“another command that has often been misinterpreted in the history of the church”
Download discussion questions: James 1:5-8
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I encourage you to look at the passage in James before you read this Blog entry. What do you see in the text yourself? What questions come to your mind? How would you interpret what the writer says? After even a few minutes examining and thinking about the text you will be much better prepared to evaluate the comments in the Blog.
James opened his letter linking joy and trials. Our discussion last week verified his assumption that wisdom should be his next topic. As group members commented, “I kind of understand, but it’s still difficult” and “It sounds dumb and makes no sense.” Someone observed that the mention of joy should give us peace, but the immediate connection with trials shocks us back to reality. Perhaps James anticipated such reactions.
Without Reproach
James invited honest discussion. He reassured his readers that asking for wisdom is appropriate since God gives “without reproach.” We discussed the word “reproach” and why that might be a concern.
The synonyms for reproach included scold or criticize or even mock. The fear might be that God would respond with something like, “What, you haven’t got it yet? Don’t you know that by now?” Someone pointed out the underlying anxiety of disappointing God. What if we don’t meet His expectations for us. But another person offered that an all-knowing God has no unmet expectations. He knows all about our weaknesses and limitations.
For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
Psalm 103:14
We may think, “I should be further along in spiritual formation” or “I should understand this.” God knows better. Confessing our desperate need for wisdom will never bring His reproach. On the contrary, acknowledging that need is key to hearing His response.
God meets us where we are to empower us to move closer to where we long to be. He does not meet us where we pretend to be, or where we wish we were, or where in better days we once were. He meets us where we confess to be.[1]
As one person said, “He doesn’t fault us for struggling.” Another pointed back to our recent study of Hebrews. Even in our struggles and questions, we can come boldly to God with confidence because of the work of Jesus (Hebrews 4:16, 10:19).
Asking for Wisdom
We discussed the type of wisdom we might be asking for. Several natural questions seemed to miss the point of “Consider it all joy…”
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- “What do I do?” This is often an abbreviated version of, “What do I do to get out of this trial?” Common-sense solutions to difficulties are fine. The problem comes when we feel we must manage circumstances and manipulate people to get a desired outcome.
- “How do I endure?” Again, this can be shorthand for, “How do I endure until this trial ends?” But that can be an impossible problem when no end is in sight.
- “Why is God doing/allowing/causing this?” Questioning God’s motives or intentions is not likely to lead to our joy.
One group member suggested a better question that focused on trusting in God’s loving, wise, sovereign actions: “How can I rest in His providential peace?” The “perfect result” (v. 4) is all about how we view God.
Doubt
James is never satisfied with spiritual clichés or superficial agreement. He turns immediately to the awkward, uncomfortable topic of doubt. The person seeking wisdom from God about “Consider it all joy…” must “ask in faith without any doubting” (v. 6a). One scholar includes this as “another command that has often been misinterpreted in the history of the church.”[2]
Most (probably all) of the members of our group have first-hand experience of that misinterpretation. Many Christians, sometimes whole churches, are eager to classify any question or difficulty as disqualifying doubt. If James writes “one punch in the face after another,” his abrupt disapproval of doubt certainly qualifies.
Past misinterpretations of that particular punch have caused many (including some in our group) to question the genuineness of their own faith. In extreme cases individuals can give up on an impossible demand and abandon the faith altogether. Even in our group, a couple of members were hesitant to study the letter of James because of previous disturbing experiences.
So how are we to understand James? What does he mean by the word “doubt” (διακρίνω, diakrinō), used twice in verse 6. Often comparing translations can shed light on nuances of meaning, but almost all English translations use the same word.[3] A member of our discussion asked a good question, “What if James’s use of ‘doubt’ isn’t what it seems at face value?”
The intention was not to manipulate the words or meanings of Scripture to adapt to our comfort zone. The goal is to explore how our twenty-first-century English word corresponds to the first-century vocabulary James used. Translating is never a mathematical one-to-one word association exercise. Most words in every language have a range of meanings. Interpretation benefits from exploring the overlap of meanings between the different languages.
The consensus of our group confirmed that the English word “doubt” is generally negative. But the New Testament uses the same word (diakrinō) several times with a positive sense.
