Today's passage, James 4:1-10, was a real struggle for me at first. These verses, read as a whole, read as a response to a specific problem within the church, really don't make sense within the context of Western, white, evangelical Christianity. The way we tend to view the church, and "do" church, doesn't create the type of problems James addresses.
After a few days of wrestling with the passage, and reading about how other white, Western Christians have wrestled with it, it hit me (I think I got Help) that my starting point was the problem.
So let me start today by telling you a little bit about a very different type of church I had the privilege of worshipping at one Sunday. Winner's Chapel, located in Brooklyn Park, MN, is a very African church. Not a "black" church. An "African" church. From what I could tell, it's mostly first generation legal immigrants from African countries-- I think maybe mostly Nigeria.
Honestly, it was an amazing experience. My wife and I spent most of the worship time fighting tears, and crying, just from the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit.
One of the distinctive features of Winner's Chapel, is that the church understands that God wants his people to be prosperous. John, in 3 John 2, writes, "Dear friend, I pray that in all things that you would prosper and be healthy." And so Winner's Chapel, understanding that this is God's desire, also desires this for its members. They want everyone to be prosperous in every way, and be healthy.
Now, prosperity doesn't necessarily mean that every single Christian there will be rich. I think the idea is probably more like in Acts, where the goal is that there be "plenty." Or, at a minimum at least, "no lack" (Acts 4:34). But the bottom line is that Winner's Chapel cares about people's souls, and health, and prosperity. This church wants their congregation to be doing well in all ways.
Now, Winner's Chapel also understands that not everyone is prospering. Some people, in any given week, are sick. Some people, in any given week, are struggling spiritually. And some are struggling financially.
Now, what do you do for brothers and sisters in Christ, when they are struggling financially? Winner's Chapel understands that you can't just tell people, "Go in peace. Stay warm and well-fed."
One biblical option would be to lend people money. Another, would be to give alms. But what these hard-working, motivated immigrants need, most of the time, really, is not either of these things. What they need is an opportunity. They need businesses to overlook the color of their skin, and their thick accents-- since English is probably their third or fourth language-- and give them a chance to prove themselves.
So imagine a church made up of motivated legal immigrants, who want to do better for themselves, and for their children. Some of them are working jobs they are far overqualified for, because that's what was available. Some of them had started up their own businesses. I assume some of them were doing well; others, like a lot of new start-ups, probably had struggles at times.
So Winner's Chapel, looking at the church, and understanding the struggles that come with being first generation immigrants, basically asked two questions of themselves:
Is there anything we can do, to help give people an opportunity?
Is there anything we can do, to help entrepreneurs succeed and be prosperous in all ways?
What Winner's Chapel decided to do was let people set up booths at the church picnic, where they could advertise their business, and where people could try to get better jobs.
At the time, when this was being announced, I felt really squirmy about it. This isn't something that's done in white, Western, evangelical churches. My gut instinct would be to say that whether I prosper or not financially has nothing to do with this church, or with any of you.
But Winner's Chapel took an entirely different approach. And I just didn't know what to think about it-- which is why a random church announcement, at a random church, from over two years ago just stuck in my head.
What I decided, this week, is that Winner's Chapel's approach strikes a really nice balance. No one is being pitched or sold something in church, on Sunday morning. No one is asking you if you need landscaping done, or a new roof, or if you want to try Herbalife to lose a few pounds. No one is asking you if you want try trade in your dead-end job for a career at such and such a business.
But at the church picnic, if you walk up to the business tables, you might get pitched on those things. The church picnic becomes a place where people are given opportunities to prosper in all things, even as their souls prosper.
The end result of this, I imagine, is a church that's more closely connected, and intertwined, than the typical white, Western church. Imagine that Winner's Chapel has a plumber, and an electrician, and a general contractor, and a dentist, and a roofer, and someone who mows lawns and clears snow. When you need some work done to your house, or your teeth, who will you call first? Probably, you'll start with God's family. Theoretically, this should be a win-win. You're less likely to get ripped off through being over-charged, or through shoddy work. If something bad happens, your brother or sister in Christ will probably try to make it right. And your brother or sister in Christ will prosper when they deposit your check.
At this point, we are almost ready for James. But there's one more step we have to take. Imagine that at Winner's Chapel, there isn't one electrician. There are two. In fact, there's two of everything-- two dentists, and plumbers, and roofers, and general contractors.
