James chapter 4

vs 1

Well, at least James answered his own question for us, so we don't have to puzzle over the answer. There is a battle going on inside us, which is being fought by our desires, and it comes out into the world and causes fights and wars.

vs 2

"God" isn't actually in the greek text, and so isn't in the NASB or the KJV. But I think it's implied. This idea is probably being drawn from Jesus' ask, seek, knock.

James says here that all our quarrels and fights, our murders and our wars and jealousy could all be solved if, instead of fighting each other for what we want, we asked God. Of course, those of us in the real world know that this just won't happen, right? Because God's not a cosmic candy-machine, yeah? Actually, what we probably really know is what James is about to say...

vs 3

The reason we fight, quarrel, murder, war, and envy is because of our desires. But it's not as easy as just "asking God instead" and watching all those things go away. We all know that most of the stuff we fight over, and quarrel over, and are envious of, is probably stuff that we're not meant to have. Why do we feel jealous of that new car? Is it because we think that the guy with the new car isn't going to be using it for God, and it's unjust that he should be using it instead of you? Or is it because it's got comfy new seats and looks cool to drive? You know what? Most people don't need new cars at all. Some do - I know some of our missionaries don't have a choice - it's a new Land Rover or it's nothing, simply because of the work they do and where they are. And guess what? God gives it to them. When we moved to Brisbane, we didn't need a new car, but we were going to need one with air-conditioning. And what happened? We got one.

But it's not just about cars. People get upset about where they are in queues, what position they hold in the church, what job they've got, all sorts of things. God is happy to supply us with stuff, and he does so all the time, far more often than we realise it. But we are sometimes so absorbed that we don't even realise that we don't need something, or that we are asking for wrong motives. And to James, those wrong motives are our own pleasures.

vs 4

Wow, these verses (among others) caused those psychotic Exclusive Brethren to basically shut themselves off from the world. They weren't the first of course - monks did it long before. But that sort of attitude to these verses just shows that you're making it say something you want it to say. See, world is the word kosmos, and we simply can't determine it's meaning by looking the word up in a lexicon, because it's used to mean so many things. It's like the word 'bank'. So we look at this word, and we need to say "what context is James using it in?" and then we have to apply one of the meanings this word has. And I can tell you that "technology" is not a definition. But there is a definition that fits in with James' argument from the last few verses. It is this: the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ. Now obviously you can't be a friend to a bunch of goods. So James isn't talking about a certain bunch of goods. He's not saying "You chose friendship with cars, which is hatred toward God". If you think it means specific stuff like that, you misread the definition. It means the concept of these things. And if you are chasing these things instead of chasing God, then you're wanting to be their friend instead of God's friend. How many times do I have to say that money and wealth are the gods of this age? People worship them in very similar ways to the way pagan gods were worshipped.

Now personally I think that shouldn't be translated "world", because it's so confusing. But that's the word James uses, so we just have to do exactly what the greeks did, and determine it's meaning by context.

vs 5

What scripture is that James? I don't know that there's a great deal of agreement, because the greek can be translated several different ways, and none of them exactly represent a quote from Scripture. But the idea is there - that God is jealous for us somehow. He wants to be the first thing in our lives. He wants to dominate our thinking and our actions. And really, when you compare God to all the riches "the world" has to offer, who's more deserving?

vs 6

The 'us' is superfluous, so don't bother trying to work out who 'us' is - it's not in the greek. The greek really just says "But he gives greater grace" (and that's the NASB too).

This verse is confusing to me, but here's my take on it. The idea between verses 5 and 6 is to compare God to us. We, as we learned earlier, are jealous and warlike. God is jealous too, but his jealousy is different to ours. He doesn't fly into a warlike tantrum (can you imagine that? Scary!). Instead, he gives grace. So even though God is jealous for us, he doesn't start fights and quarrels. He instead gives grace. But not universally. Instead, James quotes Proverbs here which tells us, again, about God's value for humility.

vs 7

James then uses the term 'therefore'. So God's grace to the humble, and his preparedness to give us what we ask for if we're asking for the right things should be enough to persuade us to submit, or subject ourselves to God. Our opposition should not be to God, but to Satan. And if we oppose him, he'll flee. So I guess Satan only likes easy pickings.

vs 8

I've been quoting this verse a fair bit lately, because I've noticed that, over the years, people have been making negative comments about people (usually young people) praying for things like the "closeness of God" or for God to "draw near to someone". Their argument has been "God is within you as the Holy Spirit, so you don't need to pray that prayer". Sounds logical right? But they are forgetting the fact that sometimes it can feel like God is far away. To use the old sunday school cliche, God never leaves us, it's us who leaves God. But regardless of who's at fault, we all know that if we can feel the presense of God more keenly, it's better and preferable. So hence people pray that prayer. The point is that there is nothing wrong with desiring a closeness with God.

But we can't just draw near to God. God is holy. We also need to wash out hands (remember what I said about hands? About cheir?) So we need to keep our actions clean. But we must also to purify our hearts. Because God doesn't care just about our actions - he wants our hearts to be purified too. That does not mean God wants you doing regular cardio exercise. He may or may not, but that's not the purpose of this verse. He wants a cleansing of our spiritual life (because the heart is the seat of life). Notice that it is sinners and the double-minded (literally "two-souled") that need to do these things. Now James isn't saying that we can wash away our sins or anything like that. He's just saying that we need to clean up our act and our motivation.

vs 9

These are things that people did when they thought the hand of the Lord was against them. The whole sackcloth and ashes. We just do not do this anymore! Now even though this stuff was mostly tradition and ritual, it still symbolised that we were greived that we had upset God. That's why they would make themselves out to be mourning as if someone had died - because that's how much they wanted to show that they were upset for upsetting God. See, James is telling us to confront our sinfulness and our impurity of motive, our two-mindedness. When we confront it, we should see just how off-the-tracks we are, and that should cause us to mourn and grieve.

We don't do nearly enough of this. Well, perhaps everyone else does and I don't, but you know what, I think we've inherited a Christian culture that is far too geared to God's forgiveness, and not nearly enough towards his purity. That's why we've got young Christians who can become Christians without cost, especially if they're from a Christian family. It's only when you realise the exacting standards that God expects that you realise just how much scum you are. This whole experience should really bring us humbly before God, put us in our place.