James 4:1-10 | Worldliness

If you would please open your Bibles to James chapter 4. James chapter 4, verses 1 through 10 are where we will be today.

As we’ve seen, the goal of James’ letter is to equip his readers with the necessary understanding that there is an inseparable link between our inner and outer person. What we believe has bearing on what we do, and what we do displays what we believe.

So, if we claim to have trust and belief in God, yet evidence that our trust and belief is in ourselves or others or the world, we have reason to question our professed belief in God. Likewise, if we evidence good works in alignment with professed trust and followship of Jesus Christ, then we can be more certain that our profession of faith in God is actually true.

Now, previously James displayed this juxtaposition as he focused on real versus counterfeit faith. Now, in last week’s text, James did the same, focusing on real versus counterfeit wisdom.

Now, while faith and wisdom are more inward matters of the soul displayed by outward fruit in our lives, in today’s text James approaches an outward fruit in our lives that often displays an inward reality.

The outward area James examines today is that of interpersonal conflict. He asks, what are we revealing about ourselves when we have conflict with one another? And what are the spiritual implications of what is being revealed, even and especially, James highlights, in the church?

Now, I read an old preacher joke this week, which, for all of our sakes, I usually try to avoid. But it went something like this.

So, a father was inside the house while his young kids were playing in the backyard. When he began to hear some shouting, he looked outside and saw that his kids were out there with a few of the neighbor friends yelling at each other and fighting. So the father went outside to break up the argument, and when he asked the kids what was going on, his daughter replied, “Well, it’s okay, Daddy. We’re just playing church.”

That’s about the right reaction.

I have a few comments on that one. I don’t think that joke is especially funny, but I do understand why it rings among many today with a degree of authenticity. Sadly, such conflict is the experience, even the expectation, of some who have a background of involvement with the local church. They’ve experienced the ugliness of what can happen when broken sinners come together with broken sinners in community.

Now, I think it’s important to say that many, if not all, of those conflicts are not the norm. They are misrepresentative of what the body of Christ is supposed to be and really smear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we claim to follow.

Now, second, while conflict in the local church is not something to be desired, it should not be unexpected.

Because consider who we are in the local church. By God’s grace, we are a collection of people from a variety of backgrounds, in various stages of spiritual, emotional, even physical development, all who naturally have personal opinions, preferences, and desires.

Thus, we bring a myriad of assumptions, experiences, and understandings to the family table.

Now, the Bible says this diversity is actually advantageous, bringing broader capability and opportunity for the love, care, grace, and mercy of God to be put on display among and through us to a watching world. Diversity in the local church is a good thing.

However, as we have far too often seen in local churches, this diversity can also cause division. And sadly, it has always been that way.

Because recall, James’ letter is written to first-century Jewish believers. This is the early church that is so often lauded and pined for as those who had the purest form of community and deference and love for one another. Yet, even in this context, James has already addressed class conflicts between rich and poor. He’s admonished would-be rival teachers trying to elevate themselves among the fellowship.

He’s addressed bitter jealousy and selfish ambition among them. He has spoken to the hypocrisy of those who praise God when they gather together as the church, yet speak ill of one another later over the lunch table at Chili’s. He’s addressed at least some observable disorder and evil practices resulting from such temperaments.

And again, this was the early church. They hadn’t even got to picking out colors of carpet or trying to agree on a music style.

Right?

Now, while James is addressing an audience in a variety of locations, he’s addressing people with a profound foundational commonality, and that is that they are together in Christ. They are professing believers, Christians, thus supposedly members of the universal church by God’s grace, whom God placed together for mutual accountability, discipleship, and upbringing in local churches.

So, if any group of people should be able to get along with purity and mercy and grace and love for one another without division, it should be the local church.

Yet, as one scholar noted, where two or more gather together, there will eventually be conflict. Because of our remaining sin nature, even Christians will inevitably sin against one another.

The question, then, is not whether Christian communities will experience conflict. The question is: How will they respond when they do so?

