Peace and War (James 4:1-10)

Sermon preached at The Bridge Church- August 4, 2024

Intro

There was a big topic of conversation in the broader world last week that very much involves Christian faith. Most of you have probably seen that the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Paris was…interesting. I didn’t watch it, but there was one clip I watched a number of times, the same one some of you have seen. In this clip, a number of drag queens (and strangely, one child) were positioned behind a table in a scene that looked a lot like Michelangelo’s famous painting of the Last Supper. At the centre was a woman, a self-described “love activist” with what looked a whole lot like a halo over her head. To top it all off, a cover was lifted off another table where a mostly naked man painted in blue was revealed, eventually leading to a bearded man in a blue dress dancing provocatively down a runway. Again, this was for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, an athletic competition which as far as I know, isn’t intrinsically connected to blasphemy and gender confusion. 

The reaction to the scene from Christians was also…thought provoking. There was a lot of offense taken and a lot of rage. I heard sentiments about needing to do to others what they’ve done to us, about needing to respond with strength and force and show the world that we won’t stand for this kind of thing. 

I’ll tell you how I felt, how I reacted. You might disagree with me, but so be it. Was it blasphemy? Was it a blatant disrespect shown towards God? Absolutely. I don’t think there’s much doubt about it. However, nothing about that clip from the opening ceremonies surprised me. I don’t think there’s much I would see in our culture at this point that would surprise me. I expect segments of our Western world to revel in blasphemy and rebellion against God. This isn’t new. It has been in the works for generations leading up to this point. I expect that this incident will get a free pass from our media. I expect it, and what’s more, I don’t believe it’s the job of Christians to put a stop to it.

Maybe that surprises you. Maybe you’ve assumed that Christians are supposed to be out there fighting these culture wars. However, based on the New Testament itself, I don’t believe it’s the job of Christians to stop the world from being the world. Let the world be the world. Let the darkness be dark. After all, in this time before Christ returns, God allows this kind of blasphemy to go on, doesn’t He? Let the world be the world, but even more important, let the church be the church. Let it truly be the light of the world, let it be a set apart people who represent to the world a vastly different way of being and thinking and living. Let it be distinct from the world to such an extent that it will be impossible not to notice the difference. Let it be that the light draws people in who want an alternative to the darkness. That distinctiveness should include the way we respond to offense and insult like at the opening ceremonies.

In Revelation 14, there’s an image of God’s end-time judgment on wickedness. We are told that on the basis of that future, the present time “calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God” (14:12). Patient endurance. That’s how we’re to be set apart. Romans 12 instructs us to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do no curse…do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath” (12:14, 19). Bless those who persecute you. Again, that’s different. That is markedly different from the ways of the world. What would it look like for us to live this out in response to the opening ceremonies?

Now, I’ve taken a risk here by beginning this way. That’s because responses to current events like what I’ve talked about are easily divisive and polarizing. There’s a chance some of you have heard what I’ve said and you disagree with it so strongly, one way or another, that you’re unable to hear anything else I say this morning. So maybe I’ve been unwise in going this route. However, in the end, it doesn’t matter that much if you can hear what I have to say. What matters is that you can hear what God’s word says. My words are only valuable so far as they are in line with God’s word. And I think that what I’ve talked about so far finds connection in James 4.

1. The Wrong Kind of War (4:1-3)

We could call this section “the wrong kind of war.” As we’ll see, this whole section is filled with language about conflict. The Bible certainly is not about being ok with everyone and everything. There is a certain kind of conflict that’s necessary. But in the first few verses, we see a type of conflict that is absolutely not God’s will. 

What James writes here connects with what precedes. Last week we looked at James 3:13-18, which is all about these two kinds of wisdom. You remember what he says? There’s heavenly wisdom, which is pure, peace-loving, full of mercy, and so on. It’s fruit is healthy relationships. On the other hand, there’s earthly wisdom, which is driven by selfish ambition and bitter envy. As we saw last week, it’s so-called wisdom that sees others as competitors, as enemies to be defeated and left in your wake as you reserve all the glory for yourself. Earthly wisdom tells you how to win at all costs. 

In the first few verses here, James is showing us more about what that earthly wisdom looks like. He seems to indicate that it’s happening among you, as in, the church. He alludes that to quarrels and fights in the church. Now, there’s a bit of debate here about verse 2, which says that you desire but don’t have, so you kill. Were people in the church James was writing to actually murdering each other? I’ve heard about churches in the US putting on professional wrestling shows as an outreach event, but this would be a whole other level. Imagine during the announcements on a Sunday morning: “all right everyone, after the church service we’ll be having a women’s tea and then tonight, a mortal combat cage match!” In other words, probably not.

