Chunks: The Letter of James

Episode 11: Like a rock

We've been looking at what James says about doubt, and wondering whether doubt disqualifies us from receiving anything from God. We used the story of the desperate father to argue otherwise. In this episode, we'll use the story of Peter walking on water to make a similar point.

Episode 12: What matters is what lasts

James 1:9-11 can be a little puzzling: he says the poor have high status and the rich have low status. And he says this in the context of predicting just how quickly the wealthy will "waste away." What does he mean? In this episode, we explore how James is trying to shift the way his readers think.

Episode 13: What’s your currency?

Every culture has its "social currency," the things that show who's got more status (and who doesn't). One of the problems James sees in the church is that Christians seem to value and pursue all the same things that people do in the surrounding culture. We'll begin exploring that idea in this episode.

Episode 14: From double- to single-minded

In a previous episode, we discussed doubt as being of two minds. Here, we connect how James thinks about this back to the teaching of his brother Jesus, and will continue to do so in future episodes.

Episode 15: Trials or temptations?

James 1:13-15 teaches that we shouldn't blame temptation on God. But different translations of the letter give us different readings; the same word can be translated as either trial, or test, or temptation. Which is the right reading, and what is James trying to say? We'll explore these questions.

Episode 16: God is light

James 1:16-17 portrays God as the generous giver of good gifts (so don't blame him for temptation!). He also tells us that God is the creator even of the stars we see at night. The world can be a dark place; don't we need to know that God is light?

Episode 17: The devil made me do it?

It's always tempting to blame our mistakes on others, sometimes even the devil. But as we learn in James 1:14-15, it is better to understand temptation as coming neither from God nor the devil, but from our own "cravings."

Episode 18: The long view

You knew that sooner or later I was going to have to use a theological word you may never have heard before: that word is eschatology. It refers to how we should understand the "last things" or the last days. This isn't the place to get into all the theological debates over tribulation, the Second Coming, and the like. Instead, in this episode, we use James 1:18 to show the importance of always taking the long view, of seeing our present in light of God's future.

Episode 19: Quick to anger, slow to listen (part 1)

That title represents what we often do in relationships: we get angry quickly, and don't listen to each other. But it's exactly opposite of what James teaches in James 1:19-20. This episode is the first of three parts on why we should do a better job of listening, and how we might do it.

Episode 20: Quick to anger, slow to listen (part 2)

Why do we get angry quickly? Why is it so hard to listen? This episode brings in a bit of the brain science behind out angry outbursts, and ties it back to James' teaching on double-mindedness and his vision for the church.