OPEN: Years ago, Tony Campolo wrote a book about Christianity called “Who Switched The Price Tags”
He told about the time he and his best friend decided to break into the basement of the local five-and-dime store. They didn’t plan to rob the place (Sunday School boys after all); instead, they planned to do something that was far worse for the owner. Their plan was to break in and change the price tags on everything. I don’t think they actually got beyond the planning stages… but they imagined customers arriving and discovered that radios were selling for a quarter and bobby pins were priced at five dollars each.
Campolo wrote: “With diabolical glee, we wondered what it would be like when… nobody could figure out what the prices of things really should be.”
In a store the price tags tell us the value of what we want to buy. But if someone switches the price tags, it’s hard to know how valuable something is.
In the book of James, God rebukes Christians who seemingly can’t read the price tags. They’ve lost the understanding of how valuable things should be. But now… how does God know they’ve misread the price tags?
James writes: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.” James 4:1-2
You see, when Christians get into quarrels and fights, something is wrong! And God tells is that THIS is what’s wrong: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD is enmity (“becoming an enemy”) with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:3-4
In other words, when Christians fight and quarrel it shows that they’ve put a higher value on the world THAN they have put on God. In fact, Christians who fight and quarrel are called “adulterous” because they’ve apparently abandoned their commitment to God… for a commitment to the world.
So… what’s going on here? Well, the root of the problem James is talking about here is that some Christians have fallen in love with worldly possessions. And that IS an issue for many Christians. The lure of possessions and the promise of happiness is everywhere. People build their lives around how much money they have in 401K, and how many possessions they have in their homes and garages.
ILLUS: I had a friend named Gary in Union City who owned a business there. He was always struggling financially and he came to me and asked advice. I noticed he always leased a brand new Trans Am car every couple years and suggested that maybe he should “downsize.” He was shocked and replied: “But God wants me to be happy, doesn’t He?”
Gary’s problem was that he was hooked on the idea that happiness could be found IN his possessions.
ILLUS: Out West there is a General Store in the middle of nowhere. When travelers stop in - they see a sign that says "If you can't find it in this store, just ask us about the item, and we'll tell you how to get along without it."
Jesus said: “(You can’t) serve two masters, (you’ll) either hate the one and love the other, or (you’ll) be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24
It’s a repeated theme throughout Scripture: Only a fool clings to things of this world
One writer explained it this way:
• Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit… and they weren’t even hungry! As a result they ended up losing all they had in exchange for shame, suffering, and death.
• Lot's wife, fled from Sodom as God destroyed it BUT then looked back at the home she couldn't keep, and became a pillar of salt.
• Achan stole a garment of gold from Jericho that he couldn’t wear, and silver and gold he couldn’t spend, and ended up losing all that he had… including his life.
• Judas, for 30 pieces of silver which he had no occasion or conscience to use, took his own life in shame and despair.
• Demas, a companion of Paul’s - loved this world more than Jesus, walked away from Christ and brought upon himself the wrath of God.
Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Matthew 16:26
Trying to GAIN the world at the expense of walk with God… is DANGEROUS!!! But I believe there’s a way to avoid that kind of danger! And the key to avoiding this danger is found in Romans 10:9 “… if you CONFESS with your mouth that JESUS IS LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
ILLUS: When someone wants to become a Christian, I explain a few things to them. I’ll talk about faith and repentance and baptism and so on… but when I talk to them about CONFESSING JESUS AS LORD I pull my wallet out. I explain that Romans 10 is not talking about confessing our sins. It’s saying we need to confess Jesus as Lord. In the days of Jesus, if you called someone your “Lord” it meant they owned you. You were the slave, they were the master. And as a slave… you owned nothing. By confessing Jesus as Lord (opening my wallet) I’m telling Jesus everything in this wallet is His! Everything in my 401K is His. My house, my car, my kids – they all belong to Him. How I spend His money should glorify Him and not shame Him. How I view “my” possessions should always reflect the idea that what I “own” is really His.
So, the root of quarreling & fighting that James is talking here is BASED on the fact that too many Christians fall in love with their worldly possessions. And when they cling to those possessions - they ultimately abandon God.
But there was something else that caught my attention here. It was that phrase where James 4:1 asks “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” James tell us this often happens because we WANT something we can’t seem to get.
Now, sometimes folks argue over possessions (it happens a lot when families battle over inheritances). But other times, those conflicts arise because I want MY WAY. I want something MY WAY and you won’t let me have it! I can’t GET what I WANT (my way)… so I’ll argue with you.
Just before James 4:1 talks about quarreling and fighting we read about the fact that EARTHLY (worldly) wisdom is based on “jealousy and selfish ambition (lead to) disorder and every vile practice” James 3:16
Then, by contrast, James tells us “the WISDOM FROM ABOVE is first pure, then PEACEABLE, GENTLE, OPEN TO REASON, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:17-18
Thus, every time you or I get UPSET and argue and quarrel with someone we tend to reflect a WORLDLY wisdom… a wisdom filled with disorder and vile practices.
What’s that mean? It means that many Christians operate under the assumption that if I can insult someone enough, or curse at them enough or (and this is the most common practice) INCREASE THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!!!! I can cow the other person into submission and surrender by the force of my anger and indignation. I’ve done it myself. And I daresay, most of you have as well. But, that’s what James means by “vile” practices.
ILLUS: When I was a boy, my dad had a relative that was always arguing about how “his” political party was better than the “other” political party. Apparently he was fairly obnoxious about this. Now, I wasn’t old enough to understand what was going on, but I do remember that my dad had a rule at the dinner table: There would be NO discussion of politics. WHY? Because he’d seen his relative argue about that stuff and he wasn’t going to have THAT at his table.
