Is Your Faith Radical?

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

I’m in a professional club where we work on public speaking on a weekly basis. Although my undergraduate degree is in communications, I don’t necessarily feel I need to enhance my public speaking skills. My sole purpose of joining this club and participating in the speeches is to become a better preacher. So I was attending one of our meetings in which it was my turn to give my speech that night. Our meetings are located inside one of the classrooms of a big church here in Dallas. After I had given my speech, and several others had given their speeches, a large gentleman began giving his evaluation of the meeting.

Before I knew it, this 300+ pound man had left the lectern and was standing over me pointing his finger at me, telling me that he didn’t want to offend me but went on a twenty minute (or so it seemed) rant about my speech. I was completely in shock. I was actually shaking out of anger. Here it is, I’m sitting in a church, and I’m being told that I should not mention the name of Jesus in my speeches. I was being chastised in front of the entire group for being too “preachy” and for my speeches sounding like sermons. I was told that I don’t need to offend others by saying the name of Christ in my sermons. I was told that I need to be covert with my faith.

Needless to say I was very upset. In fact, I was actually on fire! I wanted to go off on that man. However, I took a step back and realized that all eyes were on me. My testimony was on the line. How was I going to respond to this nonsense? Was I going to go left on this man and rip him a new one? Or was I going to respond in the power of the Holy Spirit?

After a few minutes to calm down, he came over to confront me a second time and I stopped him in his tracks. So I said to him, “For 13 years I worked in Corporate America. I followed the guidelines about religion in the workplace. However, I still took every opportunity to share my faith, to pray for people and to lead people to Christ on a daily basis. But when I made the decision to quit my job in 2013 and go into ministry full-time, that I would no longer be held back. My faith is out in the open. And I’m going to speak the name of Jesus no matter where I am. And I’m sorry if name of Jesus offends you because I will not stop preaching the name of Jesus. In fact, the Bible is offensive. The Gospel is offensive. Even Jesus is offensive. And if he is offensive, far be it from me not to be offensive. I won’t stop preaching the name of Jesus. I’m not going to apologize for preaching the name of Jesus.”

That particular incident showed me a two things. First of all I could have lost all sense of self control. I recognized that this was a spiritual attack from the Enemy. My witness and my testimony was on the line. My integrity was on the line. My reputation as a minister and a preacher was on the line. As a matter of fact, Christ’s reputation was on the line. How I responded was crucial at that moment and at that time.

Secondly, I could have agreed not to say the name of Jesus again in that setting. I could adjust my future speeches and omit the name of Christ. But I had to make a conscious decision to stand up for the name of Jesus or to deny him in front of my peers. And let me tell you this, at the end of the day if I have to choose, I choose Jesus. I’m not going to stand before the Master for him to say that I denied Him in front of my cohorts. No, no, I’m going to be radical with my faith. I’m going to preach Jesus in season and out of season.

I had to decide right there if my faith is real or is it just something that I wear on my t-shirts. I had to decide is my faith real or is just the symbol of the cross that I wear around my neck. I had to decide is my faith is real or is it only out of convenience when times are bad. I had to decide will I preach Christ even if it means I lose some friends or family members. I had to make a decision to be radical with my faith.

When James wrote this letter, it was to the dispersed 12 tribes of Israel. These Jews were dispersed because of increased persecution after the death of Stephen in Acts chapter 8. During this time, there was a lot of Anti-Semitism within Roman Empire, which caused a lot of hostility towards the Jews. These Jews were refugees who had lost their possessions and their homes. In other words, these Jews were facing some very perilous times.

However, James wrote these letter to encourage the Jews to remain radical with their faith. James wanted them to understand that it is a privilege to be persecuted for Christ. James wanted these Jews to not falter or lose hope but to continue to stay strong in the Lord.

My question to you is, do you have a radical faith?

If you want to have radical faith you first must have joy. Vs 2

2 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.”

Trials in the life of a Christian doesn’t always necessarily mean that it is a result of disobedience. But often trials are meant to mature you in the faith. God uses trials to shape us, to mold us, and to grow us. God uses trials to test our faith.

The word consider means to have deliberate and careful judgment of the facts. Facts are not subjective, nor are they based on feelings. Facts are objective truth. So James tells the Jews to “count it all joy,” or a better translation is “consider it all joy.” In other words, he’s saying consider the facts of the situation and from that deduction you should still have joy.

Many Christians naively think that if they obey the Lord, they will be spared from any trials. When trials hit them, they are confused and often angry at God

Does having joy in the midst of the trial mean that the trial is not real? On the contrary it means that you are exercising a level of faith that on the outside might look crazy. However, your faith is sustaining you. It is because of your faith that you are able to weather the storm. Paul agreed with this premise because in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, he said that as Believers, we don’t grieve as if we don’t have hope. In other words, when a Believer goes through a trial, there should be a difference in how we deal with the trial. On the outside, we should be able to show that we have peace even when all hell has been unleashed in our lives because we know that God is in control. When we are suffering, it is not only showing our faith in God but it also is a testimony for someone else.

Radical joy is not just being optimistic or hoping things will work out. As Believers we can have true joy because we know God is in control. Anyone can say that they trust God and have a genuine faith when everything in life is going smoothly. However, it is only radical joy that can show itself evident when you’ve lost a loved one. Only radical joy will manifest itself when your spouse decides to call it quits. Only radical joy will give you peace when you receive a bad doctor’s report. Radical joy is evident when you don’t have enough money to pay bills. Only radical joy can be evident when you are facing criminal charges against your child. This is kind of joy is unexplainable. This kind of joy, to the world, just doesn’t make sense. This kind of joy cannot be faked. This kind of joy can only come from God Himself.

The point is, when you are facing trials you can either trust God or fail to trust God. Either way, God will still get His glory.

If you want to have radical faith you must have patience. Vs 3-4

3 “Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

God uses trials to test our faith and to produce patience or also translated as endurance.

Picture an athlete who pushes himself to build up strength and endurance for an upcoming race. If it’s a 10k run, he may start with 5k and gradually extend his distance and speed. If he’s serious about winning, he will be running farther than 10k before the race, so that the race will seem easier than what he is conditioned for. In the same way, when we endure trials by faith, our faith is stronger for the next trial. We know that we can endure, because we’ve already been through previous trials. And when we endure trials by faith, with joy, it brings glory to our Lord and Savior.

The word “perfect” does not imply that you reach a point in this life where you’ve arrived and need no further progress.

Rather, the idea is that you will be spiritually mature, well-equipped for the purpose that God created you.

Patience is a virtue that aids in developing Christian character. In a true sense it is the quietness or self-possession of one's own spirit in resignation to God's will. But this is only one aspect of its meaning. Patience is also positive and aggressive; it sees a divinely set goal and with determined perseverance pursues it.

If you want to have radical faith you must ask for wisdom. Vs 5.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

The second lesson is closely related to the first since there is no greater need for wisdom than when one is passing through some deep trial of affliction. It is difficult to act wisely when we have been wronged or when we are suffering.

Wisdom is discernment and judgment and dexterity in the application of knowledge already gained, not only in the arts and sciences but also in the Scriptures. One may have acquired vast knowledge but lack wisdom. Wisdom does not concern itself with theories and ideas but with suiting the right means to the right end.

It is a bad thing when a man lacks wisdom, but it is far worse when that man is so wise in his own conceit that he rejects the true wisdom which comes from God

God rejects the wisdom of this world and employs the foolishness of preaching to save men: “Because the foolishness of God [in man's estimate] is wiser than men; and the weakness of God [in man's estimate] is stronger