James 5:9 (Devotion)

"Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door."

Frustration comes to us all at times. When life appears to have dealt us a lousy hand, we tend to compare our lives with others and covet their prosperity. When calamity strikes with pain and suffering, we question God's sovereignty and whether He truly loves us. When persecution strikes a heavy blow against our psyche for defending God's Word, we begin to calculate whether silence is a better option than speaking truth in love. In any circumstance, James warns the church to guard against internal strife. In essence, he is saying, "Do not turn on one another, because we need one another's strength, encouragement and accountability to survive the tests and trials of life this side of heaven." In theory, this admonition is logical and straight-forward, but the application of its truth is a far greater challenge. 

In times of trial, we often focus inward by self-protecting in order to limit the collateral damage produced by the situation testing us. It is natural, human instinct. If someone intends to hurt me, I put my guard up. However, Scripture offers completely opposite perspective to natural, human instinct. "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them" (Luke 6:27-31). The miraculous power found in the pages of God's Word is unlocked when we allow the Holy Spirit to intrinsically transform our hearts into instruments of love and compassion in the face of trial or persecution. But do not confuse this command either. Jesus does not constitute justification to allow abuse to persist in matters of domestic violence, etc. Rather, "The point of both examples is that, even though believers will often be subject to abuse or taken advantage of, they are to face such rejection differently from the world, that is, by being generous and compassionate rather than retaliating" (ESV Study Bible).

Why is this so critical to understand? Keep in mind that this exhortation is yet another example James gives in order to maintain unity and protect the body of Christ from allowing worldly, cultural ideology from infiltrating the church and causing division. Just because our culture acts a certain way, which is universally accepted as the norm, we are not to assume such behavior is righteous according to the Bible. We must sift our thoughts, attitudes and actions through the filter of Scripture to prove or disprove its validity as righteous behavior. No doubt, that is why the apostle Paul wrote, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2). Our world would obviously disagree to further progress independent thinking and self-reliance, but we know as Christians that in accepting the saving grace of Christ, we have relinquished control of our lives to God. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth" (Romans 1:16-18).

Therefore, as we seek to apply reverse psychology against our human instinct, let us remember that James is warning the church not to grumble because of the sufferings affecting them. He has pleaded with them to endure hardships with patience (v.7-8) by viewing their lives from God's perspective, and now he is addressing the attitudes of their hearts as they patiently wait. "For the coming of the Lord is at hand" (v.8) and "the Judge is standing at the door" (v.9). The key to understanding God's sovereignty is to remember who we are (creation) and who He is (Creator). The minute we begin to question the how's and why's of life, we position ourselves as authoritative over God and unfiltered in our demand for reasoning. We believe we deserve answers to our questions and God must comply, otherwise He is assumed as unloving for ignoring our "request" for understanding. As we examined previously, Job similarly found himself questioning the sovereignty of God as did his friends who counseled him in his sorrow and grief, but God did not ignore the sinful heart attitudes that compelled Job and his friends to question Him, but addressed Job twice over three chapters with profound words of judgment. "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me'" (Job 38:1-3).

The key takeaway from the Lord's response to Job that aids our understanding of James 5:9 is found in two questions God asks of Job: "Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?" (Job 40:8). "At the hands of his three friends, Job knew what it felt like to have what was hidden about him (e.g., the state of his heart before God) questioned and judged by those who had drawn wrong conclusions from what was visible in his circumstances. The Lord now questions Job for overextending his judgment of what his suffering meant about the Lord’s just governance of the world" (ESV Study Bible). What we learn from the example of Job is that God is sovereign and in control, regardless of the tests and trials we find ourselves in over time. For they are ordained by God to refine our character into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, that we would be holy and blameless on the day of judgment. Our sanctification is not intended to make our lives miserable and tempt us to grumble and complain, but those are methods of spiritual warfare that Satan uses to thwart the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Therefore, our response must be illogical according to human instinct and counter-cultural, because in order to endure suffering with patience, we must trust the promises of Scripture that comfort our hearts: "For the coming of the Lord is at hand" (v.8) and "the Judge is standing at the door" (v.9).