Dad’s relative wanted his way, and he was so offensive when he did so that it made Dad furious… and he wouldn’t have anything to do with it.
Now, here’s the deal, many of us have fallen into that trap. We don’t agree with someone; we think we’re right (and they’re wrong); and so we quarrel… and we fight. Now, a lot of times, this happens between US and NON-CHRISTIANS. This conflict is fairly predictable because we tend to tick worldly people off in this world. Why? Because we don’t agree with much of what they believe. They get upset with our refusal to accept their point of view on things and they (in turn) end up insulting our faith or our God. And so we get into arguments over things they reject.
Jesus said that was going to happen. “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:19
But, why do people get angry at us if we glorify Jesus? Mostly because – when we say Jesus saved us – we’re saying Jesus is the only way to heaven. “Jesus said … ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6) That’s pretty definite!
ILLUS: In ancient Rome, this commitment by Christians to Christ led the Romans to hate Christianity. They even called Christians atheists. Atheists? Why would the Romans call Christians “atheists?” Because early Christians refused to worship THEIR gods. That made the Romans mad!
And that hasn’t changed for centuries. There are people TODAY who get mad at Christians because we refuse to accept homosexuality/transgenderism/abortion, and other life choices. Why? Because they think folks ought to have the right to do as they please. But, we know that the Bible tells us these things are sin and there are consequences to those sins. And so we reject those life choices as valid. And that makes them mad.
Ephesians 5:5-7 & 11 declares: “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them… Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
So, we’re ALWAYS going to be at odds with the world. And we are going to be in conflict with the world because of our love and commitment to Christ. But we’ve got to be careful how we respond to worldly people. We’ve got to be careful NOT to get into arguments and quarrels because - when we do get into those quarrels - we become like the world. We imitate their style of conflict!
ILLUS: There’s old saying that says “You never want to wrestle with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig enjoys it.”
Now that’s a lighthearted jab at what happens too often to too many Christians. We get upset, we say things we shouldn’t say, and we even insult people who are non-Christians
But too often, we ALSO do it to people who are brothers/sisters in Christ. Christians get mad at each other because they can’t get THEIR WAY. They’ll insult and threaten and manipulate. And God says “Don’t do that!”
Why? Because, when we do that - when we quarrel and fight like that - we are imitating the world. That’s how the world behaves. But God says “the WISDOM FROM ABOVE is first pure, then PEACEABLE, GENTLE, OPEN TO REASON, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:17-18
If our behavior towards each other (and towards those outside church) is NOT peaceable, gentle, open to reason… etc. then we shame our God. And God will not reward us. We’ve looked for our way on our terms not his. And so God say “You don’t have because you don’t… what was that word again? (Ask) Ask? Ask who? Well we didn’t ask GOD! God will NOT REWARD us if we rely on the worldly practice of fighting to get our way. The only way you’ll get what God would give you is to ask Him… and rely on Him for the outcome. If we are guided by God’s wisdom – rather that the wisdom of this world – then we will accomplish the will of God.
ILLUS: I learned this lesson early in my first ministry. In the first church I served there was a couple named Marvin and Lela. Lela was a faithful Christian and member of the church. Marvin was a woodworker and a decent man who would show up about once a month… I suspect to please his wife. But he wasn’t a Christian and really had no desire to be involved in church. Now, I was new in the pulpit and had made it my goal to visit every member of the congregation, including Marvin and Lela. I set up an appointment with them one night and went out to visit. I had no intention to talk doctrine or church… I just wanted to get to know them.
All was going well until one of their relatives showed up. This woman and her husband were hard-core Baptists and they knew I was the new preacher at the Church of Christ, and they want to talk doctrine. They wanted to talk baptism. In fact, they wanted to argue with me. But I hadn’t come out to argue, I just wanted to visit with Marvin and Lela and these people kept wanting to drag me into a quarrel. I did my best stay out of the mud, but when I went out to my car to go home I was depressed. This whole argument thing had shattered my night and I just knew I had failed.
The next Sunday, Lela was in church. And so was Marvin. The Sunday after that, Lela was there, and so was Marvin. Marvin showed up to church for several weeks in a row and I began to think maybe I hadn’t failed so badly in my visit with them. Then, one day, Marvin called and asked if I’d come out and talk with him. We went into his woodshop and he talked about everything under the sun – the weather, the skill of working with wood, and so on. After about 20 minutes I said “Marvin, I’ve enjoyed our conversation, but I got the impression you wanted to talk to me about something special. What’s on your mind?” “I want to get baptized,” he said. “When do you want to do it?” I asked. “Right now.” “Well, Marvin, you gotta know that we don’t have heated water to pump into the baptistry… if I baptized you right now, it would be mighty cold.” “That’s alright,” he responded, “I can handle it.” So we went directly to church, I drew the water, he got all set. But as soon as he put his toe in the water he said “I can’t handle THIS.” So we waited till I could warm the water up a bit and then baptized him into Christ.
We talked later, and he explained why he had never made the decision before. Apparently everyone he’d ever met wanted to argue about religion. They’d try to argue him into Christ. Whether it was his relative, or the preachers. One preacher even went so far as to try to shame him into going to church. “You’ve got good enough clothes to come to church don’t you Marvin?” asked one preacher. “Yep,” Marvin replied, “just not to your church.”
My point is simple. We don’t accomplish the will of God using the wisdom of this world. We can’t argue or shame people into faith. We must reflect the wisdom of God to accomplish God’s will – and God’s wisdom is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:17-18