The third thing I want to say: I am grateful to God for this local church.

I love you all. I do.

Now, is any church perfect this side of heaven? No. Yet, by God’s grace, I am so thankful for the unity, the grace, the mercy, and the love that you have shown to me as one of your pastors and that you show to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, even when at times it could be difficult.

Now, are we perfect at it? No. But one of the benefits of expositional, verse-by-verse preaching through books is that I don’t have to only preach texts like this when we find a particular issue or conflict bubbling up. That is not why we are in this text this morning.

Rather, we can be sharpened, equipped, and prepared by God’s Word to know how to respond biblically when and if, God forbid, they do.

See, I don’t worry about disagreements or differing views in the church. Those are natural and to be expected. I just want to make sure that when they come, we’re able to meet them graciously, biblically, and in the spirit of Christ-centered unity that this church displays so well.

Now, with that being said, let’s read James chapter 4, beginning in verse 1.

It says:

“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 could not obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

“You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the Spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

“Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

“Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

So James begins this passage in verse 1, saying, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?”

Now again, James is not speaking to a general argumentative disposition or when people can’t get along with their neighbors across the street. And while those are legitimate areas of concern, James’ focus is on in and amongst the church. He’s talking to Christians.

He says, “What causes quarrels and fights among you?”

What is it in the local church that can so easily, even subtly, gain a foothold amongst people who claim to be united by the grace and mercy of a common God?

Well, we might answer that question in different ways.

We might say, “Well, it’s their outdated mindset that causes quarrels and fights.”

We might say, “It’s their newfangled ideas that cause quarrels and fights.”

We might say, “It’s their position. It’s their decisions that cause quarrels and fights.”

However we might answer that question, usually the problem we most readily identify is with them, right?

And to that James says, “Not so fast.”

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions”—singular—“are at war within you?” Singular.

In response to the question of what causes quarrels and fights amongst brothers and sisters in Christ, James focuses not outwardly on them, but inwardly at me, you, us individually.

He looks at each one of us, points squarely at our hearts, and says, “Start here. Start not with them. Begin with you.”

“Is it not that your passions are at war within you?”

Now, this Greek word for “passions” is hedone, from which we get the English word “hedonism.” It’s a word that means not just passion, but pleasure, lust, desire.

James says it is the desire within each of us to have our own way according to our own will, to gratify our own desires and sense of pleasure. That’s what brings interpersonal conflict amongst the church.

It is the internal conflict within us that leads to the external conflict around us.

James then begins to go right down the list.

Verse 2, it says, “You desire and you do not have, so you murder.”

Okay, now I’ll admit that seems a bit extreme.

Is James really saying that if we want something we do not have, that we become murderers?

Well, one of several things is going on here in James’ thought.

One, there could have been an actual case or cases of murder amongst the members of the churches to which James is writing. Some of the early believers likely came from the Jewish sect of the Zealots, who were known for their violence and their aggression.

Now, one would hope this was not the case, but it is possible that amongst the believers to whom James is writing, there had been actual cases of jealous murder.

Two, James could be speaking in the figurative sense in which Jesus said in Matthew 5:21–22, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”

It’s the same spirit that led John to write in 1 John 3:15, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer.”

Perhaps James is speaking from this more proverbial context.

But whatever James is intending here, he is saying that self-centeredness in the local church is a huge deal.

It’s not something to be taken lightly. Just as we would seek to root out murder amongst us in our fellowship, we should seek to root out selfish desires and possessiveness from our own hearts for the sake of the fellowship.

James says it is exactly this pull, this desire, and this demand for self-gratification that leads to dissension among us.

He says, “You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.”

So, to whatever degree and to whomever our selfish passions and desires are directed, James says the source of those desires is the same.

He says dissension and infighting in the church come not from what someone else does or does not have, but from our attitudes regarding what we do or do not have.

And when we want what we do not have and take that frustration out on others, we are looking to a person or a thing to supply what we want rather than to God, who has provided everything we need.

