James 1:19-21
"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls." (NKJV)
It has been said, and rightly so, that the letter of James is very much similar to a practical sort of tract. Having just five short chapters and addressing a diverse array of issues in the Christian life, I think that it is a part of the Holy Word that is very helpful for young Christians (that is, those who have recently given themselves to the Lord). I first became attached to this letter around the time of my baptism, and it meant so very much to me in the early days of my walk with Jesus, not to say that it doesn't still mean much to me. Having consecrated my life and everything that I have to Him, I felt fresh and new, but also a little bit lost, because I knew that, although I was saved, there were many things within myself that did not meet the standard of Christ. Therefore, the practical instruction of this letter was a massive inspiration, encouragement, and guide to me in those days. I would read passages from the letter over and over again and just sit for several minutes at a time to soak it all in. Having dropped my sin and shame, I was ready to take on the tough challenging of changing my life day by day, small thing by small thing. One of those things that I struggled greatly with was anger. If you know me now, you know that I am rather mellow and that I hardly ever get angry at all, like ever. I can't even remember the last time I was genuinely mad at someone. But, it wasn't always like that. I used to get extremely mad at my friends, siblings, and parents for just about anything that didn't suite my fancy. This verse helped me through that by teaching me that I will never attain the the righteousness of God if I continually give in to the destructive fires of rage. Although it took a long time for me to gain self-control, I gradually achieved much improvement. In addition, I had a problem of talking too much and saying things that really shouldn't be said. Once again, if you know me now, you know that I am pretty quite, and I rarely make jokes that are crude or insulting, but it has been a long road to get to that point, and I still have a long way to go. This verse obviously applies to that as well. It taught me that listening as opposed to talking is far better for the development of a godly, righteous character, which I long to possess. Finally, this verse taught me the importance of meekness in the Christian journey. It says that we should receive with meekness the Word that is able to save our souls. I opened my eyes to the fact that meekness is instrumental to laying aside wickedness and to receiving the gift of God. So, all things considered, this section from James has been a tremendous blessing to me and my development as a disciple of Christ. Furthermore, I know that the change in my heart is due to the work of God's Spirit in my being. I would not be who I am without His grace, and I only pray that His grace may continue to abound toward us all, so that we may be transformed into the image of His glorious Son.
Postmodern Christianity
Before you jump to conclusions, let me explain. I have done a bit of reading on postmodern theory, and it seems to me like much of what is suggested is accurate to reality. (Of course, we cannot escape our own minds, a prioris and all, to grasp the true nature of reality.) When I read essays on various philosophical topics, I am always struck by how insecure everything is. Every premise of a formal argument can be denied in one way or another, not to say that I am a skeptic, and it is clear that something must be assumed for anything to be deduced, or even induced. Our experience is influenced by an infinity of factors that are beyond our control and come with no guarantee of granting a cognitive conception of the world that is veridical. I could go on and on to state in different ways the simple assertion that "we cannot know truth about reality an sich." That is an assertion whose pull I feel to an extent. I even think that it is a Biblical idea in certain ways. After all, our minds have been darkened so that we cannot perceive the true Reality, and that necessitated the divine revelation of Jesus' life on earth, bringing to mankind the Truth, Reality, in a way that far transcends what we could ever achieve on our own. On another point, I have heard it argued well that the early Church was fairly postmodern in many philosophical respects. As long as we focus on divine revelation, realizing that, although we cannot grasp reality, Reality came to us, the Church of Christ will endure, and thrive, even in a postmodern milieu. The Word will persevere through any adversity that it encounters in any sort of worldview, because the Word is Truth and Truth is everlasting. Amen.
Nevertheless, let me say that it is also possible that the truth behind postmodernism is limited. The God of Christianity would've created a world that is intelligible to the human mind, not ineffable. Therefore, even if the effects of the Fall have taken a toll on our ability to grasp the world outside of our minds, it seems reasonable to assume that we still have a limited ability to grasp the world that lies beyond our own minds. Of course, there are numerous aspects of the natural world that are utterly baffling, such as quantum phenomena, but that is a discussion for another time. After all, I did not intend to encode this much information.
Anyways that's about all. I hope that you like my contribution to this topic. If you don't, you should get that checked out. Shalom!
Superbly,
SmoothJazz
