James Chapter 2: The $100 Idea

At our Friday lunch discussion of James 2 one of our members presented us with a great idea.

Brooks' idea was simple:  Put a $100 bill in your pocket and give it to someone in need.  Brooks did not take credit for the idea. He said that he had seen somewhere where some guy had already begun doing this idea.  Wherever the idea originated it was inspired.  It very well could have been inspired by the 2nd chapter of the book of James.

When Brooks first presented our group with this idea we were nearing the end of our discussion of James 2 and I thought that I could pinpoint the verse that had prompted this idea. The first verse that came to mind was James 2: 14, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?". When I got home and looked for the exact verse my eye settle on the second half of James 2: 18, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." After seeing that I was not so sure which verse had inspire the $100 idea so, I reread all of the 2nd chapter of James.  I realized that the whole chapter was the inspiration for the $100 idea.

The first part of James 2, verses 1-13, talk about how we should not treat people differently because of their position in life.  We should not chose to judge a wealthy person as being more worthy of our attention or shun a poor person.  If you look at verses 8-13 as a separate message from the first seven verses, the message is clearly that it is no defense when you sin to say "I kept all of Gods laws but one."  If you don't commit adultery but, you murder someone, you have still broken the law.  

Verses 1-13 seem like unlikely candidates for inspiring the $100 idea.  At first, that is what I thought but I realized that I was not seeing the bigger picture.  We discussed the $100 idea for a while and determined that if each of us decides to do this idea, we should pray continually for God's guidance in determining who we should give the $100 bill to.  Brooks suspected, I think correctly, that praying to God about who to give the $100 bill to will open our eyes to people that we may not have even seen before.  I think that we all kind of figure that God will lead us to a poor person in need but by praying about the decision, we are taking our personal judgement out of the equation.  If we choose to do this project and we do it right, we will not be directing where the $100 bill goes, God will. So that is how the first seven versus have inspired the $100 idea:  We will not be treating the wealthy man or woman any better than we will be treating the poor man or woman.  If we figured correctly - that God is likely to lead us to a less wealthy person, then we will be treating the less wealthy person better than a wealthy person. Verses 8-13 talk about keeping all of God's laws and not just all but one.  While James talks specifically about God's commands forbidding adultery and murder, I think we can agree that "Do unto others as you would have them do to you"- the Golden Rule - is certainly one of those rules that God directs us to live by.  If you were in need, wouldn't it be great if someone just handed you a $100 bill?

The latter part of the 2nd chapter of James, verses 14-26, are clear direction for starting a project like the $100 idea.  Those verses are dedicated to making the case that acting upon your faith is necessary for your faith to be real.  We cannot work our way to heaven but if we have bought into Christianity, we will act like Christians and that does not mean just resisting temptation.  It also means taking an active role in treating others well and helping those in need wherever we find those people.  

The Second Chapter of the book of James

This Friday our mentoring group will be examining the 2nd chapter of James.  Two weeks ago I did some quick analysis of the first chapter prior to our group's discussion and realized that I could have done a better job had I waited and considered the thoughts of the other members of our mentoring group.  I look forward to our discussion this Friday and plan to provide commentary sometime after I have had a chance to reflect on our discussion.

To review a complete NIV version of James 2 click anywhere on this sentence.

James 2

James 2 (New International Version)

James 2

Favoritism Forbidden

 ¹My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. ²Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. ³If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," ⁴have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? ⁵Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
 ⁸If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. ⁹But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
 ¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

Faith and Deeds

 ¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
      Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
 ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
 ²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
 ²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.