For example:[4]
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- Matthew 16:3 You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky …
- Acts 10:20 But get up, go down, and accompany them without hesitation …
- Acts 15:9 [God] made no distinction between us and [Gentiles], cleansing their hearts by faith.
- 1 Corinthians 6:5 Is there no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between his brothers …
- 1 Corinthians 11:29 For the one who eats and drinks without discerning the body …
(For more information on finding English uses of a Greek word, see Word Studies With Bible Hub.)
So diakrinō can mean observing the wind and temperature and clouds to decide if taking the boat out is a good idea (Matthew 16). It can mean providing salvation without considering race or religious background (Acts 16). The same word James uses can mean hearing evidence, considering facts, evaluating circumstances to come to a just decision (1 Corinthians 6). It can mean to think carefully about sharing the elements of Communion as a community in order to come with the appropriate attitude (1 Corinthians 11).
The most helpful example from Scripture (and the one that matches the grammar of James most closely) is in Acts 10. Peter has received a most perplexing command from the Lord, and he was in a most uncomfortable situation. A vision about eating unclean animals was followed by a visit from Gentiles. But the Spirit’s clear instruction was that he should accompany the Gentiles “without hesitation,” without stopping to evaluate or trying to calculate the pros and cons and then decide what to do.
There is a common thread through all those examples (interpret, hesitate, distinguish, settle, discern – all translations of diakrinō). In each case there are the elements of observing, evaluating and weighing facts, then finally choosing what to do. Perhaps a general translation would be, “Analyze the options and then decide on the logical, appropriate action.”
[diakrinō] means to be in a critical state of mind, which is obviously the antithesis to that of him who has faith; it excludes faith ipso facto[5]
The doubt that James disallows is not the occasional question or difficulty. His concern is for “one who lives in an inner conflict between trust and distrust of God,”[6] constantly weighing and comparing outcomes in questions of trust and obedience.
Scripture includes at least one clear illustration of “wavering” (diakrinō) that was not disqualifying doubt.
Paul uses the same word in his description of Abraham’s faith. Abraham, Paul says, ‘did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God’ (Rom. 4:20). Paul, of course, is well aware that Abraham did, in fact, doubt God’s promise on at lease one occasion, greeting God’s promise about his son with laughter (Gen. 17:15-18). Paul’s point is not that Abraham never entertained any doubt about God’s promise but that Abraham, over many years, displayed a consistency in his faith in God. James is not, then, here claiming that prayers will never be answered where any degree of doubt exists – for some degree of doubt on at least some occasions is probably inevitable in our present state of weakness. Rather, he wants us to understand that God responds to us only when our lives reflect a basic consistency of purpose and intent: a spiritual integrity.[7]
And remember, Abraham didn’t just laugh in that Genesis passage, he “fell on his face and laughed” and then tried to negotiate with God in favor of Ishmael. But even that attitude and behavior was not considered “wavering” in Paul’s account in Romans.
The warning of James fits with those other shades of diakrinō – the evaluating and analyzing and deciding how to respond.
James is probably thinking of a strong kind of doubting: a basic division within the believer that brings about wavering and inconsistency of attitude toward God.[8]
The Spirit exhorted Peter to act without hesitation in spite of perplexing circumstances. Likewise, in the perplexing circumstances of our trials, we are to respond without hesitation. We are to “Consider it all joy…” without requiring an understanding of exactly what God is doing or why. We are not to doubt the truth of James 1:2-4. Even in trials, the endurance God is working in us is a cause for joy.
[1] Larry Crabb, Fully Alive (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2013), 172.
[2] Craig L. Blomberg, and Mariam J. Kamell, James, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 52.
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/James%201:6
[4] Examples are translations from https://www.billmounce.com/greek-dictionary/diakrino
[5] W.E. Oesterley, The General Epistle of James, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume Four (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976), 423.
[6] Peter H. Davids, The Epistle of James, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (NIGTC) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), 73 (quoting Mussner, Der Jakobusbrief); emphasis added.
[7] Douglas Moo, The Letter of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2000), 60-61.
[8] Douglas Moo, The Letter of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2000), 60.