James 1 - The Wisdom Of The Brother Of JesusНамуна

Seeing the end

One crucial aspect of true wisdom — of clarity about how to live God’s way — is understanding the endpoint of our existence. In 1:12, James stresses that the Christian life is lived in light of the future.

On the one hand, these words continue the subject of ‘trials’. On the other hand, they flag the themes of judgment and reward which permeate the letter (2:12-13; 4:12; 5:1-11). The sentence itself is a ‘beatitude’, that is, a statement of divine blessing similar to Jesus’ famous Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt 5:3-10).

The particular blessing mentioned by James is the ‘crown of life’. This is a metaphor taken from the ancient sporting arena. The Apostle Paul uses the same idea in 1 Cor 9:25: 

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (see also Rev 2:10).

The crown James refers to is ‘life’ itself, a place in God’s eternal kingdom. This life, says James, is guaranteed not by my perseverance but by God’s ‘promise’ to all who love Him, to all who fulfil the greatest commandment (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:38). It is not ‘good people’ as such who receive eternal life; it is those who are in right relationship with God. 

Living for now or then

James’ perspective on trials poses a challenge to society’s emphasis on the importance of living for now. Frequently in the modern world, the ‘moment’ is given precedence over the future. As a result, any particular hardship we experience in the present appears overwhelming and all-conquering; it steals the moment from us and so ruins the thing we value most. As a result, our resilience in the face of hardship is famously low. 

But if we are able to view life in the macro rather than in the micro, we will begin to see momentary hardships as part of a larger, more important, process of development as human beings. The trials experienced by Christians, urges James, can be viewed in just such a broader perspective, as part of the journey toward being fitted out for the future kingdom. If we value the future ‘crown’ more than any particular moment, we will be equipped to press on in the difficult and sad realities of existence now.