James' view on Friendship with the world, judging others & boasting about tomorrow

James 4 1Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 4Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? 6But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? 13Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ 14Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.’ 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.

This entire chapter seems dreary, almost stating “You are bad and here is how you are bad?” The main theme I see is “submit to God” or be God’s only and no-one or no-things else. Worship God and God alone, follow God and God only.
[verses 1-4] God gives freely his gifts but you have to ask in the right way. Don’t pray “God I need…..” don’t ask out of greed or want. When my Mom starts a prayer chain for our church she will normally end it with “God’s will be done” and not ask for healing or pray they get better. You may think, wow I’m praying for someone’s Dad who is really sick how do I ask God to heal them – ask God’s will be done. In verse 4 it says “Adulterers” this is not the modern day term we use for a cheating husband or wife this is the Biblical sense. But also the same meaning of “cheating” only cheating on God. Like if your life revolves around “Survivor” or “I have to get on the internet or I’ll go crazy” – God wants you to worship, rely on, and give to only him. It’s like the saying “He’s a Christian on Sunday.” God wants you to be a Christian every day, not just on Sunday.
[verses 6-10] God gives to those who are humble. Humble: you know someone who is not stuck-up, not someone who says “I’m better”, “Look at me”, or “I’m perfect”, someone who gives of themselves and never thinks of recognition. Submit to God and flee from the devil or temptation. Some of us may have given up a bad habit (smoking, eating chocolate like it’s going out of style, or being on the internet 24 hours a day), if you have given up a bad habit you may have noticed after a time it becomes easier to not do this – the desire is always there, but it becomes easier to, just walk away. God is there for you supporting you. I had a tough time with the “don’t be a friend to the world”, that seems to be an odd statement. I see it as saying “don’t give into those ‘worldly’ temptations. Don’t become a slave to the TV or internet; glorify God in everything you do. Boy is that a tough one, its human nature to complain or have a vice/bad habit. But we each should try to let God lead us to where we should be.
[verses 11-12] Don’t judge others. One of my favorite Bible quotes is Matthew 8:7 – loosely translated to a modern saying “You without sin cast the first stone”. No-one is SO much better than someone else or so ‘above” another that they can say “he is bad and she is good” only God has the right to judge.
[verses 13-17] This is entitled “Boasting about tomorrow” as I read this I heard those “old time” sayings my Mom and her mother used “don’t count your chicken’s before they’re hatched”. I think these verses must be reflecting on my household budget “don’t spend it if you ain’t got it”. One of the study guides I read said, “It’s like a farmer who takes out a loan to build this BIG barn and will pay off the loan after the crops are picked.” No farmer COUNTS on his profits till he has the check or money deposited in his account. Storms happen, winds happen, floods happen, noting is set until it’s done. It’s like I tell Mom when one of those “You’re a winner” commercials comes on or we get one the mailings “Your won” – I always say they just better put the money in my bank account and when it’s been there for a few months then I’ll rejoice. Nothings a guarantee. Verse 16 says “As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” I think of the radio station I listen to, it’s a country music station, and they keep coming on with “Rascal Flatts say they lost everything in the Tennessee flood” or “Kenny Chesney was away during the flood but lost much of his equipment.” But each country music star says “I can replace these things. Don’t feel bad for me, give and pray for those in this area who lost much more than me.” They are not boasting “I’m so rich I can replace it all”, they are asking for support of those who can’t or who aren’t well off and need help. They are humbling themselves; can the rest of us do that? Can we do that during a trying time?

James' Taming the Tongue & Wisdom

James 3 1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers
and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater
strictness. 2For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in
speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3If we
put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole
bodies. 4Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds
to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of
the pilot directs. 5So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great
exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6And the
tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity;
it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on
fire by hell. 7For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature,
can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8but no one can tame the
tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9With it we bless the Lord and
Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10From
the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought
not to be so. 11Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and
brackish water? 12Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a
grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. 13 Who is wise
and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done
with gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish
ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15Such
wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.
16For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and
wickedness of every kind. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a
trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in
peace for those who make peace.

This is quit the chapter, I read it and then had to reread it and then finally walked away to think about it. The start says to me that teachers need to teach with responsibility, be mindful of what you are saying and teaching, and not everyone can teach. Can you imagine getting up in front of class and teaching algebra? Or what about theatre and its usefulness? I fully admit I’m not a teacher, I hate speaking in front of people – it’s just not in me. But I also think this speaks to how we live daily, each of “teaches” in some way; maybe someone just asked you how to use the copier or where such-in-such restaurant is…that’s teaching, too. So as we speak we must speak with responsibility, like verse 5 implies with one match thrown away a forest fire can start. You know like the game “telephone” where you whisper in someone’s ear “I love my Mom” and it gets passed, by whisper, around the group and in the end it comes out “I have a monkey”. One slip of the tongue can turn into a disaster situation. Like verses 7 & 8 point out your tongue can be your worst enemy. Have you ever said something and instantly regretted it? Or has some ever come up to you and ask “why you say that” and you think “Uh did I say that”. Unfortunately this is human nature, we speak first and think later. Throughout these verses to me it says true wisdom is a divine gift, a gift from God, if we stop…think…then speak…we are speaking with wisdom and not just our temper or without justification. In verses 14-16 we see James tells us “self centeredness is of human nature NOT from God. Thinking only of yourself is the devil working in your life. Thinking “I am better than others” is pressure from the world around us not, not us acting as God would want us to. God’s wisdom is gently, peaceful, makes you and everyone around feel good, it doesn’t look at one person as “better” than another or think well they have money or are well educated so they deserve a higher status level then someone else. Let us all try to think and speak with God’s wisdom.