When the New Testament speaks of the crowns the believers may win, it mostly does so in regard to the future reward of the overcoming believers. Paul says he was “running the race” to win an “incorruptible crown” (1 Cor. 9:25), which appears to be the “crown of righteousness” he was assured of only right before his martyrdom (2 Tim. 4:7-8); the elders may win “the unfading crown of glory” when the Lord is manifested (1 Pet. 5:4); and the Lord promised the suffering saints in Smyrna the crown of life, if they were faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10). All these crowns will be awarded in the future to the overcomers after the Lord returns.

However, James, in his epistle, speaks of the crown of life in a different way, saying,

Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which He has promised to those who love Him.
— James 1:12

If we are not careful when we read this verse we may think the crown of life it refers to is also a future reward, as with the other crowns. However, while the crown of life promised to the believers in Smyrna is indeed a future reward, that is not the case here. When James speaks of the crown of life, it is for today, when, as he says, we are approved by the Lord for enduring a trial.

That is, after the trial we may, so to speak, wear the divine life as a crown for others to see. Then, when we contact our fellow believers or people in general, they will sense there is something different about us, because now there is something of the divine life shining through us like a crown upon us, because it has been wrought into our being through the trial we have endured. That is the meaning of this verse.

And that shining out will be a real blessing to the people we meet, helping them turn to the Lord.

For example, when you read Hudson Taylor’s biography you can see he was surely one like this. Towards the end of his life, after suffering so much for the Lord as a missionary to China, it seemed that wherever he went people felt compelled to give themselves to Christ, even if he did not say much.

I believe Corrie ten Boom, the dear sister who survived the Nazi death camps, was also one like this; so many who met her were simply affected by her person and helped in their walk with the Lord. And I heard one brother say that whenever you were with Billy Graham later in his life, you just had a sense of being in the Lord’s presence.

And, in my own experience, I always remember meeting an older brother years ago who came in to the bookstore where I was serving in Chicago. He was from Romania, and as I recall, did not even speak English. However, his daughter who was with him explained that he had been thrown into prison in that country under the evil communist dictator Ceaușescu. Even though we could hardly communicate directly, it seemed there was with this brother, who had suffered for Christ in such a way, a shining out, at least to some extent, of the life of Christ.

As the believers in Christ we should surely seek, as Paul did, to win the crown some believers will receive when we see the Lord; what a great honor that would be! But even now, if we are passing through a trial, we should be encouraged and tell the Lord we want to be faithful to Him, so we may be approved to wear the crown of life today and so become a blessing in life to those around us.

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—  14 September 2024 —