I have just spent about ten minutes looking at a few places for examples to add to this. That was a mistake. James preaches plain doctrine. The problem we have with James is not one of comprehension. It is one of acceptance.
I believe that all good things are from God, and should be accepted with thanks. God is merciful. He gives us rain so the grass grows, the cows can be milked, and we can sell milk powder to the world. He is the person that allows us to be courageous, to act, to do good.
And we are his children: in our actions we should be like him.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
(James 1:16-27 ESV)
A quick word on widows and orphans. Many argue in this time that these people are single mothers: those who are divorced, those who have children out of wedlock. Not so. The death rate for men has always been higher than for women, and throughout most of history husbands died or were crippled — if not in agricultural accidents or in factories, in war.
For it was the duty of all citizens to fight for their city (and it still is: one of the reasons for male universal suffrage is that all men can, have, and will be conscripted into the army. As cannon fodder). It is the widows who particularly need our support: financially, and in finding a new way forward.
But the teaching is that these women should, generally, remarry after a time of grief, Paul recommended that the roll of widows have no woman under 60 on it because he expected them to he celibate: if they burned again with desire he advised them to marry the widowers: death was common and neither sex was immune.
This is harsh to modern ears, but children do better, are safer, and generally have a more secure childhood if their parents are married and stay married. The epidemic of divorce is destroying Godly families, and even when it is justified, it causes huge damage. Part of being unsullied is not accepting this tendency within society to make that which should be a binding contract fungible.
When the Lord was speaking through James, it’s important to remember that Widows & Orphans were in a really bad place. There’s a good chance of dying or some other very nasty things that can happen when your social protection is gone. And that’s before the physical reality of the situation sets in: there simply are a lot of things Women & Children are not capable of, even if our modern society hides this fact.
I’ve mentioned other places that I’m in the “Fatherless” category (half-orphan? I’ve heard that said before). Dad died when I was very young, so I got to see first-hand how that tends plays out for a lot of Churches. The results, realistically, aren’t too pretty. I will note that the Church we attended during this period is now very grey, very formal and very Mennonite. (Modern-style, if that means much. We actually do have German Mennonites in the area) We did interact with a whole lot of missionaries, as we had money (Dad & Mom were very good planners, so quite a lot of Life Insurance) and were generous. But, in hindsight, I always got the vibe that we were “outsiders”. We moved to the area when I was very young, and it’s not that we were not welcomed, but we most definitely weren’t “in” the Church the way the social cliques were.
Understanding of the way humans work, now, tells me most of the issue was due two issues: 1) my mother was mid-30s, wealthy and very pretty still & 2) my brother & I were smarted than the rest of the kids. The “Church Ladies” viewed my mother as an instinctual threat, and all but one of the pastors had a very hard time looking past that issue. Which actually leads to much of the point of the Epistle of James.
What the Spirit of the Lord, through James, is telling us to do won’t profit us directly, in the short term, in this life. Most of the book of James is about getting not just out of your comfort zone but out of your own self-interest. James 2, most directly, is the biggest explanation of “Your Faith should produce Works, get to it”. Which is why helping Widows & Orphans is on par with being “unstained” by the World: neither of them serve this life in the way that Sin wants it to be served. Widows & Orphans have only gratitude to give, in nearly all cases. No one is going to be rushing to give you a gold star. No dinner in your honor. Just the Peace & Grace of the Spirit of God within you.
What can one say to this? Apart from your mother had a hard time, as did you: and your argument is correct.
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