Instead, there were probably some former zealots in the church in Jerusalem. That was a sect of first century Jews who advocated the violent overthrow of the Roman occupiers. They would walk through the marketplace with these small daggers strapped to their side and stab Roman soldiers as they walked past. Who knows, maybe some of those men had become followers of Jesus but hadn’t rid themselves of the impulse to kill yet. More likely, James is using very graphic imagery to talk about the end game of coveting. If you’re desperate enough for something you don’t have, you’ll kill for it. In any case, there are broken relationships among Christians that are resulting in division and bitterness towards each other.

Notice how James responds. He does not try to settle the various disputes or disagreements. That’s the temptation, and it’s what people in the midst of a dispute usually want- “tell me I’m in the right!” A few weeks ago at our summer day camp, Carolyn and I were running the kids games in the morning. We played a game called “everyone’s it tag,” which is as hectic as it sounds. Everyone has pool noodles, they’re trying to smack each other, and if you get smacked, you sit on the ground. But what happens when you smack someone at the same time they smack you? Obviously, there’s only one thing you can do. You run to Craig and Carolyn and both whine about how the other person’s cheating. It feel like I was spending more time settling disputes that week than teaching the games. But James doesn’t fall into that trap. He goes to the root causes. 

He teaches us that what causes these fights and quarrels are desires that battle within you. There’s that conflict language again. The battle between people springs from desires that are battling inside of themselves. These desires are inherently selfish. Actually, the Greek word used there is “hedone”- anyone hear a similar English word there? Hedonism! That’s where we get that word. These are selfish desires that only consider your own wants. When those desires win the battle and become dominant, broken relationships are inevitably the result.

According to James, it’s not just broken relationships with others, that conflict results in a broken relationship with God. He writes that you don’t have because you don’t ask- the implication is that you’re asking in prayer. But he asserts that when you do ask, you ask with wrong motives. You’re asking for things that only serve to satisfy those selfish desires. “Lord, help me get a job promotion, because I really want to stick it to that jerk of a co-worker Bill, and also so I can buy a bigger house that will make me feel better about myself.” I tell you that regardless of what the so-called prosperity gospel preachers tell you, that’s not a request God is eager to grant. Your prayers will not be answered. When your selfish desires win the battle within you, a broken relationship with God is the result.

We’ve been talking about the wrong kind of war. The wrong kind of war is the kind that pits you against brothers and sisters in Christ in a bid to satisfy your pleasures. It’s the kind that creates broken relationships with others because you’re no longer considering their wellbeing but only your own. It’s the kind that causes broken relationship with God because you’re no longer considering the work of His Kingdom but only your own status. It’s the wrong kind of war because it results from losing the right kind of war. More on that later. First, let’s talk about the wrong kind of peace.

2. The Wrong Kind of Peace (4:4-5)

⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?

James 4:4-5

If we listen to James, the wrong kind of peace is peace with the world. Maybe I’m wrong to use the word “peace” there. What he talks about is friendship with the world. Both of those terms need a bit more explanation. The world in this sense is not the earth. It’s not the sum total of all the people who live on it. It’s not everything that you can see around you. Often, when the New Testament talks about “the world,” it’s talking about an order or a system of thought and life that is fundamentally opposed to God. For example, in 1 John 4, John says that followers of Jesus are from God and that the one who is in them “is greater than the one who is in the world.” Then he talks about those who deny that Jesus is from God, who “are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them” (4:4-5). The world is whatever promotes and exemplifies a way of living that is contrary to God’s way, the way He created us to live. It’s any way of thinking that denies the truth as God has revealed it.

Therefore, when you see drag queens mocking the Last Supper, that’s the world at work. When you see war being carried out in the name of ethnic cleansing or for material gain, that’s the world at work. When you see deception and lies and manipulation normalized through politics, that’s the world. When there seems to be a determined resolution to strip innocence away from children, that’s the world. When selfish ambition and envy is celebrated, that’s the world. The world is the rulers, powers, and authorities that shape and form culture to run in a direction away from God.

Now let’s talk about friendship. The Greek word there is “philia”- the word we get Philadelphia from, the city of brotherly love. It’s the word in “philanthropy,” the love of humanity. It’s the word in “philosophy,” the love of wisdom. The word usually has the connotation of a warm, buddy-buddy relationship of mutual loyalty and allegiance. That’s usually a great thing. I don’t know if you know this, but we had a Bridge Church men’s slopitch team this spring and summer. When you play on a team with others, you often experience that kind of philia. You have these teammates who you’ll go to bat for (you see what I did there?), that you are tied together with. If they win, you win. You’re loyal to them. James says that as a follower of Jesus, though, this should not be, cannot be, your relationship with the world.

