God's Radical Response to Dehumanization

It's my conviction that God's word shines brightest when we honestly confront the darkness. Sadly, it only takes a few moments to find shocking stories of dehumanization in every sector of society:

• A world famous music mogul violently forced a woman into perverse and degrading sexual performances for his gratification.

• The President acknowledged that people are starving in Gaza, as a ten week blockade keeps food and medical supplies from reaching the population, and as Israel grieved that 57 hostages were still held in captivity.

• A viral video depicted humanoid robots monotonously moving packages in a factory. As one person commented: "Working in a factory, I've always been treated like this. Management is finally getting what they wanted."

• A ministry leader was forced out of his position after evidence emerged that he had used fake email addresses, Substack accounts, and multiple social media accounts to spread slander about leaders he didn't like.

Every day, human beings are used and abused, then discarded.

In striking contrast, James 1:18 provides a radically different perspective:

"By his own choice, God gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures."

I confess, my eyes glaze over these words: new birth, word of truth, first-fruits. At first glance, it sounds like either medieval theology or sentimental wall art.

But if we will look at it clause by clause, we will find ourselves excavating hope.

First, who cares?

No one has the time, energy, or compassion to even notice all the suffering in our disfigured world. No one.

Except God.

James says that God, by his own choice, initiated a plan to rescue us. Experts in New Testament Greek explain how the text emphasizes God's freedom, willingness, and desire to take action on our behalf.

God did not have to care about us. Does that seem harsh?

But do we feel like we have to care about the suffering of others? And even if we do, we all reach our limits.

Nevertheless, God does care about us. He is the Father of lights, the author of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

And so, God intentionally chose to get involved.

Two kinds of birth.

Some argue that James has no logic to his book. They suggest it's a convoluted rambling of various aphorisms.

But if you look closer, you can see an intricate arrangement of themes.

In this section, James unflinchingly describes the problem: We go along with our evil desires, which give birth to sin, which leads to death (James 1:13-15).

As an aside, it raises a question: Why criticize the Bible for calling us sinners, when every major news outlet confirms the truth of that claim every day?

Then, James further develops the metaphor of birth that he's already introduced. Here's his logic:

What is the original purpose of birth? To give life. What have we turned it into? Sin that leads to death. What does God do? He gives us birth by the word of truth.

Notice also that in a world which constantly devalues women, God uses the imagery of birth to explain his love for us.

Here's the main idea: when God intervenes, he does so to give us life.

The purpose of truth

As a young philosopher, I professed to love the truth for itself, and I did. But I also learned that truth was a useful tool to get good grades, gain status, and win arguments.

We've all seen 'the truth' weaponized to hurt someone—at work, in politics, and maybe even at church. Perhaps we've done it in a fight with our spouses. Doesn't someone need to tell them the facts?

But in God's hands, "the word of truth" gives us life.

What is "the word of truth"? In this letter, likely written within thirty years of the crucifixion, the textual evidence strongly indicates this phrase has become a shorthand way of referring to the major events of Jesus' life. (For instance, Peter Davids references "2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:15; 1 Pet. 1:25").

But step back for a moment and see how logically it fits together:

Our problem is death and the need for life. James says, it is the word of truth, or the death and resurrection of Jesus, that gives us life.

Of course, these claims are absolute nonsense apart from the conviction of the earliest disciples that a dead man came back to life. So, it's remarkable and important that we hear this testimony from one of Jesus' brothers.

To summarize: God wanted to give us life, so Jesus suffered death, that we might live again.

A Kind of First-Fruits

Outside of the times I've visited Whole Foods, I have little to no experience with a farm's "first-fruits." But I know enough to understand that they are more expensive and delicious.

In the Old Testament, God said that his people were his 'firstborn.' Culturally, he was saying that they were his favorites. (Mom, if you're reading this, remember that I came first).

As a response to God's favor, the Israelites were required to give their first-fruits to God. This communicated: "God, you love us, you provided for our harvest, and you are worthy of our best."

It's a consistent theme: God's people are to be set apart for God's purposes.

So what is James communicating? What comes after the first-fruits? The rest of the harvest!

We know that our Creator plans to restore creation, the founder of the Church plans to heal all cultures, and the Crucified Savior offers life to all people.

In like manner, Christians should be known not as the end result, but a sign of hope. God didn't bless us with salvation so we could feast while other starve.

Instead, we are first-fruits. So where's the secondary fruit? How are we bringing life to those around us?

Our New Lives

It's easy to compartmentalize my faith. The more I limit my faith, the easier life gets. Why concern myself with justice for the poor when I can focus on improving my quiet times?

That's because a new way of life can only be sustained by a new life.

As I meditated on James 1:18 this week, I shouted out in my car, "I am a first fruit!" I know, I probably looked like a Froot Loop. But I needed a way to internalize this identity.

The pressures of our fallen world are constantly threatening to dehumanize all of us. But God is announcing a new identity: you are the best of the best.

This isn't a source of pride, but the power to live like Christ. As James will show us, that means ridding ourselves of moral filth (1:21), looking after orphans and widows (1:27), and not showing favoritism to the wealthy in our churches (2:1-4).

Imagine a world where everyone lived like this. Can you see the harvest?

God is taking the initiative to birth life into us—and through us, into all the world. Let's bear fruit. It's who we are.