Faith Works - In Humility

James 4:13-17 NIV 

[13] Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” [14] Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. [15] Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. [17] If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.4.13-17.NIV)

‘This time next year, Rodney, we’ll be millionaires.’  

So said the fictional character Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter in the BBC’s hilarious sitcom ‘Only Fools And Horses’. Del Boy was a market trader in Peckham, a down-at-heel area of East London. He lived in a tiny apartment on a long forsaken estate. He drove a three-wheeled van that looked like it was about to fall apart. He was constantly involved in ridiculous schemes to make money, but was utterly convinced that he was about to make it. 

And that was the irony of the whole seven series of brilliant comedy. He was a poor man longing to be rich, pretending to be rich, boasting of the efficacy of his endless semi-legal schemes, until they succeeded by complete accident. 

The church in James’ day had become very mixed. People joined from every social class, rich and poor. Some of them were rich merchants, who travelled to and fro to make their fortune, whereas others were caught in abject misery and even slavery.  

However, the same grace had saved them all. Before God, their riches and poverty meant little. What mattered was their faith, because it was by grace through faith that they were saved. 

Outside the church, that was definitely not the case. Outside the church, riches mattered. Looks mattered.  

Had anything changed in the past two thousand years? Really? 

It seems to me that this is a highly contemporary problem. And with the advent of social media and the growth of influencer culture, it seems to only be getting worse. 

When this thinking came into the church, that was when problems arose. And it was this issue that James was seeking to fix. 

So let’s begin to look at his solution by examining firstly The Proud Life. 

 

The Proud Life 

James 4:13 NIV 

[13] Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.4.13.NIV)

Perhaps this idea has caught us on our heels. Perhaps this only seems like sharing an intention, or information. Maybe we can’t see how it could be so wrong. 

Perhaps this parable will set us straight: 

Luke 12:13-21 NIV 

[13] Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” [14] Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” [15] Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” [16] And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. [17] He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ [18]  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. [19] And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” ’ [20]  “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ [21]  “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.12.13-21.NIV)

Boasts like this are about one thing and one thing only: climbing the ladder of souls. They are about making people below you feel inferior. They are about at least pretending that you are on the same level as people above you. They are about getting ahead. Showing superiority. 

They are about who we are, what we have, what we can do. 

They are not just about staking a claim for a position above other people, they are about justifying it. 

Not only that, but it’s about shaping your own identity and purpose on being better than others. It’s about seeking glory because of where you are going, what you are doing, how you are doing it, and your progress towards the top of that ladder of souls. 

I once got sucked up into this as a teenager. My parents were not well off. They could not afford branded clothes. Others around me could. I was made to feel like I was at the bottom of the ladder and they were several rungs above. 

I don’t know how – maybe it was second hand – but my parents somehow managed to get me a branded jacket. I was so proud of that jacket! I wore it like it was something precious.

But, of course, it didn’t raise me rung up the ladder. I was teased relentlessly for wearing it. 

The sharing of information is not the problem, it’s the manner and the motivation. It’s the stealing of undue glory. It’s the insinuation that everything that was achieved was done without God. 

This is a Tower of Babel boast (Genesis 11:1-9). This is a Nebuchadnezzar balcony boast (Daniel 4). This is a Herod eaten by worms boast (Acts 12:21-23). 

But do you know why people boast like this? It might surprise you. 

It moves us on to the next description of their life: it is A Fragile Life. 

A Fragile Life 

James 4:14 NIV 

[14] Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.4.14.NIV)

Such people are fragile. Unsteady. Unsure of themselves. The bluster is just a distraction. 

Why are they fragile? 

For a very simple reason: 

They are not sure of who they are or if they are ‘fine’. 

And the reason for that is also very simple, but devastating: 

They build their lives on being better than other people, when other people will always be better than them. 

That is the tragedy of loudmouthed boosters. And make no mistake: it is tragic. 

And there is yet another reason. For all their noise, they are not in control of one second of their lives. 

Never was that pressed home to me more than this year.  

We had planned to take two vacations: one to Georgia and Armenia; the other, for a special birthday, to the USA and the Caribbean. We had saved up, been very careful about the organisation, booked the excursions and hotels we wanted, and then were all ready to do. 