Now, this is a self-focus that leads to an others-focus, both of which display a lack of God-focus.

Now, why ultimately do we have or not have what we have?

James continues.

He says, “You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

So James says one reason we don’t have something may be because we are so focused on getting it for ourselves or from the world or from someone else that we aren’t asking God for it.

Now, I don’t think James is speaking here about new cars and houses and Apple products.

He’s speaking instead about much larger, deeper concepts like love, identity, wisdom, security, and purpose.

We do not have these things, James says, because we are not going to their true source.

These are all things that can only be found from understanding who God is, what He has accomplished for us in the Gospel, and a biblical worldview.

Because it’s not as if God is holding out on us like the serpent led Eve to believe in Genesis 3.

Remember, James said back in chapter 1, verse 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Matthew 7, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you.”

We often grow frustrated with others for not providing what we want because we are not going to God to receive from Him what we truly need.

Or, as James says, we do go to God in prayer, but what we ask for is not actually what we need.

We’re just treating God like a cosmic Santa Claus, trying to manipulate Him to bend according to our will and our way.

He says in verse 3, “You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

James reminds us that selfish ambition and self-gratifying passions are not a part of God’s will for us. Therefore, God will not honor those things when we ask Him, even if we cloak them in very spiritual-sounding language.

God, in His good, sovereign grace, mercy, and wisdom, will not give us that which will not serve to make us more like Christ.

Desiring such things, then, and causing dissension or disunity amongst God’s people when we do not get them betrays where our true allegiances lie.

He says in verse 4:

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

“Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the Spirit that he has made to dwell in us’?”

So, if the actions we take as professing followers of Christ in and amongst the church display a greater bond, unity, and alignment with worldly thinking than with godly understanding, James has some very strong words for us.

He says such misguided allegiance is tantamount to adultery, the greatest form of betrayal. It is enmity, hostility, aggression against the one true sovereign King and His kingdom.

Because, as James emphasizes, our relationship with God is not transactional or distant. It is not a matter of measuring up to the whims of an indifferent taskmaster.

Our relationship with God is one of personal, intimate, covenant love.

This isn’t a game, James says.

This is a covenant relationship with God our Father, our Maker, accomplished at the cost of the unthinkable sacrifice of God the Son, and sealed and affirmed by the presence of God the Spirit Himself, who dwells within us.

Therefore, He who made us and purchased us and rescued us for such relationship yearns purely, jealously, and righteously over His people.

We see this expressed all throughout the Scriptures.

Exodus 20:5 says, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.”

Exodus 34:14: “You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

See, God’s holy demand for His people’s undivided, unadulterated loyalty is clear.

God loves us with an uncompromising, holy passion that yearns over what was forsaken in Eden, the perfect relationship we were meant to experience with God according to His good will and way as His image-bearers.

God deeply desires the return to that relationship.

But as long as we look to ourselves and others and the world first for wisdom, identity, purpose, and joy, there can be no union between us and God.

Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

There is no hope for the one who has set themselves as a friend of the world, thus an enemy against God. And the Bible tells us that apart from the effectual, intervening work of Christ on their behalf, one will remain forever in that state.

We need reconciliation with God.

But what hope is there for sinners like us who, by nature, love this world, reject the things of God, and have selfish passions at war within our very souls?

Well, James tells us.

Verse 6: “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

James here references Proverbs 3:34 to remind us of God’s posture towards those who recognize their sin, desire to turn from it, and come before the holy God humble and contrite in spirit.

And James reminds us that the grace of God is deeper than the depravity of man.

The mercy of God meets every cry for forgiveness, and the love of God welcomes home every prodigal to the humble.

As John 1:16 says, God gives grace upon grace upon grace.

So, if we have identified within ourselves our sinful tendencies to sow dissension and strife and quarrels, even amongst the people of God, as an overflow of our depraved and selfish nature, if we recognize our need for repentance and realignment with God, James then paves the path for us.

