Mission and About
In his letter by the same name, James, the brother of Jesus, addresses the timeless problem of growing in our knowledge about Christianity, but failing to act upon that knowledge. James calls readers to be doers of the word, not simply hearers.
To James, one of the most telling expressions of sincere Christian faith was to care for unmarried mothers and orphaned children. The ESV uses the term “visit” to refer to the obligation sincere Christians have to look after these vulnerable people. This doesn’t really capture the full weight of what James is teaching. The word is actually from the same family of words that refer to bishops and elders of churches who have the continued responsibility of overseeing and caring for the people in their churches. Christians have the responsibility to continually care for the unmarried mothers and orphaned children. Christians are to see to the ongoing care needed for these vulnerable people. That means the continual work of providing food, clothing, and shelter until they are no longer “afflicted” by their vulnerable conditions.
