James was hot! He’d usually address the brethren with a “My
Brothers.” Not now. He was ready to whip them (his Jewish Christian brethren) into shape. No doubt there were
many striving for position within the church considering the mix of poor Christians and rich overlords in Palestine and Syria. Verse 3:1a infers as much: “Not
many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters.” While all men
will fail, the path for the believer is submission to Christ and his love. Why
treat each other as enemies, allowing illicit wants to consume our thoughts and
actions? These fights James describes come from a desire to please oneself; “inner
sensual lusts/pleasures that wage battle in our hearts.”[1]
Folks were so consumed by these wants, that they would do just about anything
to satisfy their desire. The battle within was the source of murders,
contentions, frustrations, fights (v. 1-2). Ideally what was needed was a healthy dose of
trust; a “fidicia,” the “placing of one’s trust in God revealed in and through
Jesus Christ.”[2]
If satisfying needs is the central issue, then the answer
would undoubtedly be prayer. However, scholars agree that there are three
common obstacles to answered prayer based on verse three: (1) We don’t ask; (2)
We ask for the wrong things and (3) We ask for the wrong reasons. Craig
Blomberg masterfully tackles the issue at hand. He states that James understood
the church included unbelievers, especially since “there was a Zealot influence
pervading the church during the 60’s and a source of the disputes.”[3]
It is the “spiritually immature and the unsaved who will display self-centered tendencies
leading to violence.”[4] Look across the average congregation today and we'll find the same mix of saved and unsaved.
Blomberg provides two reasons for the unanswered prayers:
1.
“Sometimes
they just have not asked, or not asked long enough”
2.
“Sometimes they ask with wrong self-centered
motives.”
The default self-centered approach to prayer finds us asking
for “good health, good finances, good jobs in order to feel good, buy what we
want and get good reputation.”[5]
In verse 3, the word “spend” can be translated
“to squander” while the word “pleasure” is related to Greek rendering of
hedonism (ultimate pleasure). We can therefore be assured that “God will never
provide for hedonistic squandering.” [6]Instead,
we should[7]:
Ask for good health – so we can serve God
Ask for good finances – so we can finance the kingdom and
care for our families
Ask for good jobs – so we can exercise our spiritual gifts
Our responses to each other no doubt has consequences. But
how about our vertical responsibility in these exchanges? What God seeks is
submission to his person and will. To do this we have to make a choice – Him! “Don’t
you know that friendship with the world (adulterous) is hatred towards God”?
(4:4). Can’t have it both ways. The NASB rightfully puts this in perspective: “Having friendship with the world involves seeking
pleasure at others’ expense or at the expense of obeying God. This type of
pleasure is sinful.”[8]
The Mature Approach
What Christ calls us to is a life of humility. He desires good
for his children (Jer. 29:11; Jam. 1:17; Eph. 4:7). While the spirit within us tends toward envy
(4:5), God give us more grace (4:6). God wishes to grace us; just think of it! Observe
the contrast – a love of the world that leads to conflicts or a love of God the
leads to grace. “ It is “pride that makes us self-centered and leads us to
conclude that we deserve all we can see, touch or imagine. It creates greedy
appetites for far more than we need.”[9]
What God wishes for is to see his Spirit manifested in our thoughts and actions
(jealously desires…4:5), and the reason he is opposed to the proud. On the flip
side, he “graces the humble” (4:6). So, how do we get to the mature side of the
equation? James advocates not blaming the devil – “The Devil made me do it!”
Remember the opening scolding – What is the source of these contentions among you?
James provide the instruction to his Jewish audience and to us- “Submit
therefore to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you (4:7). “The Devil
coerces no one. We sin only when we yield to Satan’s temptations rather than
staying close to God.”[10]
This is a call to holiness and purity. Submit! Resist! Better yet, there are a
series of practical suggestions listed in verses 7-10:
ü
Commit to God and to his sovereignty
ü
Resist the Devil (take a stand)
ü
Purify (wash your hands, purify your hearts –
moral purity)
ü
Repent – express deep sorrow for sins (grieve)
ü
Humility – in the presence of God, humble
oneself and watch God give you honor (lift you up).
Looking back at the context of the text, God’s way rings the
best of the two paths (the worldly pursuit that involves stepping on your
neighbor or humility and respect for your neighbor which leads to God’s honor).
“My worth comes from God. It comes from working with his power according to his
guidance.”[11] I’ll
end with this: “The way up is down and the lowly one becomes the lifted one.”[12]
At the end of the day rather than striving for “stuff,” I should remember that it
is the indwelling Spirit of God that “releases us from our self-centered
desires when we humble ourselves, allow ourselves to be Spirit-filled and
recognize that this world’s seductive attractions are only cheap substitutes
for what God has to offer.”[13]
[1] John
Walvoord and Roy Zuck, The Bible
Knowledge Commentary, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 1983), 829.
[2]
Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics,
(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 40.
[3] Craig
Blomberg, From Pentecost To Patmos,
(Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2006),398-9.
[4]
Ibid.
[5]
Ibid.
[6]
Walvoord, Commentary, 829.
[7] Blomberg,
Pentecost, 398-9.
[9]
Ibid.
[10]
Blomberg, 400.
[11]
Nasb, 2192.
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