James 5.7-11

Test Case #4: Wisdom for Patience in Adversity (James 5.7-11)

7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

James returns to address specifically the attitudes that God’s people need to adopt in light of God’s coming judgment. And if you take another look at the passage, you will see what James believes that attitude should be. He says right off the bat, “Be patient”; he uses the illustration of how “patient” a farmer is and he commands that “You too, be patient and stand firm”. Then James gives two examples of “patience”, the prophets and Job. They both “persevered” to the end. James is teaching his audience that to think heavenly in the midst of adversity is to simply be patient. Romans says it this way:

19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

When we are facing persecution or adversity from the world, we are called to die to ourselves. That is ultimately what patience is. It is dying to our worldly desires to act out, to get upset or irritated. Being patient is dying to those worldly desires and waiting. It is trusting that God will, at some point, make things right. That is the hard thing with experiencing injustice or persecution. We want to see justice NOW, IMMEDIATELY. But James tells us that that is thinking and living according to our earthly desires. Thinking heavenly is realizing that God will enact his divine justice on his judgment day, not ours. We must die to ourselves, give God room to be the just Judge he is, and wait. And hopefully, us waiting, will bring about that person’s repentance and they won’t have to be judged. That is the ultimate goal. Look at the two examples James gives of this kind of patience:

 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

The two examples are the prophets and Job. First, James is making the point that the prophets, no matter how much they experienced adversity, remained steadfast and continued to speak God’s message to his people. And what was their goal again? Repentance. The purpose for the prophets prophecies the majority of the time was to call people to repentance. Does this sound familiar?

The second example of patient endurance in the midst of adversity is Job. Job’s story basically goes like this: Job was a righteous man and Satan did not like that. So Satan made a deal with God, challenging God that if God took away all of Job’s stuff, Job would curse God. So God allowed Satan to inflict adversity onto Job. Job’s flocks and herds were killed, all of his children died in a natural disaster, and Job got sores and boils all over him. And even though his wife told him to curse God, and his friends did not give any good advice, Job was patient and stood firm in the midst of all his adversity and was faithful to God. 

The only way that both of these examples were patient in the midst of adversity was that they thought heavenly. They lived by the wisdom from God rather than the desires of the world. Our picture stands true:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

James 5.1-6

Test Case #3: Wisdom for Treating Workers with Respect (James 5.1-6)

1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

This passage is pretty much straightforward. James is trying to accomplish two things. First, he wants to show that worldly wealth will not last. Second, he wants to call out the rich for their social injustice towards the poor. Plato once said, “Every city has a civil war, that between the rich and the poor.” James’ goal is that the churches he is writing to will allow the wisdom of God to guide how they treat their wealth and people of different economic classes. We will look at this one step at a time. 

The first thing James is trying to accomplish is to show that worldly wealth will not last. He says this: 

1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.

Right off the bat, James is addressing the rich of the church. He says that misery is coming upon them because they have put their faith and trust in their money instead of in God. That is why James attacks the three main economic currencies of the day. They are as follows: 1. Corn and Grain ; 2. Clothes; and 3. Gold and Silver. 

The word he uses for “rotted” refers to the decay of corn and grain. Because the majority of the people in the first century lived day to day, their riches and wealth were simply based off  of their food from their crops. And those that have the most crops have the most power. James says that this reliance on corn and grain has rotted, decayed. It is fleeting. 

Then he describes clothes being eaten by moths. All throughout the Old Testament, you see clothes being used as wealth. Joseph gave clothes to his brothers (Gen. 45.22), Achan stole Babylonian clothes because they were considered riches (Joshua 7.21), Samson promised clothes to anyone who could solve his riddle (Judges 14.12), and Namaan brought clothes as a gift  to the prophet of Israel (2 Kings 5.5, 22). Yet James says that moths are eating the clothes. Those are two down, one to go. And James saves the climax of the world’s wealth for last. 

