Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

tative model. In fact, he presents us with a man like us in order to turn us into
a man like him! 387
It is the prayerful wish of the writer of this Commentary on James that it
provides the readers with a better understanding of the content and structure
of this section of Scripture, informs them about the hermeneutical procedures
and processes needed to arrive at such understanding, impacts them substantially
regarding a more comprehensive world and life view on their part, spurs
them on to tireless Kingdom activity, contributes greatly to their pursuit of
practical godliness en route to perfection, and to top it off, turns them, as well
as the Church Universal (!), into zealous followers of James with his tender
love in tough pursuit of total holiness! But more about the latter in the Epilogue!
EPILOGUE
In commenting on John the Baptist and his ministry, which is both the (super)natural
extension and the crowning piece of the “law and the prophets”
with its focus upon the Kingdom of God, Jesus introduces the remarkable
truth that from the very beginning of John’s ministry until the present this
Kingdom is “entered forcibly/violently,” while from the present and onward
“the forceful/violent take it by force” (Mt. 11:12; Lk. 16:16).
Frankly, with his discriminating preaching, which forcefully drives the
truth home and insists on a forceful response, John sets the tone for the ministry
of both Jesus and James. When James summons the Church to follow in
his footsteps, it is my prayer that it will do just that, ever stimulated by John
the Baptist with his stirring “wake-up” call, ever drawing from Jesus as the
empowering source, and ever mindful of James with his meticulous example.
387 Brosend, 163, laments the fact that “Most churches are better at recruitment than retention.
The steady stream of those who ‘come forward’ to join the church are (more than) matched or
exceeded by those who slip quietly in the back, rarely to return.” Of course, this lament does
not ask the hard question, whether “coming forward” constitutes what it is supposed to constitute.
Candidly, if it does not, we fool both ourselves, definitely to our eventual dismay, and
our audiences, possibly to their eternal destruction. Still, the undeniable fact that the outflow
matches or exceeds the inflow is something the Church does not handle very well. As I mentioned
early in this Commentary, statistics tells us that about 90% of the Churches have leveled
off or are on the downgrade. We better seek a twofold remedy, first, in a truly Biblical
New-Covenantal Evangelism in the footsteps of Jesus with his “all-consuming zeal for the
House of God” (John 2:17) and, then, in a truly Biblical Pastoral Care in the footsteps of
James with his corresponding zeal to maintain or regain the Revival status of that same
“House.”
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