Now, notice that James is not talking about individual people. Rebecca down the road is not the world. Now, it may or may not be wise to be friends with Rebecca. I don’t know Rebecca. She might not be a person you want to be friends with. But there’s nothing in this passage to prohibit you from being friends with individual people who might be called friends of the world, as long as you know where you stand. 

However, that disclaimer aside, many people want to be friends with the world. They want to fit in. They don’t want to say anything that might rub the world the wrong way- I mean, calling out the Opening Ceremonies for blasphemy and depravity isn’t going to be popular in every circle. I saw that on social media this week. People who want to be friends of the world will compromise all kinds of things, all kinds of beliefs, in order to gain the approval of the world. They take their cues from the world, they glean their wisdom from the world, they decide what’s acceptable or not based on the prevailing winds of the world. They have made themselves partners with the world, they have tied their fate and identity to the world, they are loyal to whatever the talking heads and social media influencers tell them to think. Maybe they would still call themselves Christians. Maybe they still show up on Sunday mornings for church, though not on August long weekend, of course! Maybe they believe they can be friends with the world and still squeak into heaven. 

Here’s what James calls that belief: adultery. And not just James. Adultery- marital unfaithfulness- is used repeatedly as a metaphor for when God’s people go off and start worshiping the idols of this world. For example, in Jeremiah 3:20, God says “like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me.” The relationship between God and His people is seen in marital terms, which helps explain the jealousy thing in verse 5. Think about marriage. Carolyn and I have committed to each other in a covenant of love. Our relationship to one another is simply different from any of our other relationships. There are behaviors and words that are reserved for our relationship alone. So imagine if one Sunday, Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys comes to church. By the way, in case you’re wondering about the randomness of that reference, Carolyn had a huge thing for the Backstreet Boys as a teenager. So Nick Carter comes to church, and suddenly I see Carolyn’s got her arm draped around him whispering sweet nothings into his ear, saying things to him that she’s only ever said to me. Am I wrong to have jealousy well up inside me? Am I wrong to feel that this is a betrayal of our covenant? Thankfully, I’m confident that even if Nick Carter came to church, Carolyn would resist his charms. But for some of you this is no joke. This is real. You’ve experienced the pain of betrayal, of unfaithfulness.

James says this is what it’s like in our relationship with God when His people want to pledge allegiance to the world too and are sucked into its ways of thinking and living. By doing that, by trying to live in the world without ever rocking the boat or betraying its dogmas, by trying to keep peace with the world at all costs, you actually set yourself up as an opponent of God. Friendship with the world is the wrong kind of peace.

3. The Right Kind of War (4:6-10)

So, we’ve talked about the wrong kind of war and the wrong kind of peace. Let’s get on the right track here and talk about the right kind of war. We get that in 4:6-10. 

⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” ⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:6-10

What you can notice right away is that the right kind of war does not appear to be an imposition of Christian ideals and values on wider society from the top down. It does not appear to be using the weapons of the world against the world to subdue it. In fact, it does not appear to be a culture war at all, at least not in the way we often see it being fought. The kind of war that James advocates for here is primarily a war against those worldly desires that fight within us. 

You see that in a few ways. For example, James talks about resisting the devil. He promises that if we do that, the devil will flee from us. That’s a defensive image. The devil is attacking, and we are standing our ground. Maybe we don’t like that. Maybe we wish there was more offensive imagery here. But it’s the same idea when Paul talks about the armor of the Lord in Ephesians 6. Everything he talks about there is defensive. It’s to repel the attacks of the evil one, so we armor up with shields and helmets and breastplates. The only weapon we get is the Word of God, which Paul says is the sword of the Spirit. You might read Ephesians 6 and respond, “well what about the nunchucks of justice? Or the missile launcher of vengeance?” It’s not there. Stand your ground and go on proclaiming the word of the Lord in the face of all these attacks.

That’s Ephesians 6. How does James tell us to resist the devil? He exhorts us- who he calls double minded sinners, just for a little extra shade- to wash our hands and purify our hearts. The heart is the internal stuff, it’s those desires we talked about in verses 1-3. The hands are our actions. That’s how we live out those desires externally. James believes this is where we are to fight the battle, in our own lives as God’s people.

James proceeds with teaching about how we wash our hands and purify our hearts and how we resist the devil. He talks about grieving, mourning, and wailing. He talks about humility, of all things. Humility is not the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to winning any kind of battle or war. However, according to James 4, we resist the devil and send him fleeing partly by acknowledging our weaknesses, submitting ourselves to God, repenting of our sin, and repenting of our friendship with the world. I mean, all in all, it seems so counterintuitive, doesn’t it? But this is God’s way. He almost always wins battles in ways we don’t expect.