Gold and Silver. James says that the Gold and Silver are corroded, or rusted all the way through. The problem with this is that Gold and SIlver do not rust. But that is James point. He is saying, “the best you got will still be destroyed and decay some day.” Worldly wealth is just something we cannot rely on. With a stock market crashing, or a crooked banker or two, all of our wealth, what we rely on, can just disappear. Thinking heavenly means relying on God, not money. Because of this, there is no need to hoard money. We must use it honestly and with much wisdom. And that is what James does next, he calls out the rich on their injustice to the poor. Check out what he says:

4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

The majority of people in the first century lived day to day. They were paid everyday just enough to feed their family for that day. There was never enough for saving money. And if they did not work, or get paid, they and their family did not eat. This is what James is getting upset with the rich about. He is showing them that their injustice to the poor is causing them to not even be able to feed their family. And the cries of these people have reached the ears of God. That does not sound good for the rich. Furthermore, look what the rich were hoarding their money for. 

Luxury 

and

Self-indulgence. 

They wanted to be comfortable and to spend money on themselves. They wanted to build up their own kingdoms, not God’s. This is thinking worldly, not thinking heavenly. And remember where thinking worldly and thinking heavenly gets you:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

James actually says that when the rich live like this, they are fattening themselves up like calves being fattened up for the slaughter. Except that for the rich, they are fattening themselves up for God’s day of judgment. 

What about us? We are rich. We live in the richest country that has ever existed. Because of this, we will be judged more harshly for how we use our money. Are we using it for comfort or self-indulgence or for the advancement of God’s kingdom. One leads to death, the other to life. It’s your choice. 

James 4.13-17

Test Case #2: Wisdom for Financial Planning (James 4.13-17)

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

What is wrong with making financial plans? Every month Monica and I set aside 10% of our income in a savings account for retirement. I am 23, we won’t retire till we are 65 or so. Are we sinning by doing this? These were the first few thoughts that come to my mind when I first read this passage. But I think there is a caveat, a key to truly understanding what James is getting at here. Let’s take a closer look:

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. 

This idea of going to a town for a year to trade and make money was a common practice for Jews in the first century. Jews were known as master tradesmen, and were even given special privileges of citizenship in new cities just so that they would move and start businesses. Jews were an economic tool to boost a new cities business, and the Jews knew it. It was very common for Jews to look for a new city being built and to go there for a year, make a ton of money, then leave and do it again at another location. This is what James is referring to, that these Jewish Christians are making financial plans for their own gain. His point is that they do not have any control of what happens in the future, so why do they keep trying to take control of it, financially? Look what he follows up this with:

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

We are just a mist, we barely make a dent in the history of the world, so why do we think we are or can try to take control of our future? The key is that we plan for the future within God’s will. Look at what he says next:

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

We are God’s stewards of everything he has given us. God is the owner, we are just to use what he has given us for his glory and the advancement of his kingdom. That is how we are supposed to plan financially for the future. Now let me ask you a question...is there anything that God has NOT given you, that you got all on your own? The answer is no. So everything, our money, our house, our families, our children, our lives are given to us to use for the advancement of God’s kingdom and for his glory. If we try to make ANY plan for the future for the advancement of our own kingdom of for our own kingdom, we are sinning. And that is the warning that James leaves us with. He says:

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17  So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

We now know what the right thing is to do, and if we don’t do it, we sin. So what does this look like in our everyday life? I have four financial challenges for you. 

1. Tithe

If you are not tithing at LEAST 10% of your income, this is a discipline that you need to start immediately. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” And Paul said, “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” Money is a very dangerous thing. It is a very good thing that can be used for the advancement of his kingdom, but if misused, it very easily becomes an idol. Wealth is a curse from the pits of hell, UNLESS it is used for the advancement of God’s kingdom. Tithing, giving 10% of your income to God, is a discipline, a training that God has given us to help train ourselves to not rely on money, but to rely on God. So my challenge is to tithe for 90 days straight. I guarantee you that God will use your money to bless the nations. 

1. Write James 4.13-17 on your credit/debit card. 

We constantly are using our credit or debit cards to buy things. The average credit card debt per household is $15,956. There are 609.8 million credit cards held by U.S. customers, which has blew up the total U.S. revolving debt (which credit card debt makes up 98% of) is $801 billion, as of December 2011. People are spending money like crazy for their own gain and kingdoms, not for God. So my challenge to you is to take a sharpie and write James 4.13-17 on your credit cards and debit cards. Each time you pull them out to pay for something, ask yourself if you are using this money for your kingdom or for God’s. 

