James is hard in a very human and real way. It sums up well how I believe the Church should view itself. James constantly sets us the highest possible standards, while knowing full well that we often fail to meet them. It is this determination to live by difficult rules which, in my view, marks us as Christians.

James is blunt in his message, and the connections with other parts of the Bible are not difficult to find. If you want to know where James finds his ideas, simply look to the gospels. The teaching of James is solely about the here and now. It is the undiluted essence of what it is to be a Christian. In following Christ, we are called upon to live a different kind of life. For me (and I get the impression for James also) this is less about believing a specific dogma than it is about copying the works of Jesus. The message contained in the way Jesus lived his life is not an easy one. It requires us to set for ourselves standards every bit as exacting as those James sets us, and at the same time, resist the temptation to judge other people. York has a very vibrant Christian community. It might be easy for us to think that if we go to Church on Sunday and praise God with all our hearts then we are fulfilling ourselves as Christians. James is asking why we worship God. It isn't for His own benefit. God reveals Himself to us for the same reason He created the world, love. It is this love which we as Christians are the tools of. In this light the message of James is indeed difficult: if you do not interact with other people with love, if you do not try to put right injustice, if you hurt others rather than healing them, then you are not a Christian.

Gandhi once said that if Christians lived as we claim to believe then he would be a Christian. Too often we get so bogged down with arguing over what we believe that we forget that the best witness to our faith is through acts of love. Christianity constantly fails the world.

I would like to end this on a more optimistic note. I believe that in 2000 years our religion has been more than a cultural phenomenon, telling people that it will all be all right if they only believe what we say. I think that Christianity has had a hugely positive effect. You only have to look at the recent Jubilee 2000 campaign to see what we can achieve. We may get it wrong, but humanity, as a race, is getting better. I believe that with the strength God gives us, one day the kingdom will come, in a very real way.

Matt Topping