Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Sometimes we will spend a lot of time and a lot of energy working on the wrong things. Just like the poor guy in our video, we work and work and work at something, only to find out that the something we’ve been working on is the wrong something. We find out that we’ve been wasting our time.

We’re in James 4 today. This is last message in our Everyday Faith series. We’ve been moving through the book of James in the New Testament. We’ve been listening as James encourages us away from a Sunday morning faith and toward a faith that impacts our life on a daily basis. In our last installment in this series, James shows us that we spend way too much time working on the wrong thing. And as usual, he points this out to us in his blunt, in-your-face style.

Today we’re talking about living the God life. And what we find in James is that key the living the God life is to focus less on ourselves and more on the Lord. Most of us tend to get that equation backwards. We spend too much time working on the wrong thing. James can help us get things back on track by leaving The Me Life and living The God Life.

The first principle James gives us is that living the God life means that I will put God’s desires above my own. We touched on this idea in last week’s message, but James really develops it more in chapter 4.

Starting in verse 1, James writes, “Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill;

you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures.” (James 4:1-3, GNB)

One more time, James brings out his hammer and starts swinging. And one more time he hits really close to home. He points out that we live lives that are self-consumed. Our focus is our pleasure. Our desire is to please ourselves. The most important question is, “Do I like this? Is this good for me?”

This is a philosophy that we refer to as hedonism. The hedonistic philosophy says that the chief end of man is the gratification of self. It’s all about me. It’s all about what I want. My desires are what matters.

Hedonism rears its head in the church all the time. Isn’t this attitude at the root of most conflict within the church? Most problems in the church are rooted in the sad fact that most of us are looking out for ourselves. If we thought more about God and about others and less about ourselves, wouldn’t most church conflicts just melt away? James says they would.

He said in verse 1, “Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you.” (James 4:1, GNB)

My son Ryan just turned two and he is quite the little singer. He sings all the time, but pretty much every song he sings is to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. He’ll use any word he wants, but it’s almost always the same tune. One day a couple of weeks ago, he was singing his tune, but he was using a word in his song he’d never used before. He was walking around, pointing to himself, and singing, “Me, me, me, me, me, etc.” You get the idea. Ryan’s song told me where his mind was. It was all me all the time. He was thinking about himself.

There are so many quarrels in the church where, if you were to stop and translate what people are saying, they’re actually simply saying, “Me, me, me, me, me, etc.” They’re complaining, criticizing, and arguing, but in reality they’re just singing Ryan’s “me” song. But Ryan has an excuse to sing that song: he’s two years old! He’s operating on a two-year-old’s maturity level…and so are we when we’re only concerned about what we want, what our desires are, what pleases us.

Maybe that’s why The Message translates James 4:3, “You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.” This is the way children operate, but James is calling us to maturity. And maturity is leaving The Me Life and entering into The God Life.

Hedonism says that the chief end of man is the gratification of self. Christianity says that the chief end of man is the glorification of God.

Let’s skip on down to verse 7 in James 4. “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:7-8, NIV)

Homer Kent wrote that “’submit to God’ indicates the surrender of the will to the leadership of another. It is…focusing upon the desires and will of God.”

There’s just no room for pursuing a life that is centered in self. Our purpose is to submit to God’s desires, to put His desires above our own. Just because I want something doesn’t make it right. Just because I don’t want something doesn’t make it wrong. The question is, “Is this what God wants?” And if God’s desires differ from mine, I’m the one who needs to adjust.

This is what James is talking about when he said, “purify your hearts, you double-minded.” We are double-minded because we want to please God some of the time, but please ourselves at other times. Sometimes we’re all about following God’s desires. Other times we’re singing the “me” song. We’re double-minded. James chides us that it is time for us to grow up, to mature, to live the God life. But to do that, I have to put God’s desires above my own.

I also have to put my ego on the shelf. Let’s jump ahead to verse 13 in James 4.

“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.” 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. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13-16, NIV)

Let’s be sure we understand the real issue here. The issue in James’ illustration is arrogance. These businessmen were arrogantly leaving God out of the equation. They were arrogantly saying, “Look at me. Look at what I can do. Look at the amount of money I can make.” Their problem wasn’t in their planning. The problem was that they included their wants and their desires, but left God’s out. The problem is that they wanted to make sure that they were seen, that they’re abilities were recognized, but they didn’t care if God was seen. The issue was their ego.

There was an episode of King of Queens a few years ago where the main characters, Doug and Carrie, were having a difficult time with this issue. They were preparing for tax time when they realized that their charitable giving left a little to be desired. In an effort to get out of this guilty feeling, they decide to make a donation to the local school library. They donated $500. But when the plaque to honor all the donors was displayed, their names were displayed with the $50 donors. Carrie just couldn’t handle this. She had donated $500, but she would only get credit for $50. She finally confessed to her husband, Doug, that she was all about doing good things for others; she just wanted others to know she was doing it.

Jesus addressed this issue when he said, "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 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 men.

I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4, NIV)

It’s all a question of motive. Do I do something good to receive a pat on the back? Do I do it to be seen by others? Or do I do it to please God?

For example, I know what to say in any particular sermon that will get me a pat on the back. I know the phrases to use, I know the hot button issues to address. I know how to go fishing for compliments. The question I always have to wrestle with is, “Am I saying this because I know the reaction it will get? Or am I saying it because it is God’s truth and it is His will that I say it?” I constantly have to examine my motives.

