Some of the words that stood out were as follows:
- Perseverance
- Eat your flesh like fire
- Patience
- Luxury and Self-indulgence
- Job
- Pray
- The Lord's coming
James points out that all of our material possesions will waste away. He also points out here that God pays attention to injustice. He tells his readers to be patient and that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. He charges us to pray for one another and confess to one another without judgment.
It occurred to someone in the group that we (Americans) may, on the global scale, be the "rich people" that James refers to in the first section. We spent a lot (okay, all) of our time talking about ways that we are part of a system that, wittingly or not, oppresses certain people in order to gain more wealth. We were forced to ask the question, "In what ways have I at least helped to "[condemn] and [murder] innocent men, who were not opposing [me]." The first section spoke about obtaining riches off of the backs of others. In James' day there was a direct equivilant to not paying the workmen who mowed the fields, but maybe our modern day example of this would be sweatshops or when any worker doesn't recieve a fair wage for their work.
It doesn't seem to be a sin to be wealthy. Though, it is a sin to gain wealth or power at the expense of others. We need to examine the way we treat others and the practices we are endorsing just by "doing the things that Americans do".
Simply put we need to live, speak and act in accordance with our faith. Once we realize where we are in the world we need to figure out where to go from there. This is where it gets interesting.
Takeaways:
- Educate yourself on ways that your life intersects in a negative way the life of other people. This could be anything from examining the things you buy to ensure they are eco-friendly or were made with "fair trade" to the way you treat someone at the workplace.
- Find 2 or 3 concrete ways to change the way you live in order to at least lessen your negative impact on the world. (and not just ecologically, though that is a good place to start)
Corey mentioned an author named Shane Claiborne who has written some books that will mess with your head, so be warned.
2 comments:
I've read The Irresistible Revolution and it will indeed mess with you. He takes some things to the extreme, but overall I liked his ideas. I recommend that everyone read that book. It is very challenging, but also entertaining.
Thanks Jeramie. It really is nice to read this when I'm not there. I heard you all might have engaged the concept of environmental justice a little bit? I wonder what some of the conversation was about how living missionally might encompass "green living"...interesting.
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