My daughters are all animal lovers. This works out great as we live on a little hobby farm at the base of the San Franciso Peaks in Northern Arizona. A few years ago, one of their favorite pets was a little black and white cat that they raised from a kitten. She was into everything. It’s like she just couldn’t stand to miss out on anything going on in the world around her. So, my girls very appropriately landed on the name “FOMO” for their curious little kitten. And fear-of-missing-out (F.O.M.O.) fit her personality to a T. Believe it or not, this idea of “F.O.M.O.” is actually something that the apostle James spends intentional time developing in his epistle. Let me explain.
Throughout his little letter, James writes to scattered and struggling Jewish believers in Jesus (1:1). He consistently draws his readers’ attention to a major, and possibly unexpected theme. This common thread provides powerful solutions to the real trials they were facing as a fledgling church, on the run throughout the Mediterranean. This theme that is woven throughout the book is none other than salvation. In fact, five times, our author intentionally uses the Greek verb sozo, “to save”, to exhort his believing Jewish cousins (1:21; 2:14; 4:12; 5:15, 20). “To save?”, you may ask. But didn’t I just say that these Jewish people had already placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior? That’s right, I did. But as good exegetes of the Scriptures we must always allow the context to determine the meaning of our words. And in this case our word is save. Hence, the question must be asked, “Saved from what, James?”. When we determine the kind of salvation that James is referring to, we can then decide how these Christian Hebrews are to understand and utilize God’s saving truth amid real tragedy. And by the way, this goes for us, too, as the contemporary audience of this timeless principle.
James’ first reference to the word “save” is found in 1:21 when he writes,“Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls,” [Christian Standard Bible]. Before we dig into James’ understanding of “save” in this verse, let’s first take a step back and look at the immediate context. The two proceeding verses (1:19-20) are actually James’ thematic outline for the whole book – quick to listen (1:20-2:26), slow to speak (3:1-18) and slow to anger (4:1-5:6). In other words, these verses serve as a kind of summary of the central focus of James’ message to these persecuted Jewish churches. You see, these three ingredients make up God’s recipe for responding well under the pressures of life. As I mentioned a moment ago, from James’ built-in outline (1:19-20) we see that 1:21 addresses his first instruction towards righteously facing struggles by being a good listener (1:21-2:26). I like to think about James’ theology of suffering within his first step this way: life’s trials provide the opportunity to teach believers, not defeat them…so listen up!
Interestingly, James’ first usage of salvation is directed at the believer’s “soul”. Unlike the common interpretation of this text, this kind of “soul salvation” cannot be referring to eternal salvation but rather to personal discipleship. This is primarily because James includes two conditions that call the believer to obedience and not the unbeliever to believe the gospel. Unlike the gift of eternal life, this saving experience is one that is not free (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 2:8-9) but is very costly. So, what does this kind of saving experience cost? James gives us two very valuable conditions to follow. His first condition in verse 21 is this, “Therefore, putting aside all moral uncleanness and wicked excess…” (The Lexham English Bible [LEB]). In this statement, I believe James is referring to rejecting the deadly lies that Christians are quick to believe about God, others and themselves, specifically when hardship hits. Here are some of the lies that James’ readers were believing in the middle of their suffering: accusing God of causing sin (1:13-16); forgetting the true identity God gave to the believer (1:23-25); believing that worship is a ceremony instead of service (1:26-27); practicing favoritism in the church (2:1-13); choosing selfish faith over serving faith (2:14-26); speaking before listening ( Chapter 3); taking advantage of others, leading to division in the church (Chapter 4); being impatient with God’s plan and His people (Chapter 5). These are all lies that James commands all believers to reject. Secondly, James calls his audience to “…welcome with humility the implanted message…” (LEB). After “rejecting” the toxic lies, James challenges these persecuted Christians to “welcome” or “receive” the “implanted word”. How are they to do this, you may ask? With humility, as life-long learners of this “word” or “message”. But what does receiving the “implanted word” refer to exactly? I believe it is important to note that the word “implanted” (emphytos) occurs only once in all of the New Testament and James uses it here in verse 21 (hapax legomenon). Usually we assume the “word” or logos refers to the written Word of God, penned as the 66 books of the Bible. But what can we discover from the surrounding context concerning James’ specialized meaning of logos? In verse 18 James writes, “By his will he gave birth to us through the message of truth, so that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures,” (LEB). This “message of truth” or “word of truth” is not directly referring to a physical object (e.g. the Bible) but God’s own regenerative work in every believer, which the written Word most definitely speaks of. It is His “true” word (or God’s real opinion of every believer) that now stands as their new reality as His spiritual children. This “true word” is sourced in God’s firm choice and not in human invention. This is our new identity in Jesus through which James now calls us to view every struggle in life, no matter the shape or size. James says in verse 21 that this new creation life (“birth”) first mentioned in verse 18 is permanently “implanted” within each believer. However, in order for the believer to truly experience their new life completely depends on whether they “reject” the old lies and “receive” God’s “true word” about them. Embracing God’s true opinion of us as His spiritual offspring (“implanted word”) and our new purpose (“first fruits of His creatures”) is the very posture by which He promises to save the believer’s soul. Please note, James leaves no room for self-pity or for entitlement to a comfortable and pain-free Christian life. Rather, it is in the very eye of the storm where He calls believers to remember and receive who God says they are and be refined for what He has called them to do. Rejecting the lies that are easily believed, plus receiving God’s true purpose and opinion of us as His one-of-a-kind people, equals James’ formula for soul salvation.
At this point in our journey, you may be wondering if we were ever going to circle back to my opening story about little FOMO. Wait no longer! You see, when we are clear about James’ intended meaning of salvation in verse 21, we see a very special nuance concerning his expected application for the Church. When we misinterpret Scripture we not only miss out on the Author’s intended understanding, but we also fail to relevantly and dynamically apply His eternal truth to our lives. As we previously discovered, this “soul saving” is directed to James’ spiritual siblings that have already been regenerated (1:18). Therefore, this saving must be about earthly salvation, here and now, instead of eternal salvation in the future. This earthly salvation is the chance to be saved experientially from the fear-of-missing-out on those transformative lessons that God provides for us when life seems to be at its worst. But why should believers be afraid of missing this kind of transformation in the middle of life’s storms? To be honest, staying in the suffering sounds very uncomfortable and even painful. Does it not? My friend, James believes that enduring in suffering is not just a path but is the only path to experience deep personal triumph and true spiritual satisfaction (1:2-4, 12). This kind of spiritual vitality and maturity can only come in the face of the trial and never by hiding from it. Just like James’ audience, we need to be saved from the natural hopelessness of the trial. On their own, the consequences of tragedy are deadly to you and me. I have often thought that the most miserable person on earth is a believer in Jesus who is choosing to live in their sin. We are the ultimate contradiction when we live for self instead of in the Spirit. According to James, the believer who refuses to be saved from the consequences of life’s struggles will experience despair, defeat and possibly even physical death. However, we also need to be saved for the Father’s good and perfect gifts that bring transformation (1:18). God’s best work in our lives is often highlighted against the backdrop of life’s darkest pains. In fact, life’s suffering is the very vessel by which the gift of God’s teaching comes when left in His loving hands. Pain apart from God’s tender touch is only harmful. But pain surrendered into the all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving hands of our good “Father of lights” always helps us hope in His eternal purpose (1:2, 12, 17). He calls us to stay with Him through the struggles instead of avoiding or attacking them on our own. And when this is the path we take, we will be saved from the trial’s defeat and for His intended transformation – to be more like Christ in His suffering (Hebrews 5:8).
Pain and suffering can remind us Whose we truly are in Christ and what He has called us to do in life. Where hopelessness had naturally dwelt, hope now is allowed to reign supreme. This is why it is so significant to James that our “soul” as an individual and our time spent on earth are saved from missing out. No fear, just formation into the people He has called and created us to be. This is God’s desired result for teaching us in the middle of life’s fires. Who would want to miss out on that?!
