Worldliness is Selfishness Part 1
a commentary on James 4 (Context)
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome to this week’s Biblit on James chapter 4!
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What is the one characteristic that children never seem to grow out of?
Selfishness.
I would argue that kids simply don’t know how to hide their motives. It’s pretty obvious when a kid wants something selfishly.
The trick is, adults have learned how to mask their own evil desires. But they’re still there.
And as we’ll talk about today, this evil desire within us is what leads to quarrels, jealousy, judgment, and sin. It is what destroys relationships not just with the people around us, but with God Himself.
The bad news?
We’re all selfish.
The good news?
God is abundant in grace!
Let’s jump into this commentary on James chapter 4!
Context
If you recall last week’s Biblit, we just finished talking about worldly wisdom versus Godly wisdom.
Worldly Desires
James continues this conversation by first asking us a follow-up question.
What is the source of fighting among you?
He claims that all the fighting, quarrels, and covetousness comes from our own evil desires.
The way James says it, he makes it sound like asking for things we want is not wrong in itself.
It’s not about the ask, it’s about the motive.
And when our motive is tied to evil desires and worldly wisdom, it is sinful.
But sometimes just saying something is sinful isn’t a strong enough word picture for us weak humans.
James goes on to argue that befriending worldly wisdom severs your relationship with God.
It is the same thing as cheating on your spouse. That pain and heartbreak is what we do to God when we desire the things of this world over Him.
For God is a jealous God and desires our fully faithful spirit.
Now that word picture for me is a much stronger and heart-wrenching picture than saying it is just sinful.
That’s one of the multitudes of reasons I believe God gifted us with marriage. We may not understand the spiritual concept “sin” but we can surely understand the beauty of a faithful marriage and the heartbreak, immense pain, and magnitude that can come from unfaithfulness.
However, it is not all doom and gloom!
There is good news, James reminds us.
God is abundant in grace and, quoting from Proverbs, James says that God gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud.
So what is the fix?
Humility before the Lord.
Then James throws in some odd commands we’ll dive into tomorrow, but here is the short-list:
Be miserable and mourn and weep
Turn your smile upside down, turn your laughter to mourning, and turn your joy to gloom
Humble yourselves and God will exalt you
After that odd list, James goes back to the root issue of judging others, comparing, and coveting others. He commands us never to criticize or judge another.
He goes further to say that if you judge another, you judge the law. But God is the ONLY judge and the ONLY one capable to save or destroy.
James sums up this section with this one final summary and gut punch:
“There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:12 CSB).
Worldly Plans
After this section, James continues with the topic of worldly wisdom and our own desires.
He condemns people who have “life” all planned out with the motivation of “let’s make some money.”
He argues that we have no idea whatsoever what tomorrow will look like. In fact, only God knows what tomorrow will look like.
And yet we continue to rely on our own plans and our own will instead of relying on God’s will and plan.
God is the only one whose plans never fail. He is the only one who knows what is going to happen. Rely on His plans?
Nope.
James continues his argument by saying not only do we not know what tomorrow will look like, but we don’t even know if we’ll be here tomorrow. He says we are like a vapor that will vanish after a little while.
Once again, James offers a pretty bleak outlook, but follows up with an alternative approach to life.
“Instead, you should say ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:15 CSB).
We’ll definitely dive more into that verse tomorrow, but for now, we’ll wrap up with James’s final thoughts.
He declares that instead of relying on God’s will and looking to Him, we rely on our own, and boast in our own arrogance, even though we know it’s evil.
And so he leaves us with this huge gut punch. I would actually argue that with James’s one liners, the shorter they are, the more gut punchy they are:
“So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.” (James 4:17 CSB).
With that, we’ll call it a day! Tune in tomorrow and we’ll dive a little deeper into James chapter 4!