The Lord's Family

"James ... To the Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings."
James 1:1

Families can be messy. James addresses his letter to the Twelve Tribes in the dispersion. This signals two things about his readers. First, they are the family of God. And 2nd, they are the Exiles from their Heavenly home. They are in the world but not of the world- at least in principle.

The Church Jesus builds is not a crowd but a community. When he feeds the five thousand, he sits them together in companies. No one eats alone. We are not a refugee camp where everyone fights for survival at the expense of others. We are the Lord's family.

But James' readers were behaving like rival gangsters than members of God's household. They flattered the rich and bullied the poor.  They slandered and judged each other.  They quarreled violently. They divided the church along class lines.  They were full of selfish ambition.   They were driven by envy, anger, and arrogance. They lacked the values of the Kingdom and the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  And you thought the Corinthians were bad! 

We often associate first generation faith with radical commitment. But that is not always the case.  The Corinthians were first generation converts.  It took them about one generation to clean up their act.  Winning converts is a whole lot easier than making disciples.  But Jesus commands us to make disciples and train them to obey his teaching. (MATTHEW 28:19-20)

James readers were also first generation believers. Like millions of Christians and thousands of churches today, they apparently omitted the teaching of Jesus from their curriculum of discipleship.  They wanted to be teachers (JAMES 4:1).   But they themselves needed proper teaching.

This is the mission of James. First, to get the world out of the church.  And second, to make his readers practicing discipleship according to the teaching of Jesus.  More than 40 verses in James echo specific sayings in the Sermon on the Mount.  And one out of every two verses contains an imperative call to action.  

The voice of James calls them and us back to the voice of Jesus.  James invites us all to become in practice what we are in principle: the Lord's Family. In the world, not of the world. 

PRAY AND OBEY

• Church can be messy. Some Christians say they're done with Church just because of some bad experience, usually a hurt or disappointment.  Wise up. Revisit the Truth.  Confess aloud:  Christ loves his Church and gave himself up for her.  He doesn't give up on his Church, despite her many flaws and failings.  He is washing her clean with his Word and ironing out all his wrinkles (EPHESIANS 5:25-27).  The Church's Family, his chosen means for reaching the lost and changing the world.  The Church is God's force for good society.  To reject the Church is to reject God's Family, God's wisdom, plan and strategy for his Kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven (MATTHEW 6:10).

• We are Family.  We are created for community.  But we often encounter solo Christians with a mind and an agenda of their own.  In the name of freedom, they wander from place to place, shopping for a diet and ambience that suit their fancy.  Like stray cats, they are homeless.  Wise up.  Face the Truth:

• God organizes his Family in communities called local churches.  Do you     belong to a local church? Or have you dismissed it? Repent of any wrong attitudes and wrong thinking.  Acknowledge that the local church is God's wisdom--his structure and blueprint for spiritual covering and accountability, community and care, discipleship and nurture, training an     equipping, evangelism and missions.  Ask God for a new appreciation for     your local church, a work in progress.  Thank God for your pastors, elders, and members, imperfect as they are.  Pray that the solo Christians will come to their senses and come home to the local church family

• The local church is a powerful platform of public persuasion.  Will you pray for your local church?  The local church is the hope of the world... There is nothing like the local church when it's working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking.  Its potential unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heal the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, and the disillusioned. The potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. (BILL HYBELLS)

• Be gracious.  A pastor's job is a tall order.  Lovingly pray that your pastor will:
• Lead by example with love, patience, courage, and wisdom
• Lay strong foundations according to the Word of God
• Uphold the standard of God's Word
• Drive worldliness out of the Church
• Major on the teaching of Jesus, full of grace and truth
• Turn every convert into a practising disciple of Jesus
• Multiply disciple-makers, especially among the young

SOURCE: WISDOM FROM ABOVE