As I said last week, at the Gleaners we put on a worship and devotional time every night. One night, Yvonne led us from the story of Gideon’s battle against the Midianites. In that story from the Old Testament book of Judges, God first decimates Gideon’s army by winnowing it down to 300 soldiers. They are then instructed to battle with trumpets and empty jars as their primary weapons. Like, what? The Israelites surround the Midianite camp at night and begin blowing their trumpets and breaking their jars. The Midianites are thrown into such confusion they start slaughtering each other. It’s one of the most unconventional battles I’ve heard of. Yvonne was telling this story and she was assigning the kids roles to act it out. At the climactic moment when Gideon and his men blow their trumpets, little Oliver, who seems to love martial arts, takes out an imaginary sword and begins going through the Midianite kids slicing them to imaginary pieces. Yvonne stops him, says “that’s not how the battle happened, all they did was blow the trumpets!” But there’s no stopping Oliver! Another kid joins Oliver in the imaginary bloodbath of Midianites. It’s mass chaos! Yvonne is almost yelling, “they didn’t fight against the Midianites that way!” Another kid takes the verbal route and protests that this doesn’t make any sense, you don’t fight a war by smashing jars. No, it doesn’t make sense. And that’s kind of the point.

You might look at the world and think the battle is to go out and transform this world from the top down using all the instruments of the world available to us. That’s what makes sense to most people. I’m telling you that as far as I can see, that’s worldly. That’s not the battle. The battle is to make sure the church is the church, that we as God’s people actually look different. That only happens when our own hearts, when the hearts of God’s people collectively, are submitted to God in humility. It only happens when we’re repenting of our sin, when we’re standing firm against Satan’s attacks. The church in the West has sometimes been so focused on fighting battles out there that they’ve ended up looking exactly like the world in here. The world is going to be the world. Let’s make sure the church is truly the church, and it starts with you and I having pure hearts and clean hands that are submitted to God. That’s the right war to be fighting.

4. The Right Kind of Peace (4:6-10)

We’ve got one more thing to talk about. We’ve talked about the wrong kind of war, the wrong kind of peace, and the right kind of war. You’ll never guess what we’re going to talk about now! We said that the wrong kind of peace is friendship with the world. It’s the relationship of allegiance and loyalty to ways that are contrary to God. If that’s true, then it makes sense that the right kind of peace is peace with God. 

Look, the world is fickle. It can be ruthless. The world promotes deception and pride and envy and so on. Can we just say that the world is not a good friend! But look at what James teaches us about God. He encourages us that God gives us more grace. Yes, He calls us to a different way of life and it can sometimes feel impossible to live that life, especially with the pressure we feel from the world to conform to its ways. But God is gracious. Because of the death of Jesus on the cross in our place, our sins are paid for and we are forgiven. Not only that, but He gives us the strength we need to live for Him instead. He is a gracious God.

He is a God who shows favor to the humble. He is a God who desires to bless, a God who is compassionate, a God who wants to give us genuinely good gifts that will both fill us with life and be a blessing to others. He is a Father who loves His children.

He is a God who wants to come near to us. Jesus told a famous story about a son who asked for his inheritance from his father early, only to waste it in wild living. However, even though he had shown incredible disrespect towards his father, the father waited for him to return. The son spiralled to a low point, resolved to return to his father even if only as a lowly servant, and when he was still on the road, the father saw him and ran to him. Before the son could even get the words out of his mouth, the father embraced him and threw a party for his return. God is eager to draw near to us the moment we are willing to leave our sin behind and turn to Him.

And He is a God who lifts up those who humble themselves before Him. For those who mourn the ways they’ve chosen the world over Him in the past, for those who acknowledge their wrongdoing and submit to Him, He lifts them up. Now, Jesus never chose the world over the Father. He was faithful all the way. However, as we said last week, Jesus is the example of humility, embracing humanity and submitting to death on the cross. But the second half of that passage from Philippians 2 I read last week says that God raised him up, exalted him, and made known His Lordship over heaven and earth. The promise of the Scriptures is that all who trust in Jesus, all who pursue peace with God through Jesus, will be lifted up. Regardless of our status in this world, when God makes all things new and judges evil once and for all, we will reign with him forever and ever. He wants to lift us up.

In light of all of that, I want to encourage all of us, you and I, to set our hearts on submitting to Him, not to the world. Make peace with God our number one priority. There are lots of reasons to make that decision, but at least one reason is because in terms of who makes a better friend- God or the world- it’s not even close. So stop fighting the wrong kinds of wars or pursuing the wrong kind of peace. Fight the wars the Lord has called you to fight, which is the collective battle of the church to be faithful to Him in the midst of a crooked world. And seek the right kind of peace, which comes through humble submission to Him.