Beyond Judgment

Dave Brisbin 9.20.26 In rhetoric—the art of persuasion—there are two basic ways to motivate someone to act. Protrepsis calls to another way of living or perceiving life, motivation to change. Paraenesis calls to continue a way of life already in motion, encouragement and advice to persevere. Biblical prophecy like that of Isaiah is protrepsis—calls to repent, change direction, avert the coming catastrophe. And when people don’t and are standing in the smoking crater of what once was everything they knew and believed, apocalyptic books like Daniel or Revelation are paraenesis—calls to remain steadfast, in faith that God remains present, all promises intact. Jesus and James share not only kinship, but their very Jewish teaching style as well. Even so, Jesus’ teaching is protrepsis, calling people to a relationship with God they could never imagine, to which their religion was no longer pointing. James, trying to hold the early movement together, taught through paraenesis, encouraging people to endure despite the difficulties they faced. Jesus’ teaching was intensely micro, bringing hearts and minds into an expanded awareness that would also serve community from the inside out. James, leading those already committed, was more macro, setting principles for living in community, correcting damaging behavior. We need both Jesus and James throughout our lives. Jesus calls us to awareness, to the unimaginably deep reality of life—the connection of everything as a degreeless, indiscriminate oneness that changes our perception and experience. But such experience is momentary. In the next breath, we question again, revert to the judgment that separates us subject from object, sending us back to the hell of our limitations. James tells us to speak and act as if we are to be judged by the law of liberty… The only “law” that liberates is a love that never separates. To live that love is to know we are judged only by standards we set for ourselves, chosen or instilled. Jesus and James work together: calling us to experience a perfect connection beyond our standards of judgment, then to keep choosing that connection in every relationship.