James 1:6-8 – “On Point”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁶But let him be asking in faith, doubting nothing, for the one doubting is like a surge of [the] sea, driven by [the] wind and tossed; ⁷for let not that man be supposing he will receive anything from the Lord. ⁸[He is] a man double-minded [and] unstable in all the ways of him.

As I related in my last post, I think it all too easy to read these verses, throw a few stones at that “evil double-minded man” and move on, never stopping long enough to hear Nathan say, “You’re the man.” I want to park here long enough that I see where in my own life I’m either being or likely to be a doubter, a double-minded man. And once again, I think it a terrible thing to be in a place where it can be said, “Let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord”(!).

And so I’ve tried to study this out.

First of all, James says, “But let him be asking in faith, doubting nothing, for the one doubting is like a surge of [the] sea, driven by [the] wind and tossed…” The Greek word I translated “doubting” is diakrino. It can mean simply “to separate, to make a distinction, to examine, to scrutinize, to inquire into both sides of a question.” It only takes on its negative connotation of “doubt” when used in relation to God.

Often throughout a day, I find myself in these periods of indecision, of cognitive dissonance. “What should I do? Which way should I go?” Depending on the pressure I’m under, it can be very unpleasant. “I just don’t know. I’m not sure.” From the study I’ve done, I think in these cases we need to recognize the difference between the “doubting/double-mindedness” of James 1:6-8 and the period of indecision when a person is gathering facts.

What I’m saying is that, just as in the word diakrino itself, one can simply be “examining” or one could have moved into the negative connotation of “doubting.” I would suggest that, for us humans who always have limited information, we almost always have to have a period of indecision while we gather facts and come to a place where we can confidently make a choice and move ahead. This happens all through the Bible, such as when Jesus says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? … Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28-31).

In the first example, a man is deciding whether or not to build a tower. He might and he might not. The jury’s still out. In the second, a king has to make a decision. He actually has another king coming against him. He has to make a decision. Should he fight or try to negotiate? This period of indecision is not a bad thing. That is Jesus’ whole point. You need to diakrino, to “inquire into both sides of a question.” That, in itself, is not being “double-minded.” We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over our “lack of faith” when we still legitimately need to gather facts and think something through.

In fact, this is our very context. We’re at a point where we’re “lacking wisdom.” The whole reason we’re praying is because we need wisdom to know what to do. So the “doubting/double-mindedness” isn’t the problem of indecision in itself. Where the problem comes, I think, is when the indecision involves what God has clearly revealed.

James says, If we lack wisdom, we should “ask in faith.” Here is a place where we need to call faith what it is (and isn’t). Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Clearly, faith is believing what God has said. It is not imagining what God could do or imagining what He says. It is believing what He has already clearly stated in the Word. As it says of Abraham, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith, … being fully persuaded that what God had promised He was also able to perform” (Rom 4:20,21). Peter says that through God’s goodness He has given us “very great and precious promises” (II Peter 1:4).

So we can say that the double-mindedness is not the period of indecision while we really do not have the facts we need. It is, in some way, even during that period doubting whether God will keep His promises.

Here is one place where I’m thankful for the pitiful father who answered Jesus, “Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief.” I find myself often voicing those very words to the Lord. Even as I am praying, often I’m scared and I know I must trust that somehow God will in fact give me wisdom, that He will in fact work it all together for good, that He will in fact give me grace to endure it, that He will in fact insure that it will all yield “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” if I let Him “exercise me” by it. It takes faith to remember and believe that I’m in training and it’s all for good. Most of the time I don’t feel “strong in faith”. I feel like the father, “Lord, help my unbelief.” But I think it is safe to say, at least in the end, this also is not the “doubting/double-mindedness” James is warning us against.

In the end, it isn’t even a matter of our faith failures. Abraham had his Ishmael, yet still the Lord says he was “strong in faith.” The dichotomy of our sin nature guarantees that we will fail (often) in the battle of faith. Clearly, even that is not, in the end, the doubting/double-mindedness of which James speaks.

From my study, here is what I suspect: I think the problem has to arise not from the weakness of our humanness. It has to involve some way or another our “other” lover, the heart-idol of “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” It has to involve some way or another my addiction to what feels good and what looks good and what gets me applause.

God has told me that everything comes down to loving Him and loving people. Here I am in the middle of some trial. I am asking Him for wisdom. One way or another, it has to come down to the wisdom of how to keep loving Him and loving people. When asked the greatest commandment Jesus said this is it. He said in Matt 6:22, “If therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light.” This “singleness” is the opposite of double-mindedness. Why wouldn’t I choose to love God and love people? I think it would be because there was some lust of my flesh, or lust of my eyes, or some love of applause that I want, at that point, more than to live by faith.

This is making sense to me. Single-mindedness is believing God’s promises and being determined to live a life of love. Double-mindedness would then be wanting to live by faith but keeping the side-door open to set this whole “love” thing aside -- just in case there’s something I want too badly. This would mean the right way is when I’m praying for wisdom, I’m not still deciding whether I’ll love but rather how. And I would suggest often the choice to love means I must be counting on some promise of God, because humanly speaking, I don’t see how this will “work.” My lusts promise me happiness and pleasure. God promises grace. With Him, love is always the answer. I just may not know what that means.

That really makes sense to me! I hope if someone is reading this, it is making sense to you. The doubter/the double-minded man isn’t just some evil man over there. He’s me when I’m forgetting it’s all about love, when, in the midst of all my troubles I start just wanting what I want and forget that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights. Nathan is right, I’m the man. But, like David, the good news, is I don’t have to be. And even better than David, I actually have the Holy Spirit of God living in me to help me be different.

I need to close this but I want to praise God that He makes us stable. Most of my life, I’ve been that unstable man, constantly making really bad choices, acting weird, doing really stupid things. In spite of every intention to the contrary, I have a very long chorus of regrets that never seems to stop playing in my head. For over 30 years, I have known the Lord and sincerely wanted to live His way, to do things right, and yet for all of that, I still end up a mess, seemingly having lived a life “like a wave of the sea, blown by the wind and tossed, unstable in all my ways.” The Lord has helped me to do a lot of things right, for which I am grateful. But there is also my sad Hall of Shame I built myself. I’ve just been unstable. Until now. In the last few years, the Lord has made this love thing so clear to me. The first and greatest command is to love. To love is to do it all. When I lack wisdom, I’m actually lacking the wisdom to love (His way). When I’m just “deciding what to do” I flounder around. But when I remember it all comes down to deciding how to love, all of a sudden I feel a sense of stability that fills my very being. It gives me that “single eye” Jesus spoke of. It allows me to see my world through His eyes. It keeps me on point. It seems so clear now. If I can just keep loving, in every situation, through every difficulty, it keeps me clear-headed. It keeps me from being driven by fear. It keeps me from manipulating. It just plain makes me stable. … And it comes straight from the hand and heart of God. I couldn’t have ever figured it out. He had to show it to me. And without His very great and precious promises, I couldn’t pull it off. I know I still have a long way to go, that I will still make too many bad choices, but praise God, I have a sense of stability in my heart today that I’ve never had before. I know exactly why and when “I’m the man” and what to do to change it.

God help us all to follow close on His heels, to, like John, keep our heads buried in His big strong chest, and may we all rise above our double-mindedness to be the people He made us to be. May we, passing through this Valley of Bacah, leave behind a place of springs, going from strength to strength, until we each appear before God in Zion. May we be no longer children, tossed to and fro, but speaking the truth in love, may we all grow up into Him who is the Head, even Christ.

Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief.