James 4:1-10
Tom Shrader examines James 4, identifying selfishness and worldly desires as the root cause of conflicts in relationships rather than external circumstances. He explains how believers often seek satisfaction from the world instead of God, leading to spiritual adultery, and calls for genuine submission to God through humility and repentance.
“The source of the conflict is between the flesh and the spirit. It's the source in your heart. It's the battle that's going on in your life.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Blue Jean Theology (2011)
Recorded: 2011
Duration: 39 min
Themes: conflict, submission, humility, selfishness, repentance, worldliness, relationships, wisdom, struggling with conflict, dealing with selfish desires, married couples arguing, church member disputes, workplace tensions, family disagreements, struggling with pride, new believer
Scripture: James 4:1-10, James 1:22, James 3:15-18, Galatians 5:16-23, Romans 13, Ephesians 6, Exodus 20
Theological Themes: spiritual adultery, sanctification, biblical wisdom, carnal desires, godly submission, worldly wisdom, spiritual warfare, holiness
Full Transcript
I'm going to go ahead and finish the book of James. That means chapter 4 today and chapter 5 next week. In chapter 4, we need to make sure we get context here. The book of James is written to a group of believers who are scattered, and the key verse is chapter 1, verse 22: "prove yourself to be not just hearers of the word, but doers also." So we spent a ton of time in the application of that, saying that God's called us to hear, to understand, but to do it.
We can go to two poles. We can have people who just want to do, do, do, and then you ask them theologically a question and they go, "Jesus loves me, this I know." You have the other group who are all theologically driven, but very little action as it relates to influencing and affecting the culture and being an ambassador for Christ. So you have those two poles. James says neither one is bad, it's just that you need both of them together. You need to listen to the word, understand the word, understand that theology moves us to action.
There's a whole bunch of reasons that we are to engage and encounter and understand the culture we live in. To condemn it is easy, but to be part of it is significant. When we talk about why do you feed a hungry person, you talk to a lot of Christians and they say, "Well, I feed a hungry person because I want to give them the gospel." Well, no, you feed a hungry person because they're hungry. Now along the way is the opportunity to represent Christ in that environment.
Two Kinds of Wisdom
When we get to chapter three, James talks about the tongue. When He gets to chapter three, verse 18, we saw last week, He talks about wisdom. Now that launches us to this week. He said this idea of wisdom - you have two kinds. Chapter three, verse 15: one's earthly, natural, demonic. The other is wisdom that comes from above and it is supernatural and it's godly.
You would expect it to be true, and it is - they result in different actions. So if I'm operating in a natural, earthly, demonic way, I am going to see jealousy, verse 16, and selfish ambition. Those are going to be driving factors in how I think. If I'm thinking with the wisdom from above, verse 17, it's going to be pure and then peaceable and gentle and reasonable and full of mercy and good fruits and unwavering without hypocrisy.
Both of these wisdoms are going to be evident in my life. It's not that I just am all earthly wisdom, so there are not times I may not do some philanthropic thing. Nor if I'm this godly person, it doesn't mean there aren't going to be times that I'm going to act in a selfish, ambitious way. Because I'm still going to sin, right? I'm not perfect. But what He's helping us do is identify the world we live in.
The Source of Conflicts
So look at chapter 4. That's where we pick up today. "What's the source of the quarrels and the conflicts among you? Is not the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members?" So He said, you've got conflicts. You've got issues around you.
Now, He's not talking about circumstances of life. We're never immune from those. You have an economic environment you live in. You can be the most godly person in the world - that does not mean that what happens in the economy isn't going to affect you. It doesn't mean that you aren't going to have hardships of life. It doesn't mean that you aren't going to have kids that rebel, or a spouse or difficulties.
So that terrible theology that permeates a lot of Christians, especially Christian TV - this health and wealth, "God wants you healthy" - that's just not true. And not only is it not true, it puts people in bondage, and it ruins their life. So when Paul's walking around, and he's going, "I got a thorn in the flesh," my sense is he's more godly than you, and he's got issues. That teaching destroys people. And it's not biblical, which is obviously the biggest problem.
Here's why that's so difficult. When a crisis comes into your life, it shatters your theology. Now, you teach the sovereignty of God, and now things come into your life, and you have a whole grid, a whole framework for it, because that's what the scripture says. The rain falls on the godly and the ungodly. Now, James is going, now in your life - not circumstances, but there's relationships. That's what he's talking about in chapter four. There's quarrels, there's conflicts. What's causing that? Well, He tells you. It's you. It's an attitude.
The Root of Relational Conflict
Verse two: "You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You're envious and can't obtain, so you fight and you quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask, and you ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."
Verse four - here's the deal: You're whoring around on God. You're an adulteress. "Do you not know that if you have friendship with the world, it's hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." Don't you think that the scripture speaks to no purpose? He is jealous, and He desires the spirit which He has made to dwell in us. He, that's God, verse six, gives grace, greater grace. Therefore, it says, "God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble. Submit, therefore, to God."
So James is setting up this whole issue, and he's saying, here are these problems. I was talking to a guy one day, and he's going, "My whole world is in conflict." And he listed all of the areas: "My work is in conflict. My home is in conflict. I'm in conflict with my neighbors. I'm in conflict at church. I'm in conflict at the country club. I'm in conflict everywhere I go." And I said to him, "I don't know any of the specifics, but the one common denominator in all of this is you. So we ought to start there. We might want to know, is there something in you?"
Some people told me recently about some things I'm dealing with. They said, "Well, you've got people firing at you from both sides. So you must be right." I said, "That's not necessarily true at all. It could be that you're just universally a jerk and hated by all. You should never overlook that possibility." Just because somebody's got people firing at them from both sides doesn't mean they must be right. That's not necessarily true.
Paul balances this out in the book of Romans and says, "As far as it depends on you, live at peace with one another." So the reality is there are going to be some people you're never going to get to peace with them. But what the scripture is teaching is, let that be on their head, not yours.
The Root of Conflict
What will frequently happen when something comes into my life as a source of conflict is what's driving me is my selfishness. That's the way James lists it again. It's your jealousy, your selfishness, the selfish ambition. Nothing wrong with ambition. Ambition's good. Paul's an ambitious guy.
Paul writes to the church at Romans and says, "I want to come and see you, and I'm going to do it on my way to Spain because that's where I'm going to go. I've got a plan." Paul said, "There's this one thing I do. I strive." As you read Paul, you get a lot of striving and reaching. Climbing toward. Don't yet have it. That's all balanced against this idea of, "But even that I can't do anything. It's God who does that in me."
But stay focused on this. Here's what He's saying. Our conflict is not a Republican, Democrat, black, white, rich, poor, educated, uneducated. That's not the source of the conflict. He said the source of the conflict is between the flesh and the spirit. It's the source in your heart. It's the battle that's going on in your life.
Flesh Versus Spirit
At the end of the book of Galatians in chapter five, Paul writes and lists for us the fruit of the spirit. A lot of times we'll go there. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Right before it, Paul writes these words: "But I say to you, walk by the spirit and don't carry out the desires of the flesh. The flesh has its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another."
Verse 18 of Galatians 5: "But if you are led by the spirit, you're not under the law. Here are the deeds of the flesh and they are evident. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity." Now listen to this list. See if it doesn't sound similar to the place we're at. "Strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissension, factions, enviousness, drunkenness, carousing, and things like this."
When I'm walking by the flesh, when I'm walking in my natural desires, and we use the word lust, He uses the word lust here. We tend to kind of nail it down in a sexual way. That's part of it. But it's a sensual way. There's this strife and conflict. You apply it. It could be in your family. It could be at work. It could be whatever. At the core of that, most often, is somebody, if not both people, operating in a selfish, jealous way.
Earthly Thinking
So tie this to last week. My thinking is earthly, natural, and demonic. I'm not thinking the voice that comes from above that's supernatural and godly. I'm thinking in a human way.
As I'm driving down here today, I'm on the phone with a guy. He's having issues in his marriage. He's saying, "Listen, I know what I'm supposed to do. I don't want to do it. And now what's happened is she has had enough of this and she knows what she's supposed to do and she doesn't want to do it. And we're both wrong and we're both selfish and we're both stupid."
I said, "Well the good thing on this is I can cut down on my phone bill because I don't have to say anything but that's it. Somebody's going to have to give in. Somebody's going to have to act in a supernatural way." You're both thinking, and it's a perfect illustration of the passage before us. What's the conflict? "I know what I'm supposed to do, I just don't want to do it. I know what I'm supposed to do and I don't want to do it." Well you're thinking naturally.
Destructive Behavior and Prayer
James says here's what happens. "You don't have, so you commit murder." What He means by this is it's destructive behavior. You're operating in a way that you're pursuing immediate gratification. So you are asking and you aren't receiving. You're asking and you're not hearing an answer.
Now I immediately think of the context of prayer because you get a lot of that as Jesus is teaching. "You have not because you ask not. Ask and it will be given to you." Well, we have to understand always that in context. Now He is encouraging us to ask, He's encouraging us to pray, and He's encouraging us to pour out our heart. But that does not mean if you ask you will get it.
I'm in a lot of different church environments and almost always somebody will pray and they'll start like this: "God you tell us if two or more are gathered that you're there." Well stop. Are you telling me if I'm by myself He's not? That's a passage that deals with spiritual discipline and has nothing to do with a bunch of us sitting in a room praying. It's totally out of context but everybody's heard that repeated for so long that they just start their prayers that way.
Understanding God's Will in Prayer
All right, well let's pray for something good. I pray today that the whole world would come to Christ in repentance and faith. That's a good thing. Is that going to happen today? No, because yet another factor is that's not God's will.
In this whole praying thing this becomes really, I think people make this way too tough and way too complicated. This is really simple. You ask, you knock, you seek, you pray, but always with the understanding that He's the one who ultimately determines the outcome. So when I pray for Susan physically, I'll always pray, "God I wish you'd heal her. And if not heal her, could you just give her strength? And if not give her strength, just relieve some of the pain." Well to this point He hasn't healed her.
She's weaker than she's ever been. And she's achier than she's ever been. So I'm comfortable saying God's not done. God's either not going to heal her, or whatever He's going to do. See, if it works any way other than that, He ain't God.
So when I come to Him with faith, it's not faith that He'll do what I say. It's faith that He has the capacity to do what I say. It's faith that He is faithful. It's faith that He'll fulfill His promises. My faith, believing and trusting, we're believing God for a miracle. Your belief does not obligate Him to do anything.
Now we can go and say there are certain times where He goes, "Your faith healed you." There was some connection there. He demonstrated Himself that way. But it's not universal. We get into real problems when we start to make that a law. Because it isn't.
The Root of Our Conflicts
The focus here is you act in a selfish way. And the result of this is that there's conflict among you because there's a war going on. You want your way. And almost always you're not seeing yourself accurately.
I don't know one person who plays golf semi-seriously, semi-regularly. There's not one guy I know who plays golf who doesn't believe he's really a better player than he really is. I don't know one guy. I'm convinced I'm like a two. And I'm not. I'm a twelve on a good day. Maybe sometimes a ten and sometimes a fifteen. But inside me I think I'm a two.
The same idea here is to accurately see yourself. To identify your mood. Why are you impatient in that line? Why are you angry with that person at work? Why do you talk to your kid that way? Why do you do that? And ultimately it comes back to your sin.
My Struggle with Comfort
Here's my deal. Comfort is my deal. I want comfort. Somebody last night was trying to get me. I was with Jamie Rasmussen yesterday. And Jamie's going, "You need to go with me to..." I don't know where. Somewhere. I said, "Jamie, I'd take the passport. I'm not going out of the country. I don't want to go to India. God didn't call me to go to India. Go. Go, Jamie, go. I'll support you. Send me a letter. I'll give you some money. I'll support you. But I don't want to go."
"Oh, but..." I said, "Jamie. Jamie, stop. I got the Discovery Channel, man. I don't want to go. I don't care."
"You don't care about the suffering people in...?"
I said, "Yes, but not enough to go there. It's not my call. If God's called you, then fly away today. He didn't call me. I don't want to go." And I'm so secure in this that I don't mind admitting it. I don't think it's a spiritual issue. I don't want to go.
Now, part of that may be, and I have to take a look, is I value comfort. So, like, I needed a phone. And I said to Susan, "Gosh, I got to get a new phone." And she said, "Well, do you want to go down to the mall and get it?" I said, "No, I don't want to go down to the mall and get it. I'm going to call Sharon. That's why Sharon exists." So the next day Sharon came over and she had a new phone and she had it programmed and she told me what the number was and she told me how to charge it and charge the battery. And Susan just said, "This is pathetic. This makes me sick." And I said, "Susan, this is a job. And there are people around who just want to do this stuff. I don't want to do it. I hate it."
We're having some work done around the house. The minute workers show up, I leave. I just can't stand to watch it. It makes me nervous to even be in the same room. Well, that comfort can get in the way and I can become lazy.
When We Look to the World for What Only God Can Give
There's that step. You got to ask what drives that behavior. Why are you impatient with that spouse? Well, they're not meeting my needs. But why are you expecting them to meet your needs? They can't meet your needs. God meets your needs.
So here's what happens. You now are shacking up, verse 4, with the world. You're trying to find your gratification with the world that only God can give. So I looked to Susan early on in our marriage. I don't expect it anymore. Early on in our marriage, I looked to Susan to make me happy. And I wasn't a Christian. I looked to Susan for my happiness, my identity, my everything. I literally was looking to her to be God in my life. Well, she can't do that.
And she's incredible. Some of you, a few of you know her a little bit. Most of you know about her. But she's an amazing woman. She's an unbelievable woman. She's an unbelievable mother. But she's not God. She still screws up a bunch, right? Well, I'm looking to the world to find my satisfaction.
The Church's Critical Role in Broken Times
See, I had a conversation the other day. And again, you all know how I feel about the economy and all that stuff. I mean, it's just so far in the tank. Yesterday, they unveiled a bill that's going to be $1.5 trillion. Now, that's a problem. But there's a bigger problem. What's the bigger problem? There's no way it's going to be $1.5 trillion. It's got to be $3 trillion. If they're telling you it's $1.5 trillion, it's $3 trillion. You can't afford $1.5 trillion. You can't afford $3 trillion. This is just terrible.
I'm talking to a guy the other day who makes me look optimistic. So he's just going, "I'm just sinking deeper and deeper and deeper." And he said, and he's not a church guy. He comes to our church once in a while. He said to me, "We're all done." And he said something that absolutely captured my attention. He said, "Tom, there's never been a time where East Valley Bible Church is more important than it is right now."
Now, I want to expand that. There's never been a time when the churches are more important than they are right now. People are going to do, not all at once, but people are, every week now, responding like they did at 9/11. Our world is shattered, and they're coming to church and probably won't find any answers. We probably won't be able to help them. But you are more important.
There's this thing inside of me that's going, you know what? We could live on 50% of what we're making if we cut this...
We're redefining need. That's a good thing. I'm not sure God isn't just shaking up this whole thing just to go, "You know what? You've all been whoring around with the world way too long. You Christians, too. You went way past planning and saving and went into hoarding. And so I'm just going to take the hoarding part out." Now, is that what He's doing? I don't know. Do I like that? No, not at all. But I like it if that's what He's doing to us.
So that's the struggle we have, man. The struggle we have in the world is the struggle we have everywhere. So He said, here's the principle: messing around with the world, you're adopting their value system. You're adopting their criteria. You're measuring what you do the same way they'd measure what they do. The problem with this is God, verse 6, is opposed to the proud. It's not that He's neutral - He's opposed to them.
God Is a Jealous God
God is, the term introduced in there, a jealous God. Depending upon your background, that may strike you as an odd statement. In the book of Exodus in the 20th chapter, as God's getting ready to deliver the Ten Commandments, He said, "I'm the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of slavery. You have no other gods before me. You should not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or earth underneath or water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I am the Lord your God and I am a jealous God."
What He's saying is, "I don't want you messing around and playing with any other gods. Here's you, here's me, here's the place I'm to have in your life, and I don't want anything else up there. I don't want your family up there. I don't want your kids up there. I don't want sports up there. I don't want your school up there. I don't want your work up there. I don't want anything up there. I don't want your health up there. I want your worship. I want you to worship me and worship me alone."
He says since He's opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble, verse 7, since that's true, "I want you to submit yourself." I've learned over the years that the word "submission" is problematic. It is a word that presents all sorts of issues to the hearer, so I want to put it in context. God is opposed - that means He's depicted and ready for battle. He's in full battle array against the proud. But to those who are humble, He is there to give grace. So what do I do? I submit.
Understanding Submission Through Experience
I was teaching one day on "wives submit to your husbands," and then the next week I was going to teach on "husbands love your wife." So I'm teaching along on wives submit to your husbands, and I'm just seeing a lot of pushback by about half the room. I wound up after they got all these questions and they're arguing. So I get home and said to Susan, "How did it go today?" I said, "Not so good." She said, "What's the problem?" I said, "I think the problem are women. I think the problem is women." She said, "What were you teaching?" I said, "Wives submit to your husband." She said, "Well, how did you teach it?" I said, "I said here's what it says: wives submit to your husband. How hard is that? I mean, it's not hard to understand. It's what it means. You should be under your husband. He's over you. He's chosen. God's chosen him to be the head." She said, "Did you teach it that way, kind of with that tone and that attitude?" I said, "Yeah." She said, "Do you think that maybe is the source of some of the resistance?" I said, "No, I think they got issues. I think it's their fault."
About two weeks later I'm in a Bible study with a friend where they're teaching Romans 13: "Citizens submit to your government." Well, I find myself going, "This is really hard." This was during the Clinton years. "This is really hard to do, huh?" There's my friend who's brand new to this, just going, "But what if they... what if..." and that's it. All of a sudden I made the connection, because the wives were saying, "Well, what if he's stupid?" And I go, "Well, he's a guy." "Well, what if he makes bad decisions?" We make bad decisions. It doesn't say submit to him if he's a wise, thoughtful, loving, caring guy. It says submit to him. Just by the way, ladies, it says husbands, you love her even if she's kind of a witch and doesn't do what she's supposed to do too. There's a two-way street we're walking on here.
Well then I heard the same thing: submit to the government. "What's the exception? What if they're wasting our money?" Really, is this a trick question? "What if they're doing things I'm opposed to?" Here's the deal: this whole submission thing is not tested when they're wise, smart, and doing what you want. The term means to line up under.
Submission as Attitude, Not Just Action
In our lives, governments - God's put government in position to represent Him. He's their authority. When I'm rebellious to the government, I'm rebellious to God. Are there exceptions? Sure, but they're rare and they're few.
I have a question: "Is Susan in submission to you?" Yes. "Can you give me an example?" Not really. But the reason is this: because submission is first and foremost an attitude. So we aren't arguing about a lot of stuff, and we kind of have a dance. I don't know how you all work your house, but we kind of have a dance at our house. She does stuff and I do stuff, and we never wrote it out. We just fell into responsibilities.
Like with raising kids, I'm there, but a lot of times when we're going back and there's something like - I had a view they need chores, and she'd go, "Tom, they need to learn to play."
really my dad told me I'm supposed to work he said well look how you turned out don't they need okay don't they don't you think they need to play why do you want him to work can't we do dishes some other time why don't we have fun why don't they swim why don't they just play why are you trying to make them wait they need to work ethic you see Tom the world's gonna kick that snot out of these kids let's let them have fun and I and I ultimately yielded to that with it I said as long as they're responsible with the things they have and and it was incredible
Learning Through Investment Decisions
When it came to money I would always end up something one time that we had this big I had this investment opportunity and so I went to her and I said I and I and because I don't know where the checkbook is literally I have no idea what any of that stuff is I don't even have the foggiest clue I said I need a check she said okay you don't ever ask for a check why don't you just put on your credit card charge it and I'll pay it off at the end of the well I said it's a bigger check what's this for and I said well I need to talk to you about we're gonna invest in this
What is it I explained it to her and she got that look and I said what's the problem and she said well I don't think I like that and I said okay well why it doesn't feel right and then it feels this is not a feel right this is a head decision not a heart decision I'd asking you about chocolate or tacos if this is something this is an investment opportunity yeah do you understand this completely well no not really but so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so's in it I think it's fine okay all right so she wrote the check gave it to me I gave it to them
Two months later I came back I said I need another check so what's for it I said well it's another investment opportunity so we already had that I said well this is an investment opportunity to save the last investment opportunity as he said well I don't feel right about this I said Susan we've been down this road just write it out I don't even know how to make it out I don't know how to write on how to spell thousand so just write it out give me the check so she said okay she gave me the check
The Lesson in Humility
Well it all went away not one not one time not one time did she look not one time did she ask not one time did she say I find what we're driving one day and she saw some she's that it makes me think of that aren't didn't we invest in something like that I said yeah yeah yeah it didn't turn out so well I see that oh okay not I told you that submission that's understanding