James is calling us to shelve our egos. After all, ego is simply Edging God Out. As I put God’s desires ahead of my own, I also have to put his glory ahead of my own. I do good things in secret. I don’t go fishing for the pat on the back. I make sure the glory, the honor, and the recognition goes to God.

Proverbs reminds us, “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” (Proverbs 16:5, ESV) Abomination. Not a word you use everyday, but it’s an incredibly strong word. God isn’t just a little unhappy when we’re egotistical and arrogant. He calls it an abomination that will be punished. To live the God life, I’ve got to be willing to put my ego on the shelf.

There is a third principle we can pull out of James 4. Not only do I need to put God’s desires ahead of my own, not only do I need to shelve my ego and put God’s glory ahead of my own, but James takes things even a step further.

Living the God life means that I am willing to be inconvenienced for God. At the very end of James 4, he writes a little sentence that should stop us in our tracks. When you consider the ramifications of this little sentence, it is pretty sobering.

In James 4:17, he writes, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (NIV)

If you were to go to one of our children’s classes and ask our kids, “What is a sin?” you’d get this kind of answer: Doing something you know is wrong. They might even give you examples. Lying, cheating, stealing, etc. But the underlying principle they would give you is that a sin is something you do that you’re not supposed to do.

A lot of us operate with that same definition. But James pushes us to expand our understanding of what sin actually is. Of course it is doing something you know is wrong. But it is also not doing something that you know is right. That throws a whole new spin on things, doesn’t it?

A lot of us eventually get pretty good at avoiding things that we know are wrong. This is why we define the maturity of a Christian by what they don’t do. We put arbitrary rules on people and if they obey those rules, they’re a mature Christian. If they avoid the things that we say are taboo, they’re a mature Christian. We define spiritual maturity by what we don’t do.

The Bible has a different measuring stick. We are measured, not by what we avoid, but by what we do.

James wrote in chapter 1, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22, NIV)

I really like the way the KJV reads: “…be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” (James 1:22, KJV)

James is calling us out. He’s calling us to do the word. The picture he paints here is not show up on Sunday morning, listen to the sermon, and you’re good to go. The picture is show up on Sunday, hear the Word, and then go out and do the Word.

This is what he means when he tells us, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17, NIV) We’re not defined by the taboos we avoid. We’re not defined by faithfully coming to hear the Word of God. We’re defined by doing the Word.

This means that I am willing to be inconvenienced for God. It is not convenient to be a “doer of the Word.” Teaching a children’s class or two at church may not be convenient, but it is doing the word. Actually making a sacrifice in my life so I can give more to the church may not be convenient, but it is doing the word. Taming my tongue may not be convenient, but it is doing the word. Serving without receiving recognition may not be convenient, but it is doing the word.

We visited with my family this week. My brother-in-law, Jason, was all wet. As he was driving to my parent’s house, he passed a neighbor who was having a big yard sale. It was starting to rain and they were frantically trying to get all the tables covered up. Jason stopped, got out of his car, and helped them cover their tables. It would have been much easier to just keep driving. He would have stayed dry, and no one would have said anything about it. But instead he chose to be inconvenienced, and in this small act, he was a doer of the word.

A faith that is comfortable is not in James’ vocabulary. If our faith never is an inconvenience, we really have to examine what kind of faith we actually have. A church that is convenient, a church whose members are comfortable, is not the church that James has pictured. James sees the church as a place where people are willing to get out of their comfort zone. James picture of the church is one where people are willing to sacrifice their comfort, to be inconvenienced. And in doing so, they become doers of the word.

As we’ve said earlier in this series, James writing style hops all over the place. And at first glance, this portion of his letter seems no different. The whole sermon may have felt a little disconnected, but let me tie it all together. James really does have one overarching principle in this part of his book.

There is one overriding principle of living the God life. It’s not about me. It’s not about my desires. It’s not about my ego. It’s not about my convenience and comfort.

You can sum up what James is saying in one word: Humility.

This is what living the God life is all about. I humble myself so that God’s desires become more important than my desires. I humble myself so that, instead of feeding my own ego, I strive to glorify God. I humble myself so that my comfort and convenience are not my first priority, but instead I sacrifice comfort and convenience to be a doer of the word.

Humility is not a virtue that is valued by our world, but it is highly prized by God. And Jesus embodied the humble servant in his life. In fact, it was his humility that ultimately led him to die. Think about it. He put God’s desires above his own. When he knew that his death was imminent, he prayed, “Please take this cup from me. But, not my will but Yours be done.” He placed God’s desires above his own.

There was no ego in his death. In Jesus’ culture, to be crucified was the worst way a person could die. It meant that you were cursed. But Jesus wasn’t pursuing his glory, but God’s glory.

And talk about sacrificing comfort and convenience! Those nails in his wrists and ankles weren’t comfortable. That crown of thorns on his head wasn’t a convenient little sun visor. Jesus sacrificed all, everything to give us the opportunity to experience life forever in God’s presence. The only question that remains is will we humble ourselves to him? He humbled himself for us. Will we humble ourselves to him? Will we humble ourselves and repent of our sin? Will we humble ourselves in baptism? Will we humble ourselves by living by God’s principles instead of our own plans? We give you the chance to make this humbling, but life-giving, decision.

Mike Edmisten