And when there's two of something, that makes it awkward. Unfortunately, there are only so many cavities and root canals to go around. There's only so many roofs that need fixing. When it comes to available work, from a human perspective, there is a scarcity. So if you and I are both electricians, who gets the work? At my booth, I might throw shade at you-- I've been doing this longer than you have, and I have more experience, and I'll do a better job. At your booth, you might talk about how you use innovative technologies, so that the end result is a better product, and cheaper. And from there, maybe it gets even more ugly.
If we can picture a church like this, we are ready for today's passage.
James 4:1:
(1) From where [are] wars,
and from where [are] battles among you? ("you" is plural here, and throughout)
The key words we have to focus on here to start, are the last two: "among you."
James is talking about fighting happening within the church. When you look around this room, what causes wars and battles?
In my experience, the answer tends to revolve around things like theology, worship style, and disagreements over where our church focus should be.
But James this question very differently. Still verse 1:
Is it not from here: from your pleasures/passions/cravings waging war among your members?
Let's focus first on the last three words: "among your members." James here is still talking about "among you."
He's talking about the church, using the same preposition "among" (English Bibles universally translate it differently, muddying the waters). He's just using language about the body. We are one body, with many members.
So we are maybe tempted to read this as a discussion about the inner conflicts we have about whether we should do right or wrong. But the idea isn't that our hands and our mouth wage war with each other. It's not even that our flesh battles our spirit. The idea is that you and I wage war.
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J. A. Motyer, The Message of James: The Tests of Faith, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), 142, does a nice job here:
James, however, is not examining our inner conflicts, but the wars we wage against each other. All our desires and passions are like an armed camp within us, ready at a moment’s notice to declare war against anyone who stands in the way of some personal gratification on which we have set our hearts.
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Over what? Over our cravings. It's our cravings that wage war between us. There are things that I want, and things that you want. And those things lead to us fighting. And when you hear that, hear it first of all in terms of money, and material things.
Starting in verse 2, James unpacks this:
(2) You desire,
and you don't have.
You murder
and you strive,
and you aren't able to obtain.
You fight and you wage war.
You don't have because you don't ask.
This is a church where people will do anything to get what they want. I assume-- with almost everyone (contra Ralph Martin)-- that James is using metaphorical language. It's not that people are literally killing each other to get what they want. But all that these brothers and sisters in Christ can focus on, is what they crave.
And in all of their craving, and scheming, they've been unsuccessful. James is talking about failed cravers. James says, "You don't have." Then James says, "You aren't able to obtain." Then he says, "You don't have."
Despite all their hard work, they are failures. Frustrated failures.
Their problem is not a lack of effort. They've worked very hard fighting and waging war. Their problem is that they've been going about this all wrong. Instead of fighting, James says, they should've asked God.
"You don't have, because you don't ask."
Starting in the next verse, it's going to become really clear that James is talking about money, and finance. He's talking about a Winner's Chapel type church, gone wrong. Not a white, Western church.
So James is saying, the reason you don't have money, the reason you are struggling financially, is because you don't ask God to help you.
Now let's add verse 3:
(3) You ask,
and you don't receive,
because wickedly you ask,
in order that on your cravings/pleasures/passions you may spend [it].
So some of you, James says, do ask God for money. You want to prosper in all things, and you know that God is the source of every good and perfect gift. So you ask.
But God refuses to answer your prayer. He understands that you're asking wickedly, in this situation, because anything God gives you will go toward your cravings.
If we put verses 2 and 3 together, we end up saying something like this:
(1) God is willing to give you what you need in life. Whether you have enough financially, or lack, isn't just up to you.
(2) If you find that you lack, and things are tight, ask God. Sometimes you don't have financially, because you don't ask God.
Now, when you ask God for money, there are two things I've learned:
The first, is that this type of prayer usually means asking God for more work, or for a better job, or a second job. When you ask God for money, you shouldn't expect a check in the mail. Usually, it's more like, God gives you an opportunity to make more.
The second, is that if you aren't tithing, God will almost certainly ignore your prayer. Haggai teaches this as clearly as anyone can. Sometimes your pockets have holes, and you can never get ahead financially, because God refuses to bless people who don't give to him. And I say this as a kindness to you, and not because I'm trying to dig into your wallets (obviously).
