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| JAMES LESSON #61 What do you do when you�ve wandered to the backside of the pasture and you�re so far away from God that when you turn around there�s nothing behind you- What do you do when everyone you talk to seems to have a corner on how your life is supposed to unfold � and you�re clueless- and in conflict with everyone you meet? What do you do when your desires overwhelm you and nothing you do seems to connect the dots? What�s the problem? James goes there in chapter 4. Before we jump into chapter 4 it�s pretty important that we take a look at the context so that we don�t get off track and think that James is saying one thing when he�s really saying something else. James is about a faith that �does� � not a faith that �says.� James is about a faith that participates in what it �says.� This whole letter deals with the issues that would pull us out of a walk of �genuine faith,� and into a life of self-centered �religiosity.� Everything we�ve looked at so far is all about the business of the �how-to�s of growing up.� -maturity. What leads us astray is �sin.� The word for sin in the Greek is �hamarita.� It means, �to miss the mark.� What�s the mark? What�s the goal? To live and be like Jesus is/was � end result? Maturity. Go ahead � give it your best shot in your own strength. You�ll never get there. Over and over and over James stresses the �joint effort� opportunity- and over and over and over points out how we miss taking advantage of that opportunity and jump into things �on our own.� The end result? Oh, we may get most of the rules and regs right � we may just live a good moral life � but in terms of �fulfillment and joy in the journey?� What�s that? - We�re boxed, frustrated and angry. So many times as believers we �think� that because we�ve come to know Jesus we�re supposed to have it all together. Wrong. The exact opposite is true. Actually, when we encounter Jesus, we�re awakened to the fact that we truly DON�T have it altogether. James writes specifically to Christians. The big question mark in this epistle is the issue of �sin.� If Christian�s have Christ living in them, and are engaging in the �joint effort opportunity,� can and do they sin? Yup. James addresses the issue of sin in one form or another 9 times in his letter. That�s significant. I want to look at how James addresses sin � where he addresses it � and what he has to say about it. Read James 1:15: This ties into chapter 4. If I �say� I believe in Jesus � and that I�ve asked Him to take control of my life, and I walk in �habitual sin,� so that every aspect of my life evolves around sin � that, is �independence� from God. Where�s it end? In spiritual death. This isn�t just talking about a �going to hell� kind of death. This particular death is in reference to a broader picture. This death has to do with potential of what �could have been.� For instance: A life of immorality leads to death of virginity- Affairs outside of marriage lead to death of an intact marriage, and broken family relationships. It�s about death to what could have been � if obedience would have been the road chosen. James 2:9 If you show partiality � favoring one over another � you�ve �missed the mark.� James 4:8 Remember � He�s talking to �believers.� He�s telling �believers� to do what? Purify their hearts and cleanse their hands. An unsaved person would not have a �double-mindedness� because they wouldn�t have the mind of Christ. There would be no conflict there. James 4:17 If you �know� and don�t �do� � you�ve �missed the mark.� James 5:15 �if he has committed sins� � remember, he�s talking to believers here. James is very very aware of the deadliness of �sin problems� within the hearts of believers. Sin paralyzes and stops �what could be� in the life of the believer. Sin absolutely HAS to be dealt with. Either the believer deals with it, or God does. Believe me, it�s a better deal when the believer deals with it! James 5:16 Again, you see James asking the believer to confess sin to a brother � he�s talking to believers. Why confess it to another? We�re going to talk about that when we get into chapter 5. Hold that thought. James 5:20 When we recognize our sin � when we fall down � when we�re totally �missing the mark� and someone comes along and pulls us back up onto our feet � they�ve saved us from death. (again, not just spiritual death, but death to what should be) He �saves a soul from death� and �covers a multitude of sins� �why? Because the intent of your heart is to make things right with God. Get this: Christianity is not a one shot deal � trot to the altar, say �I believe,� and get up and go on your way. No no and more no. It does NOT work that way. Christianity is not stagnate. It doesn�t �stand still.� It�s an on going process toward �maturity.� James 2 says that our faith is �perfected by our works.� In James 4 he�s going to deal with �sin.� He�s touched on it in previous chapters, but in chapter 4 he deals with it. He takes a look at sin that separates us from man and God �where much if not most of our conflict comes from. (James 4:1-12) He�s talks about how to get back on track. He starts off with sin as separation from man in James 4:1-2 and then moves into the rest of the chapter covering sin that causes us to walk in independence. This�is a big big big deal in the lives of most if not all believers. Why? Because it�s the sin that causes us to walk in independence that says: I�m ordering my own life � I�m making my own plans � I�m doing my own thing- Setting my own goals: Those statements all carry issues of rebellion and arrogance: Tough issues- God issues. Again I need to reiterate that walking in �interdependence� � �joint effort opportunity� requires that we �come under� �authority.� For most of us that brings an instant cringe � why? Because we�ve learned that �authority� is �power� � dominance, control, manipulation, coercion, -being positioned so that we crawl at the mercy of someone else�s self-centered direction. Part of learning in the area of �coming under authority� evolves around �trust� � something that unfolds as we understand and experience �love.� We�ll talk about that more as we get into chapter 4. In chapter 4 James begins with sin that separates us from man and God �James 4:1-12 It would be good to mark the divisions of this chapter in your Bible. In James 4:1-2 James deals with sin that separates man from man. In James 4:3-6 he deals with sin that separates man from God. In James 4:7-10 he focuses on restoration with God. In James 4:11-12 He focuses on restoration with man. In James 4:13-17 he goes after sin that causes us to walk in �independence� � In approaching chapter 4 James has already dealt with the separation with man because he�s talked about �wisdom that�s from beneath� � full of jealousy and selfish ambition. READ James 3:14-16 Then he talks about how the �wisdom from above� brings peace � contrasting it to the wisdom from below that brings disorder and every evil thing. READ James 4:1-3 He says, �There are quarrels and conflict going on� � �quarrels� means: a �continuous state of hostility.� Notice that it�s �quarrels� not �quarrel.� You know it�s �ongoing� because there�s more than one. Quarrels and conflicts � wars, fightings, outbursts - He�s saying � ok guys- this isn�t new news. You see it all the time. Look at James 4:1 again- Notice he�s not talking about quarrels �among you ��inside� the body- He�s talking about quarrels among you �as a body.� You�re all doing it. Not ME!! Really? Ok � take a look at conversations you�ve overheard at church? Matilda didn�t get her name in the bulletin and Bertha did � guess who�s royally ticked � and guess who�s currently getting an ax in the back over a cup of coffee? Bud got put in charge of the committee and Tom didn�t � guess who�s ticked off and guess who�s decided to be uncooperative? Ruth was asked to sing for a conference and Ann wasn�t � guess who doesn�t like who and who thinks who�s better than thou? Guess who came down to breakfast and wasn�t in the mood to be spoken to before coffee � someone spoke: someone�s having a tough day as a result of that move. Everybody�s in the car ready to leave for church � mom�s still putting her makeup on in the bathroom while everyone else waits in the car � guess how happy everyone is by the time they get to church? Mom made dinner � dad showed up late and didn�t call? Guess how enjoyable the meal conversation was. Who ME? All of us go there. Why? We�re �supposed� to be �children of God. We aren�t any different than the neighbor next door who has never stepped foot inside a church. Why are we living like this? At the office, is there someone who�s just �driving you right up the wall?� What�s the source of all of this? Why aren�t we different? Or are we? Hold that thought- more tomorrow! Loving you, �copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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