1. Big Purchases questions

My next challenge is to ask this question before you buy anything that is above $200. “What is the purpose for buying this and how will it advance God’s kingdom?” I had a friend who was going to buy a house, and he started with asking this question. His wife and him came up with three purposes for buying a house:

1. They want to house a College Student at all times
2. They want to be able to house a single mother and her family at all times
3. They want to live in intentional community with other Christians

Because these are the way they want to use their house to advance God’s kingdom, they are building a house with an extra bedroom for a College Student. They also are building a basement that they are going to turn into an apartment for a single mom and her family to live in. And lastly, they are building with two other couples who are Christians and they are not going to have any fences, but one big back yard. This will enable them to share a lawn mower, play together and live life together. So ask yourself this question before you make ANY big purchase. 

1. Write a Budget

If you have never lived within a budget, start now. Budges don’t handcuff you from fun, they enable you to give. Budgets allow you to tell your money where to go each and every day instead of money passing through your hands and you don’t know where it is going or how much is being wasted. As you write this budget, ask yourself this question: “What can I sacrifice financially in order to bless others?” 

Financial planning is ok, as long as it is planning to advance God’s kingdom, within his will. Anything else is simply sin. 

James 4.11-12

Wisdom Revealed in Test Cases (James 4.11-5.20)

This is all really good stuff, great ideas, I like the thought, to “think heavenly”, but does it really work? This is what some of you may be thinking right about now. Or you may be thinking, “how does this work? What does this look like in specifics?” And James would respond by saying, “I’m glad you asked.” The last chapter and a half of this book, James sets out to show how thinking heavenly works in day to day life, in the specifics. He uses seven test cases, each of which hits very close to home. The first test case that James wants to talk about is Judgment. 

Test Case #1: Wisdom in Judging (James 4.11-12)

11 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. 12 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?

How does speaking evil against your brother set yourself up as judging the law? What an audacious claim that James is making. This is a serious deal. So let’s dive in and find out exactly what is going on here.

First, James uses the word “speak against”. That is a very literal translation of the Greek word katalalein. It is a compound word, which the kata means “against”, and the verb, laleo, or lalein, means “to speak”. It is usually in the context of speaking against someone behind their back, when they are not around to defend themselves. This sin of speaking against someone is condemned all throughout the Bible. 

20 You speak continually against your brother 

   and slander your own mother’s son. (Psalm 50.20)

5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,
   him will I put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,
   him will I not endure. (Psalm 101.5)

29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1.29-31)

20 For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12.20)

It is the sin you find in the church that no one really tries to put out or cares that its around, and yet, it tends to do the most damage. It is the sin that takes the form of prayer requests, of “information” of the baby’s parents so that we know how to take care of the babies better. It is rampant among our nursery workers, leadership meetings, locker rooms and shopping sprees. And it must be stopped. Why? Because it is idolatry. 

Idolatry??!! Really??!! Yes. Think about why we gossip and slander others. Who are we serving? Our earthly desires. When we tell that gossip secret or slander someone, we do it to scratch our own itch of power. We love seeing the face of the person we are “filling in” on the know. Their eyes get big, their mouths drop, and they join in with you on the slander and gossip. And for that split second, you feel powerful. You feel above the person you just leaked that secret or rumor or slander to. “I’m in the know, they aren’t.” When we gossip and slander, it is out of self-promoting, I’m the king of my life desires. And it is sin. It is saying, “I’m equal to God, I can judge just how God judges.” 

As the church, the physical representation of Jesus’ presence here on earth, we MUST eradicate gossip and slander from our lives. We must allow the wisdom of God to guide us to silence and to “not let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, but only what is helpful in building others up, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4.29). 

So SHUT UP!!!! Keep your mouths closed. Submit to God as the just judge, and allow him to judge the pagan and sinful. All we are called to do is make disciples, not judge pagans. I promise you that if you follow this wisdom and humbly submit to it, God will bring about life not only in your own life, but in the lives of the people around you. 

James 4.4-10

Wisdom From Above Comes from Submission to God (James 4.4-10)

4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

   “God opposes the proud
   but gives grace to the humble.”