Well this starts a sequence He said because God is opposed to the proud it only makes sense for you to submit to Him and here's what happens now submit to Him in verse 7 8 9 and 10 have 10 commands in them so let me just read you know get it by the emphasis submit therefore to God resist the devil and He will flee from you draw near to God He'll draw near to you cleanse your hands you sinners purify your hearts you double-minded be miserable mourn weep let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you
The Pattern of Replacing Old with New
What He's saying is here's the deal submit to God anytime it's the expulsion of an affection I don't just take an expulsion the affection of the heart it's not just that I take something out I have to replace it with something get it so it's not when Paul's talking he says stop lying that's not enough replace it with the truth don't love the world what I do love God because if you just say stop it it has to be replaced with something it has to be replaced with some sort of discipline or some sort of behavior something that fills that spot
So He said resist the devil and so that's really important I submit to God it's the idea of lining up under Him I'm gonna connect it in a minute with drawing near to Him but submit to God and resist the devil there's a force in opposition against you and me and it's it's the devil it's His demons it's the world system it's our flesh you have an enemy
The Reality of Spiritual Warfare
I can't remember the number I think the last number I saw is 72% of those who identified themselves as born-again Christians do not believe the devil or Satan exists they believe there's a force of evil or something but not not a person satan. Well that's got to be a good news for Him because if you don't think He exists, it's wide open. It's one thing to know the enemy's coming or the robbers coming and lock down the house. It's another thing to not even know they're out there and you're in Bemidji, Minnesota thinking you're safe and you're out fluffing your sheets and hanging up the laundry and there's a serial killer on the loose.
Well resist him, push back, it's spiritual warfare. It's what Paul talks about in Ephesians 6. You've got the Satan coming as an angel of light or a subtle serpent or a roaring lion. He's out to destroy you. He's a liar. He's a murderer. He wants to take you off of the legs. He'll do it in a variety of ways.
A Recommendation for Understanding the Enemy
One of the great depictions of just opening that up for me was the screw tape letters. I don't know if you ever read screw tape. By the way, Max McLean, I'm putting a plug in here. This is an unadulterated profit plug, though I don't make any money. Max McLean is coming back. He did screw tape for us. He's just done it off-Broadway in Chicago, all over.
Max McLean is coming back to do screw tape at the Herberger Theater October, the end of October, maybe like October 29, 30, 31. You will want to go to this. You need to go to the Herberger site and the minute that pops up you're going to want to get your tickets and we're a little late. I talked to Max last week. He's a little late coming back and I think He said He's only going to do two shows, which makes no sense to me. That's just not enough because that Herberger seat's about 800. That's 1,600 tickets. Those should go so fast. I'm telling you, get on that Herberger website and the minute it pops up screw tape, get your tickets
Submitting to God on His Terms
Resist him and flee. Now, I want to connect this to submitting to God. What does that mean? Well, verse 4 tells us: it's to draw near to Him. It's to draw near to Him on His terms. It's to acknowledge who you are.
You start to hear the language here in verses 7 through 10 that are strikingly similar to the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount—the idea of mourning and weeping and submitting. That's how it begins: "Blessed are the poor in spirit," spiritually bankrupt. No good dwells in me. Sin has overwhelmed me. I can't save myself. I need a Savior.
The Problem of Minimizing Sin
I haven't been in a while, but there was a stretch where I went to 13 outreach events. That would be like a luncheon or a Good Friday event, whatever they were—13 consecutive. Of the 13, 12 of the 13 speakers never mentioned sin.
So here's what's happening. We're presenting Jesus as kind of like an alternative to the world system. Jesus will give you peace better than drugs. Jesus will make you wealthy better than Warren Buffett. Jesus will put your marriage back together again. Well, not necessarily. It doesn't always work out that way.
You may be here thinking, "Hey, my problem is my girlfriend's mad at my wife. My problem is I'm drinking and I'm high. My problem is..." Those are not your problems, man. Your problem is your heart. Those are symptoms of your problem.
If I don't ever tell you your problem is sin, then you don't even need His redemption. If I only have little bitty sins, I only need a little bitty Savior. But when you understand you're dead and wretched and helpless, you need a Savior who not just is available to you, but comes in and rescues you. He saves you and He's Redeemer—all that stuff.
Drawing Near and the Process of Cleansing
So now I draw near to Him on His terms. I draw near to Him, and what happens is He draws near to me. Then He begins a process of cleansing, washing. He gets into some strange words.
It's funny—you never see verse 9 on a screensaver: "Be miserable." You never see this. You never see a placard in the office. What's He saying here? "I want unhappy people"? I was in a church not long ago that I'm convinced this became their life verse.
But He's not saying we aren't happy or joyful. He says my heart's broken over the things that break His heart, so I humble myself before Him. He's where I go for my comfort. I'm not operating in some frivolous world.
True Joy Versus Worldly Happiness
Nothing wrong with having fun. Nothing wrong with laughing. Nothing wrong with enjoying life. Nothing wrong with any of that. But that's not where I find my value in life.
There is a time for laughter, but there's a time to mourn and weep. There's a time to get this picture of who I am, and who the world is, and who God is, and to have my heart broken before Him. My laughter and my joy become gloom when I look at myself and my condition before Him.
I still live a joyous life. That may sound contradictory. Do you get that? Did I explain that well enough? It may sound contradictory. There's joy, but my joy isn't found in the closing of the deal.
A Lesson About Misplaced Identity
I remember there was a kid that was coming to church. He said, "Really pray for me today, because I'm out on my first sales call where it's really me on my own, and my manager's going to be with me, and I really want to get the sale." I saw him the next week. I said, "How'd it go?" "Got the sale." He said, "Man, you don't seem very excited."
He said, "You know what happened? We're walking to the car. My manager said, 'Hey, I want you to understand something. One sale does not a career make.'" Now, two things. A tip: they used to manage this way in 1950. If you want to deflate somebody, that is one way to do it.
The other thing I said: "That's kind of cool, because really early on, you learn that there's not joy in and of yourself in the order, because that order only lasts so long." Even if you're the top salesperson, you're only as good as your last quarter. Now, if you're the salesperson of the year, they may give you two quarters, but ultimately, it's a printout. It's a name. It's what it costs to have you there, and it's what you made, and if it doesn't hit that percentage, adios amigo.
That's okay. That's what they're in business for. They're in business to make money. They're not in business just to keep you around. That's the deal you cut. You work, they pay you. You don't work, you're gone. Don't take it personal—that's just the way it is. They're not your marriage counselor. They're not responsible for you.
Finding Worth in the Right Place
Now, I don't work that way with our people, and I would never encourage you to necessarily manage that way. But if you're trying to find your identity in what you do, somewhere that's going to fail you.
So if you were an executive VP, and they just had a cut, and somebody said to you "Who are you?" and you said "Executive VP," and you are no longer—you no longer have worth anymore, do you? But that's not where you find your worth.
God's Will and Our Plans
He says, "Be careful in this whole process. Don't speak against each other." He finishes that out. Verse 13, He drops in this idea: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, engage in business, and make a profit.' You do not know what your life will be like. You are just like a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, if we live, we'll do this, or we'll do that.'"
is, you boast in your arrogance, and all boasting is evil. Therefore, to the one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin."
You see, what you're doing here is replacing God. You're acting like God. You're saying, "I'm going to go to this town, I'm going to do this thing, I'm going to make this profit," and He's saying there's no eternal perspective there. He's not saying don't plan. Nothing wrong with planning, but the way we try to say it is: write your plan in pencil, with understanding God has an eraser, and then He's going to write His in pen.
After all, understand, life is but a vapor. You're Billy Mays on an airplane. You drop over dead. We see those things around us all the time. There are exceptions. The rule is, you're going to live to be 74, 75, 76, 77, whatever, but you don't know. Life is but a vapor.
Let me expand it. And so is everything in it. The deal is a vapor. Everything is temporary, except your soul and the Word of God. So live that way.
Enjoying God's Creation Without Materialism
There's a difference between enjoying the material things God gave you and materialism. There's a difference. God created the world here to serve us. That's not an excuse to abuse it. We ought to be leading the way in environmentalism. By this, I don't mean radical, goofy, nutty stuff, but I mean we care about the planet. We care about God's creation, but we're not here to serve it. It's here to serve us, and we're here to enjoy it.
Why did God create beautiful art, and architecture, and the mountains? For our pleasure, not for us to put an "ism" in the end of it. He didn't give us material to be materialism.
James wraps this up with really a continuing emphasis on our view of ourselves, and our selfishness, and the result that's going to have in our life.