There are moments in history, like the assassinations of the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr., that I find helpful to define as thresholds. Thresholds are what you have to cross to get from one room to another by entering through a door. The shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 was one such cultural threshold that we crossed as a nation. Before April 20, 1999 there were 183 documented school-related shootings that included everything from suicides, gang-related incidents, and mass shootings. Since crossing that threshold on April 20th, 1999, there have been an additional 435 school shootings.
There are other defining moments that have affected America, such as the attacks on September 11, 2001. The political landscape and how candidates behave has affected our nation indefinitely. Now, we find ourselves in a place where it is not always safe to talk about the political party you belong to or who you voted for without risk to friendships or more. We have crossed a political threshold that I am not sure we will ever recover from.
The 2020 COVID pandemic is another threshold our country crossed and the fruit was not the kind of unity we witnessed the days following 9/11, but anger, resentment, and unprecedented suspicion concerning just about everything. Although the pandemic was global, it left a lasting mark upon Americans.
In 1993, the world wide web went mainstream, and that has affected American culture. In the early 2000’s smart phone went mainstream, and that has affected our culture. In 2023, AI went mainstream resulting in a global shift, and that is affecting our culture. And now, truth is more difficult to discern than ever! Now, instead of helping those in need, we stare at a device that feeds us the kind of information that is literally driving us mad as a society! If we are not staring at our phones, they are used to record acts of violence for show and entertainment.
I am not sure, but it seems to me that we crossed another threshold this past week. I believe we will be able to look back to September 10, 2025 as a,pivotal shift in American culture. I am not sure what that will look like moving forward, but all that I can say is that while my confidence is fixed upon a greater hope, my heart aches for our country.
I do not know a lot about Charlie Kirk, but I did watch some of his open-air debates on some of the college campuses he visited. While I do not agree with all of his viewpoints, I did agree with him on two fundamental core values he had before he was assassinated on Wednesday:
- "When people stop talking, that's when you get violence." Charlie Kirk believed that we should be able to debate charitably even when we do not agree.
- “Jesus saved my life. I’m a sinner. I gave my life to Christ, and that is the most important decision I’ve ever made.” Charlie Kirk believed that Jesus was only hope for the forgiveness of sins, redemption, salvation, and eternal life. It was reported that minutes before Kirk was shot and killed, he shared 2 Corinthians 5:15 with the crowd: “and He died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf.” (2 Cor. 5:15)
If you believe that Jesus rose from the grave, then that ought to change everything for you. It ought to affect the way you live your life in light of the reality that God does indeed exist and that what He has said about Himself and creation is true. To believe and submit your life before the risen Christ, is to yield to Him as Lord over your life. In so doing, you do not get to decide what parts of the Bible do or do not apply to you unless the Bible (the Word of God) has already made that clear. Many of the things that Charlie said came from a conviction that the Bible was and is the Word of God.
The reason why Kirk’s assassination feels like a significant threshold in history that we as a nation have crossed is because he was assassinated by someone who hated what Charlie Kirk said and stood for. What adds to the heaviness that I feel is that some within the media publicly celebrated his death and many others posted to their TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook accounts celebratory responses to his death. This is why I posted to my Facebook account the following statement:
Timothy, a pastor in Ephesus and the recipient of two of the epistles that are included in the Bible, was beaten by an angry pagan mob, then dragged through the streets, and finally stoned to death by that same angry mob because they did not like what he said about the ungodly nature of the pagan Artemis festival; Timothy spoke up because he was a Christian. The murder of Charlie Kirk and the response of some in the media feels like that to me. I believe his assassination was more than political and that we witnessed the first martyrdom in America.
What I wrote is how I am processing my thoughts and feelings. What I feel is not as or more important then what the Word of God says about what is happening in our world. So, let’s look at James 5:7-20 to see how the Word of God can speak into what we are feeling.
Patiently Watch for His Returning (vv. 7-11)
Just as the farmer understands that he has no control over the germination of the seeds he plants and must wait until his crops grow and mature before they can be reaped, so it is with the return of Christ. How are we to be patient? James tells us four ways that we are to be patient:
- We are to be patient until the coming of the Lord. (v. 7a)
- We are to be patient with the confidence that He is coming. (v. 7b)
- We are to be patient by standing on the promise of His coming. (v. 8)
- We are to be patient by enduring suffering while we wait for His coming. (v. 10)
- We are to be patient until the coming of the Lord. (v. 7a)
The fact of the matter is that Jesus is coming back. How do we know that? We know because He walked out of the tomb! How will He come back? Jesus said when He comes, He will do so with a host of angels and that His return will be visible and it will be noticed! Jesus said that when He comes, “all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30). We patiently wait because although it is true that He is coming, He is “coming at an hour you do not expect” (Luke 12:40).
