James
turned to call believers not to be influenced by the appeal of this world. When
a believer is taken in by worldliness, he sets himself up as God’s enemy. In
this passage he wrote to address this issue. He first pointed to how
worldliness begins in a person’s life. In verses 1-3, he directs our attention
to the human appetite as the cause of worldly desires in one’s life. An
unrequited worldly desire in a person has the capacity to develop into an
uncontrolled passion. When that person cannot control his worldly passion, he
develops a spirit of discontent. He becomes quarrelsome and would disagree with
others. Even when he prays, he will find his prayers unanswered by God because
he has prayed with the wrong motives.
In verses 4-6, James then went on to show what sort of
consequences would be engendered when a person indulges in his worldly passion.
Essentially, worldliness is as good as spiritual adultery. Hence, James used
the word “adulteresses”. The standards of God and that of the world cannot
exist hand in hand. The nature of God and the nature of the world are
diametrically opposite. To embrace the standards of the world would result in
one being hostile towards God’s prescribed standards. This would put a person at
enmity with God. So verse 5 revealed to believers that by persisting in worldly
passion, they would render the Scriptures or the Word of God of no effect. They
would nullify the pure intention of Scriptures.
Furthermore, the implication we get here is that in pursuing one’s
worldly passion, a believer would grieve
the Spirit. The Holy Spirit in a believer would point him to Jesus for his
deepest pleasure and satisfaction, and not the world. But by going against the
divine compass, the Holy Spirit would be quenched. However, God is full of
grace, when a believer humbles himself, God would deal graciously with him.
However, He would oppose the proud.
Having shown them the source and consequences of worldliness,
James then turned to show the remedy in verses 7-10. Basically there are two
steps. Firstly, one should come to God in humble submission. This would mean
acknowledging God’s Sovereignty in one’s life. It suggests a deliberate drawing
near to God to experience God’s reciprocate act of drawing near to the
approaching believer. In coming, the believer must come with an attitude of
contrition. He must deal with his wrong actions and attitude. Verse 9 tells us
that such a person would display a spirit of penitence and become totally
remorseful. Besides calling for the sinners to come in an attitude of humility
into God’s presence, verse 10 also assures the sinners that God would exalt
such a person who shows genuine humility.
Here’s a list of questions from the Bible Friends to help us measure
our worldliness quotient:
1.
A
soul lost in Hell … or a scratch on your new car?
2.
You
missing the worship service … or missing a day’s work?
3.
A
sermon 10 minutes too long … or lunch half hour late?
4.
A
church not growing … or your garden not growing?
5.
Your
Bible unopened … or your newspaper unread?
6.
Missing
a good Bible study … or your favorite TV program?
7.
The
millions who do not know Christ … or your inability to keep up with the
neighbors?
8.
Your
tithes decreasing … or your income decreasing?
9.
Your
children late for Sunday school and Church … or late for public school?
Which really disturbs us
most?
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