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James 1:1 “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,  To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:” NIV

 

Of all the people who authored books and letters in the New Testament it could be argued that the most humble of all these would be James. Stop and think about it for a second, James was understood to be the brother of Jesus (actually the half brother of Jesus). Certainly an unenvious position, but one that could certainly garner a lot of clout.

 

It should also be noted that James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem. I mean this guy had it all! He was at all of the important meetings. He pastored the most important church in the world at that time. He certainly could have taken the advantage of dropping a few names now and then… “I remember when I was sitting with my brother JESUS and he was saying…”;  “Yesterday, I was out to dinner with the apostles Peter and Paul, and Peter said the funniest thing…”. None of these things was ever mentioned in the book of James. As a matter fact, he starts his letter with the declaration that he is nothing more than a servant (slave) of the Messiah who happened to be his older brother. 

 

I don’t know about you, but to openly declare that your brother is the Messiah of the world would certainly take a lot of humility. I love my brother, but let’s face facts, I know the good, the bad, and the ugly, of all those I grew up with. To have to lower myself to make the claim that my brother is God certainly takes a level of humility that bears considering. This is especially noteworthy when we consider that during this time many other authors would note their status and accomplishments to give them authority to speak. James does the opposite. And in doing so, he gains the respect, admiration, and anointing to give us one of the most challenging letters in the New Testament.

 

When one studies the life James, they realize two features, his incredible humility, and the fact that his knees were calloused because of the amount of prayer he undertook. It makes me ask what people know me for? I am not too sure if humility will top the list.

 

James, as he starts his letter, gives us one of its most important lessons in life today: if I want to make a difference I need to take the low road and let God do the rest. May that be the goal of all of us.