The Cure for Arrogance
James 4:11-17
Introduction
James presents a problem everyone has, arrogance, also called pride. It is a real problem when it is found in the church. Evidently it was a problem in the church at Jerusalem and at times is a problem in every church.
When I played the trumpet I noticed that each section had very different hand shakes. The trombones slide their arm forward and backward in a slide movement when the shook hands. Tuba players hugged and said hello since their instrument went around them or sat down to say hello during concert season. Flute and oboe simply annoyed others with their shrill voices. Clarinetists would move their fingers rapidly on the back of your hand. But trumpet players would grab you hand forcefully and say, "Hi, I’m better than you."
During the days when Mohammed Ali was a great boxer, he would go around in his arrogance and say that, "He was the greatest." Humility was never his strong suit. One day, back in his prime, he was on an airplane and the plane was ready to take off and the flight attendant had repeatedly told him to put on his seat belt. He finally told her, "I’m superman and superman don’t need no seatbelt." The flight attendant didn’t hesitate a minute but shot back with, "Superman don’t need no airplane either, now buckle up."
James presents a problem everyone has, arrogance, also called pride. It is a real problem when it is found in the church. Evidently it was a problem in the church at Jerusalem and at times is a problem in every church. He identifies two ways in which arrogance surfaces in our lives. Thankfully we also have the scriptures to tell us the truth.
I’m Better Than You
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
In his little book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H.A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter. "He was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the purser’s desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship’s safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed himself of that privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other berth. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. The purser accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, ’It’s all right, bishop, I’ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!’"
All of us have a problem with making snap judgments about people. We stereotype according to clothing, race, sex, nationality, etc. Honestly, can any of us say we really believe the stereotypes about people? And yet we find ourselves agreeing with others about what people are.
A schoolteacher decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. No one seemed interested in helping. Leaning up against the trailer, she prayed, “Please God, send me an angel, preferably one with mechanical experience.”
Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattooed arms. He jumped off and went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy, and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump. The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumfounded to talk. As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, “Thanks so much.” Noticing her surprise, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave, he was gone as fast as
We have an issue in our state about immigration, illegal immigration. Now it has gotten to the point with some that any hispanic has to be illegal. The joke in seminary was that all orientals were bad drivers. Unfortunately my encounters on the road almost had me believing that stereotype.
These are blanket statements about people. What is the real issue? We are setting ourselves as God, the Judge of all. I have found once you get to know someone their lives are as good and bad as yours are and they have the same concerns about family, working, etc. "I’m better than you" is based on my comparing you to me. I place myself over you because of what I see or have assumed.
We Are All Sinners
There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
The solution to judging others and placing yourself on a pedestal is to see people including yourself through the eyes of God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:7,
"What makes you better than anyone else? What do you
have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is
from God, why boast as though you have accomplished
something on your own?"
He is God and you are not. Thankfully we worship a God who has mercy and grace on each of us. He loves each of us and desires that we come back to the permanent relationship that we are suppose to have with Him.
When we look at our lives and compare, there is only one comparison that counts, "All have sinned". We are all on level playing ground. We are sinners, lost, without a hope. The only difference between me and someone else is I know Jesus. He is the only one who matters when it comes to comparison.
My Will Be Done - v. 13
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.”
Evidence for an over inflated opinion of ourselves comes from the College Board that administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the SAT exam, which millions of high school students take each year. On that test there are a number of other questions besides the ones about math and English which the students are asked to answer. For instance, they are asked to evaluate their leadership ability.
Recently in an exam, seventy percent of the students rated themselves as above average in leadership, and only two percent as below average. Sixty percent rated themselves as above average in athletics while only six percent said below. When they rated themselves as to how easy they were to get along with, 25 percent said they were in the top one percent, sixty percent said they were in the top ten percent, and absolutely no one said he was below average in being easy to get along with.
How many in this room thought their life would turn out different. All of us made plans about our life. It comes natural, just like the high school kids who take the SATs. Unfortunately life doesn’t always turn out like we think it will. I would guess there are more broken dreams than realized dreams in this room.
We plan our lives around ourselves. We give no thought to life itself but we continue to ignore everything for the sake of furthering our careers, our jobs, our savings, etc.
Your Will Be Done
Why, 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. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Should we make plans, absolutely! But we also need to recognize the One who holds the future in His hands. We are not in control of very much if you think about it. What’s the solution?
Corrie Ten Boom said, "Always trust an unknown future to a known God."
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:7,
"What makes you better than anyone else? What do you
have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is
from God, why boast as though you have accomplished
something on your own?"
We make plans and recognize that it is only by the grace of God that we accomplish them.
Augustine said, Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love and the future to God’s providence."
The Root Problem - Sin
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
Back in the 1950s, D James Kennedy was an Arthur Murray dance studio instructor. It’s hard to believe it now. But back then, Dr Kennedy was a drunk. He slept around. And he lived a very worldly life. When he started dating a Christian girl, she asked him, "Where do you go to church?" And he said, "Nowhere. You don’t have to go to church to be a good person." Then, with an air of arrogance, he said, "You can be a good Christian WITHOUT going to church!"
And the girl said, "No you can’t!"
Years later, Kennedy said, "That was the first time anyone had ever challenged my little pet saying. I was taken aback. And it made me rethink everything I believed."
A week later, Kennedy was sleeping in bed in a drunken haze. When he woke up, he heard a preacher on the radio. He got up to turn it off. But before he got to the radio, he heard the preacher say this: "Suppose that you were to die today and stand before God. And he asked you, "What right do you have to enter my heaven?’ what would you say?"
The question stopped Kennedy in his tracks. He sat back down on the bed. And listened as Dr. Donald Barnhouse shared the gospel message. That Jesus died for our sins. And rose from the dead. And that if we surrender our lives to him, all our sins would be forgiven. And we would get to be with Jesus in heaven forever. And right then and there, Kennedy completely surrendered his life to Christ.
The next day, as he was shaving, he kept looking at himself in the mirror. And saying, "I’m forgiven! I’m completely forgiven! I’m going to spend eternity in paradise with Jesus!" And he was so happy. And so grateful. That he decided right then and there, "I want what happened to me to happen to as many people as possible." And he started going to church with his new Christian girlfriend. They dated for three more years. And they never slept together even once until his wedding night. That’s how much the power of Jesus Christ changed him. And for the last 45 years, Dr Kennedy has shown his appreciation for Jesus Christ by living a life of loving service to Him.