Verse 7:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

“Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

“Be wretched and mourn and weep.

“Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.”

So, for the one who would humbly turn from their sin nature, leaning on the merciful, everlasting arms of God in Christ, James says, this is what repentance looks like.

He says, “Submit yourselves to God.”

Admit that He is God and you are not.

Surrender yourself to the King and His kingdom.

Resist the devil.

Do not listen to his words as Adam and Eve did in Eden. Do not entertain his thoughts or take a seat at his table.

Forsake your former master. Forsake your former allegiance.

Embrace your Maker, your true Father, and receive your new family with joy.

James says, “Draw near to God,” because He is ready and willing to draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts.

Seek the way of righteousness according to God’s Word and His will and His way.

Let all that you do be done for the glory of God in Christ.

James says, “Be wretched, mourn, and weep.”

Turn laughter into mourning and joy into gloom.

Let sorrow and grief over your sin have its full effect on you inwardly and outwardly. Just as we would mourn over a loving spouse that we have wronged, we who have committed adultery against God our Maker must come in sorrow and full recognition of what we have done.

And why?

Because we need to beat ourselves up to earn the favor of God?

Because life in Christ is a matter of sadness, despair, and gloom?

Not at all.

Quite the opposite.

Life in Christ, by the power of the Spirit, begins with repentance but continues with fullness of joy, perfect peace, overwhelming love, and unity with God our Maker.

As James says in verse 10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

The psalmist said in Psalm 30, verse 10, “Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!”

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You’ve loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.”

See, in this text James teaches us not to focus on the deficiency of others, but the depravity within ourselves.

He says that the bitter fruit of quarreling and fighting, especially in and amongst the church, betrays a heart that is seeking its own glory and its own exaltation rather than the glory and exaltation of God.

And if that is our heart’s posture, we must recognize it, turn from it, and turn to God.

And only by doing so will we find the purity of relationship with God and each other as marked by grace, mercy, love, and reconciliation.

Now, church, though James’ words are often very direct, sometimes even harsh, what James affords us in his letter is the blessed removal of facades.

James offers us the opportunity for introspection and for self-evaluation and for a coming clean before God and before others.

As one scholar said, James teaches us not to point fingers at others, but rather to ask God to lay bare our own hearts.

When we experience conflict, we should pray, “Oh God, in what ways is sin in my heart contributing to this conflict? Where is my pride, anger, and defensiveness on display?”

See, as brothers and sisters in Christ who have been recipients of the greatest form of grace and mercy in Christ, we should be readily willing and able to say to one another:

“I have been prideful in my heart against you, and I have directed a self-centered, self-righteous anger toward you. I have acted wrongly and wickedly against you and therefore against God, the Father of us both.

“Would you please forgive me as God in Christ has forgiven us?”

You see, when that takes place, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is on brilliant display.

When that takes place, we are not glorified, but Christ in us is glorified.

When we humble ourselves before the Lord individually and together, He will lift us up.

Then and only then will our mourning be turned to true laughter and our sorrow become true joy because of what God has done not only for us in the church, but through us as the church.

Let’s pray.

Oh God, our Father, our Maker, our Husband, we love You, and we thank You that You are so honest with us in Your Word, that You continually call us to a repentance and a love and a grace and a mercy that is absolutely foreign to our sin nature.

And God, You call us to this so that You might be glorified.

So, God, I pray for this local church, for the local churches that You have established all across our area.

I pray that You would teach us and help us to love one another well.

I pray that You would show us what it looks like to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in each and every situation. And I pray that You would give us a bond and a unity and a faithfulness that would display the Gospel to a watching world.

God, we pray all of this because we want to show the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that You have come to save sinners like us, those who set themselves against You. By nature, as Your enemies, You have adopted us as Your sons and daughters, given us as brothers and sisters.

God, please fix our eyes on You. Help us to love one another well, and in so doing, to love You well.

It’s in the strong, powerful name of Jesus Christ I pray.

Amen.