In his extended introduction to his letter/sermon, James tells his readers, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God.” This comes after he wrote, “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Of all the things a Christian may lack, why is it that James chose wisdom? To begin to answer that question, one must ask, what is wisdom?
Wisdom is the ability to connect the principle to the application. As James C. Petty puts it in his book Step by Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary Christians, “It is the moral skill to understand and apply the commandments of God to situations and people.” In the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, it is hearing His words and putting them into practice (this is what the wise man does). By contrast, the foolish man hears but does not put into practice what he has heard. As one faces or rather is ambushed by trials of many kinds, wisdom is needed to connect the principle to the application. And one is to ask the Giving GOD, as James puts it.
And James tells us that GOD gives generously (the word “generously” comes from the adjective meaning single, the noun is single-mindedness). It is GOD’s nature to give generously to all without finding fault, which includes everything we know to stand in the way of free asking and everything we might imagine the LORD would hold against us. So, James tells us that if we lack wisdom we should ask GOD.
But verses 6-8 might seem strange, based on James’ call to ask.
6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
The issue is this: in contrast to GOD, Who is single-minded, we tend to doubt, to be double-minded. Doubt is not the same thing as unbelief. It is in fact to be in two minds: believing and unbelieving at the same time. One is reminded of the story from the Gospels, in which, when asked if he believed, the father of the demon-possessed boy exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
Verse 5 points to the unquestioned sincerity of GOD, Who will not withhold from us the wisdom that we need and seek. Verses 6-8 raise the question of our sincerity. Are we committed to His way of seeing things and His ambitions for our future or are we keeping a door open for the world? Are we trying to have a foot in each camp? GOD’s mind is clear, His generosity is single-minded. But are we double-minded?
Jesus touched on this in the Sermon on the Mount.
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Interestingly, James’ next paragraph deals with the issue of being in humble circumstances and being rich.
I do live by the church;
for I do live at my house,
and my house doth stand by the church.
Feste the Clown
Twelfth Night
Act III Scene 1