 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

We have to remember that this passage is on ongoing thought from the section before. In James 3.13-4.3, James makes a comparison between those who live according to the wisdom from above versus those who live according to the desires from below. It looks like this:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

The last verse before this section is still condemning those who live their lives according to their worldly desires. James follows this condemnation with an accusation. He says, “You adulterous people...” Committing adultery was a common metaphor for the people of God being unfaithful to God. Over and over again, throughout the prophets, God connects this idea that he is “married” to his people through a covenant, an agreement. Just like when we get married today, it is called a covenant of marriage. The word covenant is just a fancy word for the idea of an agreement, or deal. And when we enter into a covenant of marriage, we come to an agreement that we both will be faithful to our husbands and wives. When we break that covenant and are unfaithful, that is called adultery. The same is true of God’s relationship with his people.

When Israel or Judah, and now the church, worships other idols or sins or does not live according to the will of God, we are being unfaithful to God and his covenant with us. God calls it adultery. And so right from the beginning of this passage, these kind of people who live according to their earthly desires, they are being unfaithful to God, they are committing adultery. But how? James goes on to explain:

don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 

Those who choose to friendship with the world are chosen to be enemies of God. Remember, the world is fallen, it is cursed. We, the world, rejected God in the garden, and from that point on, the world has been at odds with God. 1 John 2.16 says, “For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he had and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.” The world has been in a mess since the garden. There has been sexual immorality, murders, idolatry, pain, suffering, abuse, disease, natural disasters, war and genocide of every kind. And all this comes from following the desires from below. And when we choose to live that kind of life, to live as friends of the world, we automatically set ourselves up against God. Look at how Paul says it, “For the minds that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; Indeed it cannot (Romans 8.7).” 

Verse 5 is a tricky verse. First of all, it is not found anywhere in the Old Testament. There are a couple of explanations for this. Perhaps James is quoting from some document that is now lost that he considered Scripture. Another possibility was that this came from some kind of Jewish or Christian tradition that we don’t know about. But what makes the most sense to me is that James was summing up the whole idea of scripture with this verse. This is his summation:

5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives us more grace.

But what does he mean by that? That is the second issue that must be dealt with. This verse can be translated one of two ways. The first, “He (that is, God) jealously yearns for the devotion of the spirit which He has made to dwell within us.” or “The Spirit which God has made to dwell within us jealously yearns for the full devotion of our hearts.” Either way, the meaning is the same. God is a jealous God who wants us, all of us, to worship him and him alone. Remember how this section started? “You adulterous people”. His condemnation is that when we live according to our earthly desires, we are making allegiances with the world, which is unacceptable. We must be fully devoted to God. This “Scripture” quote is support for his point that he is making about the dangers of being friends with the world. But there is hope. He ends it with this, “But he (God) gives us more grace.” How do we receive this grace? How do we get on the right side of God’s wrath? Through humble submission to his wisdom and desire for our lives. James exhorts his audience to do this by saying:

That is why Scripture says:

   “God opposes the proud
   but gives grace to the humble.”

 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

This Scripture quote comes from Proverbs 3.34, an entire book devoted to living by the wisdom God provides. And he says here that if we humble ourselves to that wisdom, we will receive grace. This humbling takes the form of submission.

What shall we do now? We shall humbly submit to God’s wisdom, to thinking heavenly. This takes the form of five actions:

1. Set yourself up against Satan
2. Come near to God
3. Wash your hands
4. Purify your hearts
5. Grieve and mourn

And what is the result? Verse 10 gives the result, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.” If we humbly submit to God’s wisdom, we will be glorified, rewarded, blessed, lifted up, given life. It comes back to the diagram:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

Now that James has thoroughly presented his thesis, his big idea, his general principle for the whole book, he now is going to take that general principle and show how it is lived out in seven specific test cases. And that is where we will begin...on our next lesson on thinking heavenly. 

