Our selfish desires drive us toward hostility with others...

This week we have been looking at a section of a letter that is recorded in the New Testament called the book of James. We looked on as James revealed for us the reality that the faith that works recognizes that conflict among us flows from the selfish desires within us. And in James 4:1-6 we will see James reveal for us two areas of hostility and conflict that our selfish desires drive us toward.

Wednesday, we discovered that our selfish desires drive us toward hostility with others. Today, we will see James reveal a second area of hostility and conflict in James 4:4. Let’s look at it together:

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Wow. I really wish James would tell us how he really feels. Here we see James paint for us a powerful word picture that reveals a second area of hostility and conflict that flows from the selfish desires within us. However to fully understand what James is communicating here, we first need to define some terms. When James uses the word friendship, this word actually refers to brotherly or sisterly love relationship that is reciprocal in nature. This is the same word where get the name for the city of Philadelphia, which is the city of brotherly love.

When James talks about the world, he is talking about those things in the world that are hostile to God and that set themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God.  With this question, James was introducing a well known and generally accepted fact that the readers of his letter should be aware of in the form of a rhetorical question. The reason why the question is rhetorical was due to the fact that the answer to this question is so obvious that the answer did not even need to be given.

This rhetorical question, if communicated in the language that we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “You spiritual whores. You should know that when you choose experience a warm, friendly, and reciprocal relationship that expresses a love towards what is hostile to God and opposes God, you are demonstrating your hostility against God.”

And in case anyone reading this letter did not fully understand the point that he was making, James hammers his point in the second half of verse four, by stating that whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James point is that whoever desires to live in a close association and reciprocal relationship with those things in the world that are hostile to God place themselves in a position to experience what those who place themselves in opposition to God experience from God as an enemy of God.

James is basically saying “Hey if you desire to live in close reciprocal relationship with those who oppose God, then you have demonstrated your spiritual adultery against God. You desire to experience a close reciprocal relationship with those who hate God so that your selfish desires can be satisfied. You would rather satisfy you own selfish desires with those who hate God than look to God for the love and fulfillment that He offers you. And because of that, you are revealing the reality that you really do not love God, but that you would rather cheat on God so that you can experience the pleasure that comes from the close relationship with those who are hostile to God.”

And it here that we see James reveal for us the reality that our selfish desires drive us toward hostility with God. It is our selfish desires that drive us toward a hostility with God that flows from our spiritual adultery with that which is opposed to God. Instead of allowing God to fill the deepest desires of our lives that only He can fill, we allow our selfish desires to drive us to fill those deepest desires with the things that oppose God and that can never fill those desires. In addition, it is our selfish desires that drive us toward hostility with God that flows from our spiritual pride. We see James reveal this reality in James 4:5-6:

 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."

Here we see James provide the evidence to back his claim that our selfish desires drive us toward a hostility with God that flows from our spiritual adultery with what is opposed to God by quoting from the letters that make up our Bibles today, which James refers to as the Scripture. When James asks “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose” he is basically saying “Do you think that what is said in the letters that make up the Bible are empty and devoid of meaning?

James then makes a statement that is not an exact quote of a single verse in the Bible, but is instead a summary statement of the teachings of the Bible when it comes to what place God is to have in the life of a follower of Jesus: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us." Now right about now you are wondering “what does that even mean?”

This statement literally means “The Spirit which He has caused to dwell in us desires to jealousy.” With this summary statement, James is reminding followers of Jesus throughout history that God jealously desires to be first. God, who created everything that exists from nothing, and who created you to live in relationship with Him, desires to be your first love. This morning, God desires, deserves and demands our worship and our love. God desires, deserves, and demands first place.

And as followers of Jesus, we commit spiritual adultery against God when we place our selfish desires over our love for God. And when we commit spiritual adultery against God by placing our selfish desires over our love for God, we place ourselves in a position to experience what those who place themselves in opposition to God experience from God as an enemy of God.

And unfortunately, all of us, at some time in our lives have committed such spiritual adultery against God by placing our selfish desires over our love for God. However, fortunately for us, as James points out in the first part of verse six, but He gives a greater grace. James point here is that in spite of our spiritual adultery against God, God’s transformational intervention and activity in our lives is able to extend a greater favor that overcomes our selfish desire to be first.

James here is revealing for us the reality that, as Augustine once said “God gives what He commands.” In other words God commands to be first in our lives and God is able to be actively at work in our lives so that we are able to place Him first in our lives. James then quotes from the Greek translation of a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs 3:34, the wisest man who ever lived, a man named Solomon, reminded his son that God’s activity and favor in our lives requires a response.

For the person who responds to God’s activity and favor by selfishly and arrogantly rejecting God, that person will find themselves in opposition to God as an enemy of God. However, for the person who responds to God’s activity and favor by humbly placing God first,  that person will experience God’s favor in their lives as they live in the relationship with Him that they were created for.

So here is a question to consider: Are your selfish desires driving you towards hostility against God? Are you experiencing a hostility against God that flows from your spiritual adultery against God? Are you experiencing a hostility towards God as a result of you choosing to allow your selfish desires to drive you to attempt to fill the deepest desires of your lives with the things that oppose God instead of with God? Are you experiencing a hostility towards God that flows your selfish pride that arrogantly places yourself in opposition to God and the word of God?

Because, it is our selfish desires that drive us toward hostility with God. And because of that reality, the faith that works recognizes that conflict among us flows from the selfish desires within us. The faith that works recognizes that it is our selfish desires that drive us toward hostility with others. And the faith that works recognizes that it is our selfish desires that drive us toward hostility with God.

Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well Dave if that is the case; if our selfish desires drive us into hostility against God and others; then how are we to combat those selfish desires within us? How can we experience victory over those selfish desires so that we can experience the faith that works itself out in a way that results in us living lives that look like Jesus?”  Next week, we will see James provide the answer...