What's Good?
"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing." - James 1:2-4
Every time I read the above passage, I just want to meet James and say, "YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" But then I remember, that's not anger, it's just conviction, and I probably need to change my attitude concerning what things are trials, what things test my faith, what things produce endurance, and what things make me mature and complete. Maybe that would be the mature and complete thing to do, right?
We live in a nation where the poverty line for a single person in most states is at just under $12,000, and where the poverty rate for the regular sized family (4) is just under $25,000. Those are poverty rates. We spend more time in the US complaining about lattes, Netflix, cheeseburgers, and cars than most people have opportunity to complain about actually necessities such as water, shelter, clothing, food, work, and finances to obtain these things. I think the types of trials we come across matter, don't get me wrong, but we do need to check what these trials are rooted in.
A trial or temptation that is referred to here is something that tests with enticement to sin, to walk away from divine call, or to come across adversity that challenges character. These can be called 'bad' things to many people. These bad things can take a number of different images and roles. Disease can strike a family as a bad thing. Hunger is striking nations as a bad thing. For some, governmental structures are bad things. For others still, the undercooked steak is a bad thing.
As I recognized the places of complaining in my own life and came to grips with how self-asorbed I have become in this culture, I realized the beauty of dealing with bad things. I realized that our descriptions have come through the lens of temporal culture rather than through an eternal King and His eternal Kingdom. It's no wonder the grocery store or mail office has turned into a playground of impatient children trying to complain their way to completing tasks. This is because the vision is rooted in time, not eternity.
Through an eternal vision we are able to understand that the bad things that take place, that test us, that give us struggle, are not our identity. We are not diseases, we are not our complaints--even though I have been introduced to hundreds of people named Hungry or Thirsty--we are not the bad things. In, through, for and because of Christ, we are identified by the Only Good One. We are empowered to recognize that when we are in the midst of bad things, we are defined by the Good One still.
I believe James knew this in writing to these early Christians suffering from very heavy persecution under the Roman empire. He knew that these Christians, both rich and poor, were united under their common adoption into the Father's lineage, and their common confession of Christ as Lord and Savior. I believe He knew that this encouragement to them was a reminder that their eternal reward outweighed any temporal affliction, and that Christ is far more worth suffering for now, because it's the only time in eternity that we suffer.
As I reflect on the bad things and rejoicing in them, I am reminded that happiness is a feeling, but joy is a gift. Although I may not feel happy, I can still receive and live in joy no matter the season or testing. I can rejoice in the fact that I cannot understand good things without having an understanding of bad or hard things. In fact, it's the hard things that make the good things good.
Finally, I can rejoice because as I recognize that the testing done in time does not happen in eternally--remember we are being made whole, mature, and complete--I can recognize that the I don't deserve good things anyway. In fact, I am promised bad things, tests, trials, etc. Jesus says in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trial and tribulation, but take heart, for I have overcome the world." This is what we rejoice in: Jesus, the conquering King.
Alright James, maybe you do know me after all, and maybe I need to step back from my first world problems to recognize that the Kingdom is bigger than my complaints. Maybe I need to recognize the larger process and take heart in the overcoming Lord's heart. In the end, that's the only place that joy can be found anyways. Consider it pure joy friends, now is now, eternity is forever.
