry, “a prisoner for Christ”, but James doesn’t tell tales – he exposes truths. And he doesn’t softpedal the truth. We are people who sin. A lot. and we are good at it. Telling small lies that make us look better to the world at large – coveting our neighbor’s goods – these are the stuff of daily life for humanity. We seem to always be trying to make up for our shortcoming by shaving a bit off of our neighbors’ achievements.
James is hard to read. That’s why we should. Because a little unvarnished Christian truth is good for the soul. – Pastor P