But then all of our detailed planning was put at risk. Our Georgia tours took us less than ten kilometres from the Russian border and Russian annexed territories. The situation in Armenia became tense due to hostilities with Azerbaijan.  

Then my wife’s father took seriously ill and died, with hospital bills needing to be paid. 

Then my wife herself had two health scares within months of each other. 

Several times this year, all of our grand planning was put at severe risk. 

I also experienced this as a student in 1994. I had been to Romanian on a missions trip. It had been very hard, but I was convinced that God was leading me there for the next phase of my life. I had money and support in place. I was ready to return in 1995. I was really looking forward to it. 

Then, without warning, with around a month to go, I received the news: the trip was off. The team leader’s wife needed to have a large ovarian cyst removed. She was not fit to travel. 

I remember how I reacted. I'm not at all proud of it. I complained bitterly to God: ‘Why has this is happened to me?’ I cried. 

How self-centred is that! 

But God had the last word. 

While I was still absorbing what had happened and was trying to find a way to serve on missions that summer, I was walking on campus at my university when it seemed like I had a message from God and it hit me like a lightning bolt: 

‘What if you never go back?’ 

I was stunned. ‘But God, you’ve called me to go there. You’ve told me that the next phase of my life is there. What do you mean by ‘What if you never go back?’ I argued. 

The sentence echoed in my mind again: ‘What if you never go back?’ 

It was at that time that I realised Romania had become more important to me than God, like Abraham and Isaac at Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:1-18). 

God was teaching me about the sheer fragility of life. About my complete lack of control. About His sovereignty, and my need to trust Him. 

I didn’t go to Romania that summer. I ended up leading a couple of boys to the Lord in a camp in Scotland instead. 

Job noted this: 

Job 12:10 NIV 

[10] In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/job.12.10.NIV)

And the Psalmist added: 

Psalms 104:27-32 NIV 

[27] All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. [28] When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. [29] When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. [30] When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. [31] May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— [32] he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.104.27-32.NIV)

And even the Apostle Paul: 

Acts 17:25 NIV 

[25] And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/act.17.25.NIV)

Our modern culture built itself into a state where it believed that it was invulnerable, impregnable, powerful and eternal.  

But it was not true. It was never true. 

These days, a pandemic, a whole series of wars, rapacious corporate greed and poor governance have taught us the truth we have sought to evade for decades. 

We are vulnerable. Really, really vulnerable.  

What use is there in boasting about where we’ll go, what we’ll do and what we’ll gain when the world is burning? 

But James got there first. As did the Bible. 

The truth is: we were always vulnerable. What use is there in boasting about our control over armies, companies, governments or neighbourhoods when we cannot even control the next breath in our lungs? 

What use is there in boasting about tomorrow when we can’t even control whether we will awaken to see it? 

That is James’ point. Boasting about who we are before a God who is infinitely more than us is such a foolish thing to do. 

Psalms 12:3 NIV 

[3] May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.12.3.NIV)

And one day, He will. 

We’ve seen how a proud life is actually a fragile life. Now we’ll move on to see A Righteous Life. 

A Righteous Life 

James 4:15-17 NIV 

[15] Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. [17] If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.4.15-17.NIV)

I stopped watching awards shows years ago. Let’s be really honest here: they are boring. Nothing but meaningless industry back-slapping. However, there is one positive aspect to it. At least in these shows people who’ve made it to the pinnacle of their trade acknowledge the people who got them there. 

Because we have to acknowledge that there is no such thing as a ‘self-made man’ or ‘self-made woman’. The old and often-quoted Frank Sinatra standard of ‘I did it my way’ is not true. It is the height of arrogance to claim that you got anywhere on your own when you can’t even be sure that your eyes will see the morning. 

And that is James’ point. He is not against the rich. Neither was Jesus. They are both against those who are rich but not rich towards God, as Jesus said: 

Luke 12:21 NIV 

[21]  “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.12.21.NIV)

This is what Paul told Timothy: 

1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV 

[17] Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. [18] Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. [19] In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1ti.6.17-19.NIV)

Do you see it? The Bible is not against people being rich or enjoying their riches. Instead, the teaching of Scripture – and James – is that they should recognise that their wealth is from God, be thankful for it, and use it to raise other people up. 