James 3.13-4.3

Wisdom From Above is the Answer (3.13-4.3)

Now we come to the center of the entire message of the book of James. The book first presents the trials outside the community (1.2-18), then he talks about trials inside the community (1.19-3.12). The answer to all these trials is found in this section of scripture, the wisdom from above (3.13-4.3). After James presents his main point, the rest of the book is revealing how this wisdom works in seven different test cases (4.4-5.20). This is how his main point goes:

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

James 4

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

This is where James comes out and says his thesis statement, his big idea, the principle that he has been developing for the entire book. Wisdom from above leads to life, desires from below leads to death. It’s the diagram we have been seeing over and over again:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

He begins by contrasting the wisdom from above and the “wisdom” from below. This is how it goes:

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

What is interesting is that humility, in vs. 13., is both the pre-requisite and outcome of wisdom from above. The good life, comes from the humility that leads to wisdom. But as you live the life that comes from wisdom from above, it produces more and more humility. But when envy, and selfish ambition become the pre-requisite for our actions, disorder and evil practices are the outcome. This kind of “wisdom” leads to death. But James shows what happens when humility remains as the pre-requisite for our actions, for our wisdom. It is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. These kind of people raise a harvest of righteousness. James shows that: 

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Then James makes the final contrast with the desires from below. He says: 

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

This is when James completes the picture of the entire book, by showing what happens when we follow our earthly desires:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

And this is what was driving the trials inside and outside the community. The cultural seduction of materialism is driven by earthly desires. The material persecution, driven by earthly desires. Our warped view of religion, people, faith and how we use our tongue, comes from our earthly desires. The answer, think heavenly. In humility, live according to heavenly wisdom which leads to life. This is the answer to being the people of God. And the rest of the book, James shows how this kind of wisdom works in seven different test cases. 

James 3.1-12

Think Heavenly about Our Tongue (James 3.1-12)

1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

I will never forget the Wednesday night when my Youth Minister was teaching on this passage. He walked in and as he read this passage, he had a oblong thing wrapped in paper towels. We had no idea what it was, but we were so anxious to figure it out. As he taught this passage, he told us that we need to bite our tongue. Then....he unwrapped the paper towels. It was a huge, nasty cow’s tongue. It was at LEAST twelve inches long. And then he repeated his point...we need to bit the tongue. He proceeded to hold that tongue up with both hands, raised it to his mouth, and sunk his teeth into that tongue, ripping away a huge chunk out of it. 

I will never forget that night, but I constantly forget the lesson. Our tongues are deadly, and how we use them is a direct result of our heart. There are four aspects of this trial within in the community: the issue; the need; the argument and the warning. The first is the issue, which is unqualified people who want to teach. 

In the Jewish community the Rabbi was the moral compass for the entire community. He was probably the only person that had the ability to read the Torah, let alone understand it and teach it to the lay people. Because of this, his teaching could either lead an entire community in the right direction, or lead them astray. Apparently, the same thing was true of the Christian communities to whom James was writing. He says: 

1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

James’ point is that  this issue, of a person who does not need to be a teacher desiring to be a teacher, has a real NEED. This person, before becoming a teacher, needs to learn how to control his tongue. James says, if he can do that, he will become a “perfect”, or a better translation would be “complete”, person. And when he can control his tongue, he can control his whole body. This is the issue that is going on, and the need is that these unqualified people become qualified by learning how to control their tongues. James then moves on to prove his case by the argument. 

 3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

James uses three common day examples to support his argument, that the tongue drives the rest of the body. He says, just as the bit in the horse’s mouth controls the horse, and just as the small rudder steers the boat, and finally, just as a great forest is set on fire with a small spark, the tongue directs and steers the entire life of the person. What an incredible idea! The way we speak, the way we use our tongue directs and guides the rest of our lives. Our speech is the fruit of our heart, it reveals and guides our lives, showing whether we are truly thinking heavenly or not. And that is why James follows his argument with the warning. 

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

James makes eight warnings, revealing to his audience how dangerous the tongue truly is. He says the tongue is: 1. unrighteous (3.6 “world of evil); 2. Staining (3.6 “corrupts”); 3. Inflaming (3.6 “sets the whole course of his life on fire”); 4. From Gehenna (3.6 “by hell”); 5. Untamable (3.8 “no man can tame”); 6. Unstable (3.8 “restless evil”); 7. Full of deadly poison (3.8); and 8. Place of hypocrisy (3.9-12). James’ warning is that the tongue is a very dangerous thing. But if we can control our tongue, it not only reveals whether we are thinking heavenly, but it directs our whole bodies, making us complete in God’s sight. 