So. First, ask God for money, understanding it usually requires work. Second, ask God, understanding that God expects you to tithe.
(3) And then, when I read James here, it adds a third thing I should learn. God isn't going to give to you, to enable you to live a particular lifestyle. If your cravings revolve around worldly things, and nicer things than you currently own, James says that God won't give you what you want.
So let's return to my Winner's Chapel illustration. You and I are both electricians. We understand that there are a limited number of jobs available. There's only so much work. Both of us could be tempted to go scorched earth, and fight for those jobs. We can wage war and battle with each other, and see who comes out on top. But James says, I'm looking at this all wrong. If things are tight, I shouldn't be looking at you, blaming you, fighting you. You and I are not in competition. You are not the problem. If things are tight, I should ask God, and God will make sure I don't lack.
But before I ask God, I should double-check my heart, and think about my priorities, and focus. Are things actually tight for me? Or is it that I'm trying to embrace a particular lifestyle, with all the toys, and I just can't quite pull it off? If God were to give me another 2k a month, would I find that it goes toward a nicer house, or truck, or boat?
It's at this point that I find myself asking, what is it that I actually want from life?
Verse 4:
(4) Adulterers, don't you know that friendship with the world, hatred/hostility/enmity with God, it is?
And so then, whoever wishes a friend to be with the world, an enemy of God he makes himself.
For this church, it's clear what they actually want from life. They want what the world offers. At some point along the way, their priorities got all messed up.
And when this happens to God's people, they become adulterers. We, as a church, are God's bride. And God expects us to be faithful, and committed, to Him. We want what God wants. We give ourselves to Him, and to his purposes. We seek first God, his kingdom, and righteousness toward him.
And if we turn from this, we make ourselves God's enemy. When it comes to money, and cravings, and stuff, we can only have one friend-- either God, or the world. God isn't the type of husband who is into open marriages. When we wander, it's adultery.
With this, we come to verse 5-6a. This is maybe the most difficult verse in the whole letter, and I'm not sure I'm getting it right (there's a reason every Bible has a footnote here; I'm basically following Craig Blomberg here):
(5) Or do you think that for nothing Scripture says,
"Jealously, He desires/longs for the spirit
which He has caused to dwell among/in us."
(6) Now, greater grace, He gives."
So God is a jealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24; Joshua 24:19; Isaiah 26:11; Ezekiel 16:42). He is committed to his people, as their husband, and God expects that his people reciprocate.
Specifically, God longs for the spirit that He has put inside each of us. We have a spirit, and God desires that spirit to be committed to him.
What's interesting about this, is the verb James uses to describe God's "desiring" us. It's the same verb James used in James 4:2.
So James is saying, "YOU desire money, and stuff, and the world." But GOD desires you. And that should make you stop, and think. You desire the nice house and truck and boat and snowmobiles and a million dollars in your retirement fund. But God desires you.
In the first half of verse 6, James then takes a step forward, and (probably) quotes from Proverbs 3:34 (LXX). God gives greater grace.
What does this mean? If I try to answer it here, I'll get it wrong. But James sort of unpacks it as he goes.
So let's keep reading:
Therefore, it says,
"God, the proud, He opposes/resists ("the proud" is focused).
Now, to the humble He gives grace."
When God looks at the world, He splits it up into two types of people: there are the proud, and the humble. Proud people set themselves up against him, and against others. And God sets himself up against the proud. He opposes them. He resists them. And what this means, concretely, maybe, is that God will keep proud people from prospering.
James then takes a little step forward (with "de," Now comma), to take about the humble. To the humble, God shows grace. "Grace" is kindness, and favor.
In verse 7, James picks all this up, and pushes forward. James gives us our application this morning:
(7) And so then, subject/subordinate yourselves to God.
Now, resist/oppose the devil,
and he will flee from you.
(8) Draw near to God,
and He will draw near to you.
Cleanse/purify [your hands] O sinners,
and consecrate/make holy/purify [your] hearts, O double-minded ones.
(9) Your laughter, into mourning, it must turn,
and your joy into unhappiness/shame/dejection.
(10) Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and He will exalt/lift you up.
God is an amazing, generous God. He is a God who will give you help, and grace. God will make sure you don't lack. God will lift you up.
But God only does this for people who have submitted to Him. People who have bent their knee, and humbled themselves, and purified themselves.
That language in verse 8 maybe surprises us. In the OT, we know that people had to cleanse themselves before going to the tabernacle, or the temple, to offer sacrifices. But this cleansing, even in the OT, was never just about the external. Nothing in the OT is just about the external. Let's read Isaiah 1:12-17 (NRSV Catholic Edition).
When you come to appear before me,[a]
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
13 bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Here's the verses I really want you to hear:
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
In Isaiah, God can cleanse you from evil (Isaiah 1:25). But so can you. It's a shared job. How do you cleanse yourself from evil? You do it by turning from sin, and by making a commitment to do the right thing. And it's interesting how Isaiah talks in verse 17 about orphans and widows. The same two categories James talked about in chapter 1. God hasn't changed.
So James here, in chapter 4, sounds like Isaiah. Wash yourselves. Get rid of the moral filth, and the fighting, and the wars. Instead, focus single-mindedly on God, and God will lift you up.
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Let's start our application today by talking about how we read our Bibles.
One of the hardest things we can do, as Christians, is learn to read the Bible differently, and think differently about God and what He wants. We tend to think we've got it pretty figured out. We tend to immediately reject new ideas, or different ideas, as wrong. And it's hard to see, when the Bible clearly disagrees with us.
So what I'd like to do today, to start, is try to take two well-known, maybe cherished ideas, and poke holes in them.
And I'll do this, in a way that helps you think about what you think.
At some point in the past, many of us were taught some pretty unbiblical stuff about God.
(1) We were told things like, "God loves you, and shows you grace, regardless of how you live. Regardless of whether you are proud, or humble. Regardless of whether you are friends with the world, or not. Regardless of whether you live as adulterers toward God."
When we look at James 4, is this right? What does James 4 teach us about how God treats his people, when they act this way? (Get answers)
A) God opposes the proud.
B) If we love the world, we make ourselves God's enemies.
C) If you humble yourself, God will take you back. (And that's really the good news that we should hear).
(2) We were also told things like, "God is always with you, close to you, regardless of how you live."
What does James 4 teach us about who God is "near" to? (Get answers)
A) God draws near to people who have drawn near to Him. If it feels like God is far away, sometimes it's because He is. If it feels like He's opposing you, maybe it's because He is.
So what we see is that God treats you differently, depending on how you live. If you live as a friend to the world, craving the world-- if you live in pride-- God opposes you, and resists you, and stays away from you.
But if you live in humility, desiring God, relying on God, then God will give you what you need. God will draw near to you. God will give you grace.
How God treats you next, is up to you. What kind of God you want God to be for you next, depends on you.
But understand that God is a zealous, jealous God. He desires you. And what God wants, is for you to mirror him.
God craves you, so you need to crave God.
So as you go through life, don't get distracted by worldly things. Don't crave God's gifts. If you've done this, repent. Weep, wail, mourn. Humble yourselves. And crave God.
Translation:
(1) From where [are] wars,
and from where [are] battles among you ("you" is plural here, and throughout)?
Is it not from here: from your pleasures/passions waging war among your members?
(2) You desire,
and you don't have.
You murder
and you strive,
and you aren't able to obtain.
You fight and you wage war.
You don't have because you don't ask.
(3) You ask,
and you don't receive,
because wickedly you ask,
in order that on your pleasures/passions you may spend [it].
(4) Adulterers, don't you know that friendship with the world, hatred/hostility/enmity with God, it is?
And so then, whoever wishes a friend to be with the world, an enemy of God he makes himself.
(5) Or do you think that for nothing Scripture says,
"Jealously He desires the spirit,
whom He has caused to dwell among/in us."
(6) Now, greater grace, He gives."
Therefore, it says,
"God, the proud, He opposes/resists ("the proud" is focused).
Now, to the humble He gives grace."
(7) And so then, subject/subordinate yourselves to God.
Now, resist/oppose the devil,
and he will flee from you.
(8) Draw near to God,
and He will draw near to you.
Cleanse/purify [your hands] O sinners,
and consecrate/make holy/purify [your] hearts, O double-minded ones.
(9) Your laughter, into mourning, it must turn,
and your joy into unhappiness/shame/dejection.
(10) Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and He will exalt/lift you up.
