I’ve been teaching a Men’s Bible Study early Thursday mornings on the book of James. Here are the questions that we used for discussion when we were covering the opening and first paragraph of James 1.

• James 1.1
  • Who is James? What do we know about him?
  • To whom is he writing? What problems were they facing?

• James 1.2-4
  • In what ways is God testing your faith, now or recently? What are the trials that you’re going through?
  • What does this text teach us about how to receive trials with joy?
    • We know God has a purpose for the trial. He is producing something good. (3)
    • God does not leave us to face trials empty-handed. He will give us his wisdom if we seek it, and his wisdom helps us pass through. (5)
  • Think about the test(s) you are going through.
    • Why is God letting you be tested in this area? What might he be trying to produce in your life?
    • Talk about God’s purpose for testing.
      • I think God is growing me to be faithful where I’m at, and to persevere.
  • How has God brought good things into your life through trials?
  • What would you say to someone who says, “I don’t know why I’m facing this trial, I must have sinned against God,” or “God must be angry with me”?

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• James 1.5-8
  • V 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, …” Think of wisdom in our lives.
    • In the Bible, “wisdom” = “knowing how to have a good life”.
    • Jewish wisdom is different from Greek wisdom (which is often wisdom for wisdom’s sake, speculation on physics etc.); Jewish wisdom is more practical & utilitarian, focused on concrete realities of everyday life.
    • In Jewish thought: when God created the world, he wove creation around a series of rules, like a skeleton:
      • laws of nature (e.g., gravity, the need for water, systems of procreation),
      • what we might call “natural law” governing human conduct (e.g., it’s wrong to murder; it’s not murder if it’s self-defense; some kinds of property rights) and
      • “if/then” consequences. E.g., If you work hard then you will prosper, if you are lazy then you will not prosper.
    • Wisdom (hokhmah) = understanding how to live by and take advantage of these rules to have a good life.
    • Wisdom is personified in:
      • Prov 1.20-33;
      • 3.19-26
      • 8.1 – 9.6, especially 8.22-31 for her place in creation.
  • What is the role of wisdom in your life?
    • For the Christian, wisdom may = looking at the world, my circumstances and problems, with eyes to see God at work.
  • When has someone tried to impart wisdom to you? Who was it? What were they trying to accomplish? How did you receive it?
    • My example: my dad; he was trying to prepare me to work with people, how to approach work and work with bosses.
    • I didn’t always receive it well. The older I get, the more I see his wisdom.
  • When have you tried to impart wisdom to someone? What were you trying to accomplish? How did they receive it?
    • Students, trying to get them to succeed in a strange culture (first-generation college students were NOT prepared for college; I tried to show them how to succeed.)
    • My children: interpersonal stuff, relationship stuff, career stuff.
  • v. 6, “you must believe and not doubt”: What kind of doubting does James have in mind in vv 6-8?
    • I don’t think James is saying that we just have to believe harder, exclude all doubt from your mind.
    • IMHO he’s talking about doubt that paralyzes. He’s telling us, “Don’t be paralyzed, work through your trials, obey in spite of your doubts.” It’s not limited to what’s in your mind, it’s how you act and obey, in spite of the doubts and fears you may face.
    • Faith acts on what God is promising, in spite of doubts. Less about doubting with your heart & mind and more about what you do with it.
    • He is not calling us toward greater certainty. He’s calling us to greater obedience, toward acting even when we’re in doubt.

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• James 1.9-12
  • How can poverty be noble and virtuous? James isn’t saying that poverty is automatically noble and virtuous, he’s envisioning the poor majority in his church.
  • What is humiliating about wealth?
  • How is wealth a trap to many people?
  • Wealth and poverty is a major topic in James 2.1-13, we’ll say more there.
  • James 1.2-12 is a paragraph.  Reread it and notice how v 12 closes the idea from v 2.