In the prior chapters, James warned against saying that you loved the brethren while having actions that deny your claim.
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”
James 2:8 ESV
He continues his challenge to the his Jewish brethren by going beyond their actions. Now in this section James will confront their speech and the very motives of their hearts.
Taming the Tongue 👅
It’s amazing how powerful the tongue is. A tongue can speak inspiring, life-giving words, or it can spew poison and bring about death.
I’m sure we can all think of things we have said that we regret, or things said to us that still sting. We cannot allow those things to drag us down like anchor chains. Pray. Release them to the Lord. Ask Him to heal the wounds that words have inflicted. Where needed, go to someone you have wronged with your words and ask their forgiveness.
We might not be able to tame our tongues, but the Lord can certainly help us keep our mouths shut. 🫢
James points out how inconsistent we can be with our mouths – blessing God one minute and dragging people through the mud the next. As a worship leader, I do a lot of “blessing God” with my tongue so I desire to keep my speech toward others kind. I don’t always quite succeed.
Look, I get it. Some people are irritating, clueless, irresponsible, messed up, or just plain mean. God still loves them and wants them to be saved. They might genuinely be a walking dumpster fire, but I can choose to treat them with decency and kindness. I don’t have to participate in their crazy or agree with them, or be their BFF, but I can count to ten and check the angry tone before I speak. Some days, I have to go hide in my office and just not speak to anyone for a few minutes. After all, my dad always told us…
(Say it with me Gen X’ers…)
“If you can’t say something nice,
Don’t say nothin’ at all.”
Two Kinds of “Wisdom”
The internet is a glut of information. Lots of people are offering their “wisdom” on every topic imaginable – parenting, dating, marriage, home improvement, fashion, movies, politics, career, money, health & wellness, teaching your cat to talk…
Why would a Christian listen to advice from the world? We are not them. We are God’s people. We don’t – or aren’t meant to – function like the world. James was cautioning his readers to be careful about the source of the wisdom they followed. If Self is in the center, that’s not heavenly wisdom.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17 ESV
What’s Your Motive?
If the Hasbro toy and game company wanted to make a new and more challenging version of the classic board game Clue, they would add a 4th card: Motive.
- Professor Plum (who) 👨🏻🏫
- In the Library (where) 📚
- With the Wrench (how) 🔧
- For Money (why) 💵
😯 Ooo. That’s actually a really cool idea. You should pitch it to Hasbro!
Aww.. I doubt they take ideas from random emailers.
🤨 You never know…
Well, even if they did, they probably wouldn’t pay me anything for it.
😏 “You have not because you ask not.”
It’s not just actions and words that need to be sanctified. James confronts the inner motives that lie behind our words and actions. WHY are we doing what we’re doing and saying what we’re saying?
That is worthy of contemplation.
Why did I say that? Why did I get angry about that little thing? Why did that person’s remark offend me?
We just have to be brave enough to answer honestly. Is it because I feel insecure? Threatened? Why? Do I believe that having a certain thing will make everything better? Do I want approval? From whom? Why?
I think it’s worth getting to the bottom of these things so we can repent and turn away from the way of the world and receive the healing and fulfillment available in Christ.
As long as you are trying to handle it on your own, God will let you.
And that is frightful.
“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””
James 4:6 ESV
If we want God’s help, we have to quit trying so hard to do it in our own strength.
I remember quite distinctly the day I quit.
I was worn to a thin frazzle trying to be a straight-A saint. Trying to live up to all the expectations and make everyone around me happy. I had held my cool all day (trying to be a good Christian). I knew I was about to break. At the end of the day, I went into my sardine can of an apartment, knelt on old linoleum at a wooden kitchen chair, and said bawled something like…
God, I QUIT! I’m done. I’m not going to be good anymore. I still trust You but I’m done trying to be good. I’m done. I quit! I’m not even going to try anymore. I’m done trying. I’m exhausted. I don’t even care! If you want me to be good You’re going to have to do it because I’M DONE!
Between angry, frightened tears (because I was reasonably sure I should expect a lightning strike any second), and in the quiet, somewhere in my soul I heard a Voice say (with tremendous relief),
“Finally.”
He had been waiting for me to “give up” for a long time. I was expecting to be abandoned or possibly vaporized. I did not expect what I felt instead: Peace.
You and I cannot live up to God’s standard in our own strength. Our motives tend to get twisted into something for ourselves- approval, admiration, self-justification, pleasure… lots of things; but all twisted and poisoned. The Lord calls us to give ourselves, our lives, our motives, the good and bad, everything… utterly to Him so that He can live and do in us and through us.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
James 4:10 KJV
I think that’s what happened at my kitchen chair. I admitted I couldn’t do it; couldn’t be a “good Christian” in my own effort. I humbled myself and was gut-honest about it. And the Lord lifted me up.
