“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17 – NIV) Today, I launch a new clergy collegial blog. I hope we will encourage and empower each other toward success and excellence in pastoral ministry. As I sit in the Pastor’s Study at Cambria Heights Community Church, I often ponder the possible feedback of clergy colleagues as it relates to preparing sermons, counseling in particularly difficult situation, designing fresh worship, balancing competing priorities of ministry, marriage and family, maintaining self-care, pursuing personal dreams and private interests outside of ministry and family, and finding resources to meet the ever evolving and changing needs of the people whom I serve. After a sustained period of prayer, reflection and meditation, I realize I can invite you to come “In The Pastor’s Study” for an exchange of ideas.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

James 4:13-17 and 5:1-6 Bible Study Notes


Bible Study Notes - James 4:13-17 and 5:1-6

We continue our study of the book of James, a New Testament study in wisdom.  James encourages the Jewish Christians of the first century with practical methods and means of persevering in the Christian faith despite the persecution they suffer.  In our study, we glean from his practical advice and appropriate these principles to our twenty-first century contexts.  This week’s passage concerns “Boasting about Tomorrow” and “Warning to Rich Oppressors.”  If the will of God is best and the return of Christ is immediate and certain, how should believers make plans?  Should we make plans?  How we balance the competing demands of working, earning money and providing for our families with our commitment to building the kingdom of Almighty God?  Should we preface all plans with the condition, “if it be the will of God?”  Is that a sign of weak faith and resignation?  In the fifth chapter, James strongly exhorts rich people to be kind to their workers.  What responsibility do rich people have to poor people?

Consider the following thoughts and questions as you study the passage.

  • There is a Japanese company that developed a 200-year-old strategic plan.  They laid a road map for the growth, productivity and sustainability of this company whereby they designed a plan for succession in the leadership of this company which extends two centuries into the future.
  • Did they waste their time?  Will the Earth and humankind still exist in 200 years?
  • According to the book of James, how far into the future should Christians plan?
  • How do our plans accord with the “good, pleasing and perfect” will of Almighty God?
  • What do we do when our plans conflict with God’s will?  Do we abandon our plans?
  • How do we reconcile any conflicts?
  • Is it coincidental that the persons whom James addresses are preoccupied with making money and taking care of business?  Allude to the Lord’s teachings about trying to serve God and mammon.
  • There traveling business in Ancient Near East of the first century.  Refer to Sigmund Brouwer’s romantic, Christian novel, The Weeping Chamber.
  • In the fourteenth verse, James issues the stark, spartan and sober reminder that no one knows what will happen on any given day.  Tomorrow holds its own set of surprises for everyone.  Allude to 11 September 2001, 4 July 1776, 23 November 1963, 4 April 1968, 31 January 1865, 31 December 1865, 17 May 1954, 19 August 1619 and other historical dates. 
  • Soberly, James characterizes our lives as mists which vanish more quickly than they emerge.
  • He encourages believers to add “If it is the Lord’s will” to their plans.
  • Practically speaking, James says that boasting and all forms of arrogance are evil.
  • In the seventeenth verse, James defines sin as the failure to do “right” in addition to the commission of “wrong” deeds.  I define sin as the development of a pattern of choices that work against you.  Let’s discuss sins of omission and commission.


  • What is the “misery” that awaits rich people?  Ironically, James tells rich people to “weep and wail.”
  • James condemns the hoarding of wealth.  He warns the rich that their wealth will corrode and testify against them.  What is the purpose of wealth?  Allude to the ideas of Carnegie, Joyce Meyer, Malcolm Forbes, and Jesus.  Who is wealthy in the twenty-first century context?  What is wealth in the “First World” and “Third World?”  The average family of four in the world live on $1500 per year.
  • Unpaid wages cry out against the rich because of their economic oppression of the poor.  Allude to the Enron scandal, the savings and loan fiasco, the junk bond scheme and the current real estate crisis.  What is the “Christian” position on these economic crises? 
  • We need to discuss stewardship.  We are managers.  We do not own anything.  “The earth is the Lord’s and fullness thereof.” 
  • James challenges us to set principles on how we utilize wealth in this life.
  • He condemns the rich for living in luxury despite so much need in the world.  Allude to the neighborhoods surrounding the Ivy League schools which are pockets of affluence surrounded by stark poverty.  E. g. Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
  • In James 5:6, James insinuates that economics paid a decisive role in the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth.


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