Well, it’s happened again. I try to write a post but have to alter my course. Sometimes this occurs mid-stream. In this case, I had to change before getting started!
But that’s how God’s Word can work. The Lord will reinforce some of our thoughts and intentions, but He will redirect others. And as disciples of Jesus, our call is to cooperate with His Spirit. So I’m going with the flow!
I wanted to write about the significance of submitting ourselves to God. At least that’s what I got out of James 4:15:
“Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’”
It doesn’t get any more basic than living! If it’s God’s will, we’ll live. If it isn’t, our plans won’t get realized. Because we won’t be here! But that’s so obvious that it was easy to skip past the first part of the verse and fixate on the second.
My plans about the future occupy my mind and dominate my attention. I want what I want, but I also seek to please the Lord, so I check with Him. “Do you approve of my goals, Lord? Are my interests and agendas pleasing in Your sight?”
I assume Jesus wants me alive, but I shouldn’t take that for granted. I’m not advocating a morbid outlook, but I have to take to heart what James says. My life on earth is a precondition of the work I do. And unless God is at the center of each, I’m on shaky ground.
My original aim was to delve into this topic, but I had to reconsider when I read through the immediate context. Here’s the broader passage which surrounds the verse:
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. – James 4:13-17
The positive advice of vs. 15 is embedded in a context of correction. James is confronting unwarranted pride.
Again, it’s easy to chalk it up to presumption. We can’t make any plans unless we believe we’re going to live to see tomorrow.
But James reminds his readers about who’s in control. And it’s not us! God is. They knew this, but they weren’t acting like it was true. So the apostle accuses these Christians of arrogance. Twice in vs. 16 he refers to boasting and he also mentions “arrogant schemes.” The Greek word (alazoneia) isn’t a common one; it occurs only here and in 1 John 2:16:
“For everything in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–comes not from the Father but from the world.”
The passage showed me that self-determination conflicts with dependence on God. It’s prideful and dangerous to one’s spiritual health.
Arrogance also harms the church.
When I saw how James challenged vanity, I wondered if the issue arose in other parts of the letter.
And boy, does it ever!
I was surprised to discover that pride is a major problem that James wants to solve. I’d always heard that the book of James is about practical faith, and while that’s not wrong, it doesn’t get at the root of contention.
The believers to whom James wrote weren’t lazy; they were prideful. They knew the value of work; that’s why James refers to their business plans in chapter 4. But they were engaging in such ventures for selfish reasons. Too many Christians were too self-centered for James to stay silent. So he fights this attitude in a variety of areas. Consider the following references:
- 1:9-11 – the humble vs the wealthy
- 1:21 – the virtue of receiving God’s Word in humility
- 2:1-13 – playing favorites
- 2:14-26 – not helping the needy
- 3:1-12 – out of control teachers
- 4:1-12 – inability to get along with others
- 4:16 – boasting and arrogance
- 5:1-6 – mistreating dependent workers
Followers of Christ who had some degree of power (spiritual or material) were using it to benefit themselves. They exhibited little concern for those whom they considered beneath them.
The lifestyles of these believers didn’t match their faith. They applied the gospel only to their personal lives; it made little impact on their relationships with others.
That’s why James warns them as he does.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” – James 2:26
To keep our faith alive, we must live like Jesus wants us to. And we must never forget that it’s Jesus Himself who keeps us alive.
The Christian life is one of dependency. We rely on the Lord for everything. When we get that right, everything else begins to make sense. We grow in wisdom. We see the value of others. We serve. And we also jump on opportunities. We dare to believe that the God who sustains us also opens doors for us. We can make a difference in this world as long as we stay grounded in Jesus.
We live because of Christ.
Let’s live for Him!
