For the first five months of 2014, we will be hearing from James' letter to the churches he called the "twelve tribes in the Dispersion" in his opening greeting (1:1). Several of my friends who are New Testament scholars are surprised that I am calling the series of messages Together. They have pointed out to me that most pastors who teach from James say that it is about "a faith that works," "trials and injustice," or "wise advice for daily living." And, James certainly wrote about those things.
However, I think that the power of this letter is opened up to us when we consider why it was written. I am convinced that James the Just, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote it. I also believe that he wrote it just after the stoning of the young Christian leader Stephen (recorded in Acts 7) when the early church that had been largely concentrated in Jerusalem was driven out of the city and scattered by persecution. This is what is recorded in Acts 8:1: "There arose on that day (of Stephen's martyrdom) a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."

James was the main leader of the Jerusalem church and was therefore one of those who remained in the city. Most of the new believers were driven to other towns and cities. Anyone who has ever had to move from their hometown to a new place can imagine what it must have been like to be in small house churches, away from family and church friends, and facing the trials and temptations of a new culture. James felt a pastoral responsibility to his church flock that had been scattered far and wide and wrote this letter to help them know how to live in their new settings. The issues he addressed are as relevant today as they were then:

• Facing alienation, suffering, and moral temptation in an unbelieving world
• The necessity of coming together regularly to hear God's Word to guide them in the new issues and decisions they would be facing
• The importance of being a community without favoritism, i.e., united in Christ as differences in wealth and class status were developing
• Identifying the essentials of genuine faith in a culture very different from what they had left
• Remaining a distinctive Scripture-directed community that does not conform to the values of the society
• The significance of being a praying community in good times and in bad

I suppose that, if I were called upon to crystallize James' message, I would say this: Pastor James calls any local church to be one that listens to God's Word together, makes sure that it does not merely listen to the Word but also obeys it together, and prays together. The world will know that we belong to Jesus when we worship, pursue holiness, and seek justice together. Together.

A Christ-centered community is to take seriously the role of each one in the church family. We need one another to live for God in the world and dare not allow anything to divide what Jesus has brought together. James' final admonition ties his many instructions together:

My brothers and sisters, if any of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a wanderer from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (5:19–20)

To His Glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor