Change of regimes in business, sports teams or churches is always difficult, and I've often heard the term, 'Trust the Process,' which means "we stink right now, but if we keep doing the same thing, it will get better!" Isn't that the definition of insanity? Well when you apply it to a very broken world, it seems like a cruel cliche, lacking in hope and the ability to make real changes that matter. Well as disheartening as that can be, it's the theme of Jesus' little brother James to the disenfranchised, marginalized poor of the diaspora in the 1st century. Steadfast/Steadfastness is used 5 X's in this short letter. Standing firm, being patient in the midst of difficult trials and utter depravity is a hard ask, yet this is what James is conveying to this ragtag group of impoverished, marginalized people.
The idea of having patience in trials is hard for me, who often lacks patience, but teaching it to pastors in the Congo who live the reality of constant trials and poverty is another thing. Especially since their colonizers used verses such as these to keep them down, and maintain control of the people. But James isn't advocating for anyone to stay in their lowly economic position. He is helping them stay pure in the midst of life's trials that we all face one way or another. James is warning against a victimization that turns into bitter hate, and even retaliatory measures such as murder. It is natural to have anger when we experience or see people being oppressed (See Ephesians 4:26), but when we turn that anger into hatred and violence it moves us away from a godly intent. Jesus is our prime example of a person that became angry at injustice (Note Him turning the money-changers tables over in the temple), but when He was marginalized, falsely accused and murdered on the cross, He took a posture of trust and forgiveness, and showed an extraordinary obedience to His Father in spite of the injustice done to Him. Hebrews 5:7-9 demonstrate this when He begged His Father to take the cup of death away from Him and His Father said no, that "He learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him." The word perfect is the Greek word τελειωθεὶς (Teleiotheis), the same root word is used 6 X's in James, and has the idea of whole, complete, purposed.
James wasn't telling those marginalized to stay in their current position, he was teaching that during any trial that life brings, remember the bigger picture, 'trust the process,' know that maintaining a godly stature, even during trials, has great reward on this earth and the world to come. Anger, bitterness and even revenge, might have its moment of satisfaction, but according to James it doesn't produce the "righteousness of God" (James 1:20) in our lives or in the situation at hand, and it doesn't produce the wholeness and justice that God is aiming at in this world. God has a plan, a Telos and purpose, and when we remain steadfast in our trials and refrain from retaliation and revenge, God is working His Telos in us, which brings a completion in our life (James 1:2-4). James is trying to give these marginalized people hope in knowing that the purposes of God are in their favor. Much like Asaph's Psalm 73, which states that , "...as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind," (Psalm 73:2-5) until he went "into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin" (Psalm 73:17-18).
It is so easy to get mad at God when our lives are falling apart, but what we fail to see is God working His magic through us during the hardest moments of our life. Believe me, I am teaching this to myself, as I am the last one that likes to be patient during trials, and for some people, like those I taught in the Congo, their trials appear unbearable, just like these people James is addressing. I do not understand the weight of their trial, nor do I understand the weight of some of you who may have lost loved ones, come into great financial difficulty, or who have struggled with depression and anxiety your whole life. I get it, it appears to be a lost cause, but what James teaches us is that it is not, God has a Telos, a purpose that He is working, and as we remain steadfast (Patient) the reward is far greater than the trial itself.