Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—July 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

July 11, James 4

My mother may or may not have known about the Socratic Method, but she often asked questions. I don’t think her interrogations were intended to gather enlightenment from her son. Instead, she asked questions to make me think or to teach a lesson I needed to learn. You probably had a similar experience with a parent, teacher or coach somewhere along the way.

Socrates left no writings, but engaged his pupils in a search for truth through asking questions. He pushed students to the foundations of their beliefs and then exposed the fallacy of their thinking with his queries. Teachers from kindergarten through graduate school still use this method, popularized by Socrates 400 years before Jesus came.

James queried his readers, too, asking questions that might well make their cheeks burn red with shame. In each case, they had to look inside themselves or honestly evaluate their conduct in light of their knowledge. Just as Socrates’ old method is still useful today, so these questions posed by James are still powerful teaching tools.

He asked, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?” (He sometimes answered the questions as well as asking them. My mom did that, too.) He pulled away the veils from the mysterious origins of their quarrels and revealed selfishness and personal gratification at the root of the divisive, bitter disputes.

James asked, “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” All who would follow Jesus have a decision to make about who they want to please. Only as we submit to and humble ourselves toward God can we really draw near the Lord. It is impossible to draw near while clinging to worldliness. Jesus called us to be in, but not of the world.

Again, James pressed us to examine our conduct in light of the truth: “Who are you to judge your neighbor?” When we judge others, we appoint ourselves to both the legislature and the judiciary. But James said there’s only one lawgiver who can save and destroy, and we’re not him.

James corralled all our big plans made without seeking the will of God with a question reminding us of life’s uncertainty and transience: “What is your life?” He answered this one, too. “You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James called us back from the brink of prideful arrogance to submit ourselves and our plans to God’s will.

Although such questions may make us uncomfortable, they are valuable. We have to look deep inside ourselves to honestly answer them. The answers remind us of truth we tend to forget. Our pride is dismantled and our trust is deepened by answering James’ probing questions.

From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.