- We are to be patient with the confidence that He is coming. (v. 7b)
When Jesus ascended to heaven after He had risen from death while the disciples stared off into the sky, two angels appeared and asked, “ ...and they said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:11). In some ways, we can do the same thing but just sitting around while staring up into the sky is not what the angels meant when they asked the disciples that question. They continued: “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
- We are to be patient by standing on the promise of His coming. (v. 8)
Standing is not sitting. What I mean by the word “Stand” is the same thing that James means with his words: “You too be patient; strengthen your hearts...” You strengthen your heart by filling your mind with the promises of God’s word. You do it with the kinds of promises Jesus left us with: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be” (John 14:1-3). We strengthen our hearts by doing the kind of things we read in the Bible such as Hebrews 10:24-25, “...let’s consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
- We are to be patient by enduring suffering while we wait for His coming. (v. 10)
What was it that enabled the prophets who suffered ridicule, financial hardship, beatings, and even death at the hands of the people God sent them too? They were holding onto a better promise! They were looking for a different city, a “city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). This is why Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, “choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (11:25-26).
While Job found himself swimming in the pain of great loss and unrelenting pain, he was surrounded by friends and a wife who only added to his burden. Covered in sores and nothing to show of the great wealth he once enjoyed, the one person who should have been a source of encouragement said this to Job: “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold firm your integrity? Curse God and die!’” What does the kind of patience James encourages us to have look like in the life of Job? Here is how he answered his wife: “Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity” (Job 2:9-10)?
How did Job endure? He endured by first remembering that God is good, which enabled Job to endure while suffering because his eyes were focused on an infinitely good God! However, he did not only hold onto the assurance that God is good, he held onto the promise of His coming: “Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. ‘Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I will see God, whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself, and whom my eyes will see, and not another. My heart faints within me!’” (Job. 19:25-27).
Prayerfully Live for His Returning (vv. 12-18)
Jesus is coming back, so pray! Jesus rose from the grave, so you know that when you pray, God hears you. So, when you are suffering or when trials come your way, remember that God takes your words seriously. How easy it is to make promises to God we do not intend to keep or have thought little about before making them when suffering. I believe James is warning us of this very thing in verse 12, “But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.”
After I was hit by the car and found myself laying in the middle of Route 1 at the age of 16, because I sincerely believed that I might be dying and was scared, I made all kinds of promises to God. You know how it goes: “God, if you do this, I will do that!” I told God while lying on that busy road: “God, if you let me live, I will do whatever you want me to do.” Instead, our first course of action should not be to talk about our suffering, not to complain about our suffering, and not to try and negotiate with God out of our suffering. Our first response must be to pray: “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray” (v. 13). Are you suffering with a sickness that will not go away? You seek out those who will pray for you: “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (v. 14). Are you cheerful? Well sing praises to God then!
Are you experiencing the discipline of the Lord because of unrepentant sin? “Confess your sins to one another,” James instructs (v. 16). Don’t stop there though! James tells us to, “pray for one another so that you may be healed.” What’s the point? Jesus is coming back so do not wallow in your grief, nor ignore your sins, and do not doubt that the same God who raised Jesus from the grave, is the same God who listens when we call to Him.
Elijah lived in a time of rampant idolatry and corruption. Guided by God, he prayed for a drought, giving King Ahab, Jezebel, and the people of Israel a chance to repent—yet they refused. Later, Elijah confronted King Ahab and the 450 prophets of the false god Baal, challenging them to a test to reveal whose god was real. The story of God’s dramatic display of power before Elijah, the prophets, and the gathered crowd can be found in 1 Kings 18:20-46. In short, Baal did not respond, as he was no god at all, but the true God answered Elijah in a miraculous way. After this, Elijah prayed for the drought to end—and it rained abundantly (see 1 Kings 18:41-45). Even after all of that, Elijah fled for a place to hide after Jezebel threatened his life. One moment Elijah was courageous and bold, and then the next he was filled with fear, despair, and believed that he was all alone.
Why did James feel the need to use Elijah as an example? He tells us: “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours...” (v. 17). Daniel Doriani wrote of the prophet: “Like us, he served from a position of weakness. He felt the world’s powers arrayed against him. He was prone to despair. He was not worthy, he was simply a righteous man who prayed, for individuals and for his society.”[1]
Conclusion
What ought to be our response? Jesus rose from the grave! Jesus’ life and resurrection made your redemption possible! Jesus is coming back! The God who spoke the galaxies into reality when there was nothing now invites you to come to Him, so go to Him and pray! Bring your troubled heart, bring your sins, bring your sickness, bring your concerns for this nation, bring it all before the God of all creation!
Know that the same God who made your salvation possible, is the God you can bring those who need to be saved before. If God can redeem Saul who watched and encouraged an angry mob to murder Stephen because they did not like what he said about the Bible and Jesus, then there is hope for Tyler Robinson. If God can part seas and raise the dead, then there is hope for Decarlos Brown who murdered Iryna on that subway train! This is the point James is making in these final verses: “My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”
[1] Daniel M. Doriani, James, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2007), 201.
