Characteristic of most Pauline introductions, Paul uses the initial sentence in his letters to not only introduce himself, but also to immediately get the theme of the letter out to his readers.
Paul usually introduces himself in such a way that not only characterizes himself, using a term that specifically portrays himself in one fashion or another, but also in a way that becomes specifically germane to the theme of the letter and specifically relevant to the application of that theme in the lives of his readers.
For instance, as we have noticed in previous blogs, in both Romans and Galatians, Paul identifies himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ” and “an apostle, called by God.”
In terms of identifying himself in Romans and Galatians with those two references, Paul immediately, from the very first sentence of those two letters, directs his readers’ mind down a specific road; that road as we have seen in those previous blogs, is the Damascus Road, on which his face-to-face experience with the resurrected Jesus “whom God raised from the dead” occurred; that very road upon which Paul also received his apostleship and servanthood status.
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead Gal 1:1
It is in Romans and Galatians where Paul defends his servitude to Jesus and his apostleship from God, and the truth of the gospel against those who would seek to undermine his authority and distort the truth of the gospel he preached.
The first sentence in each letter establishes the fact that Paul is indeed an apostle, and that indeed Jesus is the resurrected Messiah from whom he received his apostleship and whom he now serves, and indeed the gospel of salvific righteousness that he preaches is by faith for both Jews and Gentiles.
So, it becomes evident that the first sentence in most of Paul’s letters serves a monumental purpose each time he introduces himself to his readers.
And now, in the letter that James writes, James seems to borrow from Paul’s introduction-tradition and likewise self-identifies himself as a bond-servant. It is imperative to grasp the importance of this word in the context of James’ letter.
But one grammatical feature is even more important to notice even before we get to the context of James' letter.
The way James has grammatically constructed his opening sentence is striking to his Greek readers. He identifies himself as "James" and then simply says "bond-servant". There is no definite article accompanying the noun. A non-articled noun signifies that James wants his readers to know that the essential quality and nature of a bond-servant is being highlighted and not a specific person who is a bondservant of Jesus.
A free translation would read, "James, whose essential character and nature toward Jesus is a bond-servant" rather than, "James, the bond-servant of Jesus".
James is telling his readers that his given name, “James” is synonymous with “bond-servant”. Grammatically James is identifying himself with his full name as James Bond-Servant. So whatever a bond-servant is, James is closely identifying himself as one. And like Paul, he uses this self-identification term to introduce the theme of his letter.
What is a bond-servant?
According to Louw and Nida, a bond-servant is a person who is under the complete control of another person, as in the sense of becoming the property of an owner. In New Testament times, only the rich could afford to own another person. As a result, the bond-servant had no rights and usually no money of their own.[1] To be a bond-servant is to hold a very lowly position in most societies. It is not a position of exaltation as the owner would hold. And the use of the term bond-servant in the context of this lowly/exaltation couplet seems to be a rich/poor (1:9) thematic string that James weaves throughout his letter (1:9-10, 2:1-7, 5:1).
So, to be a lowly bond-servant, for James, means he is completely devoted to Jesus, as the one who owns him and completely surrendered to him as Lord.
This is reminiscent of 1Corinthaians 6:20, where Paul reminds the Corinthians that their bodies are not their own, that they are not in charge of their life’s affairs; as they are God’s possession since they have been “bought with a price.“
A bond-servant was like gold for the owner, even though historically bond-servants were known at times to be unwilling to lift even one goldfinger on their behalf. However, James Bond-servant identifies himself as one who is totally subservient to Jesus Christ and one who would make no secret about His Majesty’s service. And he starts his letter speaking to that very fact.
“James Bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” James 1:1a
What is significantly missing in James’ letter is his imitation of Paul’s normal salutation of “grace and peace,” a salutation that he usually measures out to his readers following his initial self-identification verse. (1:1a) James forgoes this quantum of solace and simply says, “greetings,” before skyfalling directly into the heart of his letter. (1:1c)
In his letter, James Bond-servant reminds his readers that you only live twice; once in this world and once in the next (2:5, 5:7-11). Therefore, there is no time to die. There is no such thing as live and let die. It’s live and live. However, the life one lives in the next world, should exhibit the faith one proclaims in this world. That’s James’ way of saying faith without works is dead. If one’s faith is demonstrated by works in this world, then they live. If their faith is not demonstrated by works in this world, then there is a time for them to die another day (James 5:20). Then, in that sense, it is live and let die.
In his letter, James Bond-servant specifically targets those who proclaim that their riches are forever, as diamonds are forever. His target is those who have an eye for gold (2:2, 5:1) to the detriment of those who have nothing. James Bond-servant tells his readers that those who really have a golden eye are those who look into the mirror and see reflected back at them someone who actually does what God’s Word says, i.e., take care of the poor.
As a matter of fact, if we remember, the concluding stipulation to the Jerusalem Council, recorded in Acts 15, for continuing the expansion of the gospel to all ethnic frontiers to the outermost parts of the world was that they not neglect the poor in that expansion process (Gal 3:2-10).
It seems that the people whom James addresses in his letter are those who just hear God’s Word and go away without doing it. They are the business men and women who say 'tomorrow never dies, we will go into such and such place with their Casino Royales, and trade and make a profit' (4:13). It is those people who have condemned and murdered the righteous person (5:6); those who have a view to kill. They are those who are living the daylights out of every day as they have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. They are those who have fattened their hearts like a calf in the day of slaughter (5:5), those for whom the desire for the world is not enough.
James Bond-servant tells his readers that your wealth is not a license to kill nor is your wealth for your eyes only. James Bond-servant, as their educator, their Dr. No, tells his readers, “No, No, No”…your wealth is not for your eyes, nor for your ears only. Because God hears how the rich have mistreated the poor, as the cries of those mistreated poor, like a thunderball, have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts (5:4.)
James Bond-servant warns his readers that not many of them should become teachers, and he’s just not flapping his gums, because they know that those who teach will be judged with greater strictness. He tells them that they all stumble in many ways, but above all, it is the tiny tongue that causes most of the problems in life…because of flapping the gums.
James Bond-servant concedes that indeed, we are men and women with a fiery tongue, but because of his wisdom he also proves to be the man with the golden gums. He is speaking the truth.
So, unlike the spies who infiltrated Galatia and proved they did not love Paul, James Bond-servant cannot say that there, in his midst, is a spy who loves him. However, there are those present who are like a flower among the spectra, who in the midst of their pursuits of riches and fame are scorched by the rising heat of the sun, and it is those very people who will shortly fade away. Yes, it is to those who do not look out for the poor, the very ones to whom James addresses in his letter.
Reading James' letter with an understanding of the word 'bond-servant' will prepare us to read it afresh, never like we've read it before. If this blog makes you think, "I never saw that before," then it has done its job. Hopefully, we will never again read James as a group of wisdom sayings collated into a one volume series. If this blog makes you think, "I never saw that before," then it has done its job. Hopefully, we'll never again read it like a disconnected conglomeration of detached ideas sewn together by consecutive verse numbers. If this blogs makes you think, "I never saw that before," then it has done its job.
Hopefully, this blog will help us to never say never again.
In my next blog we will look more closely at how James attempts to encourage his readers to be Doers of God's Word, caring for the poor and thus fulfilling the wishes of the Jerusalem Council of 48 AD .
[1] Although there are ancient records that indicate bond-servants could purchase their freedom from their owners, for the most part, if you were a bond-servant, you were relegated to that subservient position for a life time.