By Steve Horn
Many New Testament scholars give the educated guess that the book of James is among the earliest, if not the earliest, written New Testament books. If this widely-held thesis is correct, then with James, we have a good look into the issues that the earliest believers in Jesus struggled with in their discipleship. We then observe that we struggle with the same issues. Indeed the sin and struggles of the human heart stretch across generations.
At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, but relying on the word of God, can we solve most every relationship struggle with four steps? Let me be the messenger of some “one another” statements from Brother James.
- Don’t criticize one another, brothers and sisters. James 4:11
- Brothers and sisters, do not complain about one another. James 5:9
- Confess your sins to one another. James 5:16
- Pray for one another. James 5:16
Think about a church or a convention of churches where we did not criticize one another or complain about one another, but instead confessed our own sin to one another, and prayed for one another.
Steve Horn is executive director for Louisiana Baptists. This editorial first appeared on his blog.