James in particular is very firm that being rich and being able to do things that others cannot should never become a reason for boasting. Instead, it should be a cause of humble gratitude to God and, as we saw earlier, generosity and open-handedness to those who are in need (James 1:27, 2:15-16, 3:13). 

But I will also tell you this: the Bible even tells us how this giving should take place: 

Matthew 6:1-4 NIV 

[1]  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. [2]  “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. [3] But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, [4] so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.6.1-4.NIV)

The Bible teaches – Jesus Himself taught – that we should never use our assistance of those who are worse off than ourselves to raise our own reputation. We should never use their suffering to try to climb up the ladder of souls. The very idea that we should use it to enhance our reputation or help us to gain a higher position should be anathema to us.

People who do this are not Christians, it’s as simple as that. Using the sufferings of others in this way is pure, unadulterated exploitation: nothing more, nothing less. 

To do so means that we regard us as being better than them. The Bible says differently: there is no us and them. We are all sinners and in need of grace. 

We cannot live in such a way that acknowledges the existence of a ladder of souls, because, as far as God is concerned, it does not exist at all. 

So the very idea that we should boast about what we have or what we will do with it is completely bogus. We must remember that. 

Those who boast are boasting about something that is not worth anything. 

Galatians 6:14 NIV 

[14] May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.6.14.NIV)

That is what counts, more than anything. 

 

Conclusion 

James 4:17 NIV 

[17] If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.4.17.NIV)

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV 

[23] This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, [24] but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jer.9.23-24.NIV)

I used to really enjoy watching the Olympics. Now I think I have seen a little too much of the!

It must be so hard to be a professional athlete. You work so hard to be at the very top of your game. You train so hard for a once every four year competition. You start the race. You race as hard as you can. You get the world record. You reach reputational immorality. The crowd are on their feet applauding and cheering. 

Then minutes later, your record is shattered. Someone goes harder than you. Someone goes faster. Someone goes further.

Now you’re back in second place once more. 

Such is incredible folly of basing your entire existence on comparing yourself with others.

This is precisely why Paul told the Corinthians this: 

2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV 

[12] We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.10.12.NIV)

And again, as saw in Galatians: 

Galatians 6:4-5 NIV 

[4] Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, [5] for each one should carry their own load.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/gal.6.4-5.NIV)

And John agreed.

1 John 2:15-17 NIV 

[15] Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. [16] For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. [17] The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1jn.2.15-17.NIV)

We find ourselves in an epidemic of false comparison. Influencer culture, advertising and sales are all based on FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out. That fear itself is based entirely on envy and covetousness: two feelings that are wrong and which we are told not to have. We are sold the lie that our lives will be better if we possess something or do something or go somewhere.  

The reality is that it might be – for a while. But then we will gradually realise that all our achievements on the ladder of souls are utterly meaningless and empty. 

Such is the fate of those who live this way. 

That and the horrific damage to mental health and self-image that comes with it. 

This is no way to live. 

And this is the problem. If we don’t see this, we will spend our entire life chasing a dream of something that it is utterly worthless. 

The purpose of this warning from James is for those who are higher up the ladder: who have more because either they earned it, were given it or inherited it. James warned them that they should not use their privileged position to either think or act like they were any better than anyone else, because it isn’t true. 

That is why James talked of the boasted life as being a fragile life and instructed his listeners to live a righteous life instead, where they would seek to lift others up. 

James was counter-cultural in his day. This teaching is even more so now. We live in a culture where the level of hollow boasting is almost deafening. 

James contains a clarion call to live differently. 

The question is: will we? 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, this message was humbling. Help me to use my position not to feel self satisfied and to boast, but to lift other people up and draw them closer to You. Amen. 

Questions for Contemplation

• Why is boasting about our position in life so wrong? 

• What happened to others in the Bible who became satisfied and boasted about what they have? 

• How can you use your position in life to lift others up?