At the risk of being repetitious, I must emphasize again that the theme of the book of James is "Temptation". He is addressing the ever present problem of the warfare which rages constantly between my spiritual-man and my earth-man. The worst enemy we have is our own selfishness. A few years ago, in Walt Kelly's comic strip "Pogo", he has one character say, "We have met the enemy and he is us". Amusing in a comic strip, but deadly serious in the battles of life.
The essence of life is relationships. Perhaps the most difficult condition with which man has to cope is loneliness. The highest ideals and the most basic moral principles have to do with our relationships, and our responsibilities to other people. The one who wrote the book, "No Man Is an Island", was right. Your relationships with other people is what defines you, and the extent to which you are successful in that area, is the extent to which your life has any meaning.
From the beginning, God has placed this at the top of His priorities for His children. "Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself" sums up the entire will of God. There is nothing else. When Adam and Eve chose to sever the close relationship they had with God, and strike out on their own, for their own
selfish purposes, they introduced the word "sin" into the human language, and we have had to deal with it ever since. The name of that struggle is
"Temptation", and James is addressing that in this book, and especially in this fourth chapter.
James says the basic cause of all ills is selfishness. All conflict, from world wars to family arguments, stem from this cause. He
says, "You want something, but you don't get it". This is an interesting statement. It means that even if you win the conflict, and get your way you are still unsatisfied. Why? Because you have ruptured the essence of happiness and success...good relationships with those close to you. James suggests that the remedy is to ask God for what you want, but make sure you want what God has to give. If you ask God for the gifts of this world, the earth-man is in control, and God will not give you the very things which separate you from Him...worldly goods and pleasures. When Jesus said we should ask in His name, He meant we should ask for those things which He came to
give-- goodness, righteousness, peace and love. Those who teach that Christianity will make you rich and successful by the world's standards, just don't understand what James is trying to teach here in this chapter.
What stronger words could James have used than, "Don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?" Your task as a Christian is to
choose God...not just the person of God the Creator, but the Author of all that is good and right. James says, "The spirit He has caused to live in us tends toward envy". Now, that is a strange statement. However, it only means that God made us creatures of choice. One cannot have a love relationship if one does not have the power of choice. But in giving us the power to choose, He left us susceptible to choosing ourselves instead of Him, and thus denying the love relationship He gave us the privilege of having with Him. The earth-man seeks to fulfill his animal desires, and envies those who have more than he does. But James says God will supply us with the power to overcome the earth-man, if we will choose to let God's grace rule our lives.
(We will have more to say about this very basic teaching in our next lesson.)