The lesson my youth minister taught really sums up this entire passage. We just have to bite our tongues. Proverbs 17.28 comes to mind: 

28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent,
   and discerning if he holds his tongue.

The first step to taming the tongue is to simply not use it. My guess is that 90% of misuse of the tongue would be solved if we would simply just shut up and listen. Try, for the next 40 days, to just shut up. Don’t talk about other people, don’t make any kind of crass jokes. Don’t give your opinions about anything or argue. Just listen. My challenge is to do this for at least two weeks, and I guarantee you that God will begin to give more wisdom and will begin to produce completeness in your life. Think Heavenly about your tongue, and who knows, perhaps you will bring heaven to someone else. 

James 2.14-26

Think Heavenly about Faith (James 2.14-26)

First, we began this book by looking at wisdom for trials occurring outside the community (James 1.2-18); then we moved to learn wisdom for trials occurring inside the community. There were four specific trials that were going on that James was trying to eliminate by encouraging his readers to “think heavenly” about these areas. The four are: first, think heavenly about religion; Second, think heavenly about people; Third, think heavenly about faith; Fourth, think heavenly about our tongue. Last lesson, we looked at how James encouraged us to think heavenly about people, how not show favoritism. Now, we are moving on to the third thing that is causing trials that we must think heavenly about...namely faith. 

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Faith without works is dead...a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 

What bold and controversial statements. It seems to contradict what Paul says in Ephesians 2:

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

These two verses seem mutual exclusive from each other. There has been so much controversy over the differences between these two passages that Martin Luther did not think James should be a part of the Bible. He wanted to kick it out. Yet, here it is, still in our Bibles today. So how do we reconcile being saved by grace through faith, but faith also includes works? That is a good question. The first thing we need to realize is that James is not approaching the idea of faith as if he is arguing for faith with works versus faith without works. Rather, James is trying to help his audience understand what true faith really is. This is how he starts:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The question that is answered is simply this, “does faith without deeds still save you?” James is wondering if faith has to do with just holding a set of beliefs about God, or responding to Jesus’ grace with a faith-filled life of actions. The example he uses is that of helping the poor. He shows that when we speak and say things, and maybe even believe that we want to help this person, but our lives do not ACT that way, then it does not even matter. James’ conclusion is that faith, without deeds, actions, is dead. It will NOT save you. Next, James shows that faith cannot be separated from works. Look at what he says:

 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James seems to be acting as if he is engaging in a conversations with an imaginary person. He says, “some say, ‘you have faith...’”. Who is James referring to as having said this? Most likely, James is speaking as if this was a real objection that was being raised among the churches to whom he was writing. This guy is arguing that faith and works are an either or thing. You can have either faith or works, but you do not need both. James is arguing that this is completely wrong, that faith and works are a both and deal. His reasoning is that even the demons believe these facts about God, but what matters is what these beliefs produce, good or bad works. Ephesians 2.10 says, 

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We are not saved BY works, but we are saved FOR works. And if that faith does not manifest itself with works, then it is no faith at all. James gives two Biblical examples to show that this is how God has always defined faith. The examples are Abraham and Sarah. He illustrates this as follows:

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

The key with the example of Abraham, the forefather of faith, is that this story of sacrificing his son on the altar came AFTER he was already made right with God. In Genesis 15.6, God said to Abraham: “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Yet, his faith was “made complete” by what he did in Genesis 22, when he obeyed in faithfulness. The same thing occurred with Rahab. Hebrews 11.31 says, “by faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” And then James says, “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” These two passages side by side show that faith has to do with works. It is always manifested by good works. We can not earn our salvation, but a life that is saved is a life that does good works. 

We tend to always emphasize one side of this spectrum over the other. Some of us talk about faith alone, and that all works are evil, we are only saved by belief. This ignores the Biblical definition that ties faith with works. Others are so focused on what we do, Christianity turns into a form of legalism that looks too much like Buddhism or Hinduism. The key is to conflate faith and works in to one idea. We are saved because we are faith working people, devoted and serving God because of who we believe he is. For, as James concludes: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.