A biblical perspective on one of the most “tolerated” sins
Good morning church! I’m thankful to God for the opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning. Over the last few months, as a church we’ve been studying through the book of James. And I believe God has been dealing not just with our outward behaviours and actions but also with our hearts.
One after the other we’ve been convicted with challenging passages. But the purpose in all of this is not to beat us down in discouragement but rather to show us how deeply our loving heavenly Father cares about the genuineness of our faith.
He doesn’t want us to remain enslaved by hidden and comfortable sins but wants to address them head on. Today we deal with a very common tolerated sin: the Pride Problem in v11-17. Would you read it once more with me?
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
It’s IPL season and I’ve been following the IPL like some of you. This year something interesting was noticed in these teams. At the start of the tournament the top teams in the league seemed like they were running away with the trophy. The difference between the top teams and the other teams were visibly apparent. But as the tournament reached the last leg, many blind spots were beginning to show in the game of these top teams. The problem was that they relied so heavily on a couple of star players at the start of the tournament, that they overlooked the performance of the remaining players. They just assumed that everyone was playing well and there was no issue with their game. But as it got closer to the playoffs when all teams got more competitive, these star players didn’t shine on the day and it left the remaining team exposed causing a serious blow to their chances of gaining the much-awaited title. They just couldn’t see their blind spots! And similarly I think in church, we focus heavily on and address many other sins like alcoholism and lust & end up overlooking and sometimes even tolerating sins like “Pride” which can cause serious issues in our own personal spiritual life and also in the lives of the people we do life with (our community of faith). What God’s trying to tell us through this passage is that – it’s not something that we need to be comfortable with. It can cause serious damage and it needs to be addressed. But you may ask, what’s the big deal about “Pride”? Are we making a mountain out of a mole hill? James gives us a few reasons:
1. Pride blinds us
Many of us may have played the blindfold game growing up where we were blindfolded, turned around a few times and then left to catch others. And without our sense of sight, it becomes extremely difficult to know where we are at or even find someone else. And similarly Pride blinds our view of ourselves, of others and of God. Let’s look at each in detail:
- Blinds our view of ourselves (v11)
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
I’m sure one question that many of us might be thinking of is: what does James mean by speaking evil against one another? He’s using a broad term to describe anything that could damage the reputation of someone else. Looking at the context it directly refers to being critical and judging people around you (where you’re more concerned about the sin in the other person’s life than the sin in your own life). It can take many forms – where we are consumed by pointing out faults in the other person, where we label people as such and such…call people names and come to the conclusion that they will never ever change. [This person is like that only – hopeless, useless]. And so what James is saying that when we do that we become the judge and jury.
James was actually not introducing a brand new subject on pride and judging others. He was in fact building on Jesus’ teaching in Matt 7:1-5.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
What Jesus is telling us that judging others sadly also affects our hearts in a deeper way – we won’t see ourselves as sinful. We won’t recognize our need to repent because we will think that we aren’t as bad as the other person. And that is why pride is blinding!
But not only does pride blind our view of ourselves but pride
- Blinds our view of God (v12)
12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
At this point when James wrote the letter, they were all under the rule of the Roman emperor Caesar. Who was the final decisive judge in all matters? It was Caesar. Which means no one could even dare to challenge his decisions. Now imagine if someone decided to setup his own little court to pass his own judgments, what would that mean? Undermining the authority & power of Caesar. Big deal! It’s in that context that James is telling us that God is the ultimate lawgiver and judge. He is the One who has the full authority and power to execute His judgments as He pleases. When we judge someone and label someone, we undermine God’s authority and His judgment regarding that person:
Once I heard a pastor share his experience of when he just got out of seminary and was appointed as a pastor in his first church. Filled with all that theological knowledge and the pride in his heart, he grew to become extremely critical of the members in his church. At one time one of the members in the church confronted him and told him “Brother, even though God is all-wise (he knows everything and He knows everything about me), yet He is not as critical as you are”. When we judge others, we we fail to see God’s purpose in creating them in His image. When we judge others, we fail to see God’s mercy in forgiving them through His Son’s sacrifice. When we judge others, we fail to see God’s power in changing them. God’s character becomes a very blurry picture to us when we attempt to take that position of judge which we truly in no way are capable of fulfilling.
Pride is truly blinding but it also
2. Pride puffs us up
The irony of pride is that it may puff out our chest but leaves us with empty hearts. Let’s see how James explains this to us in the following verses:
- Relies on our own plans and dreams (v13)
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”
Now James is not saying we shouldn’t plan or dream. But he is talking about what gives us security and pleasure each day? When you think about the future, what thoughts calm you down? Is it your trust in your robust plans for your life? Is it your trust in your physical capability or mental faculty or financial stability or social skills or street-smart attitude that gives you assurance? And if we were to probe further- what is the end goal to your plans and dreams of your life? Is it personal happiness and pleasure? Or is it something else? More often than not if we are absolutely honest, we would acknowledge self as the source for security (plans and dreams) and self as the goal of attaining these plans and dreams. And it’s deeply flawed because it
- Ignores the uncertainties of life (v14)
14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
I’m sure at the end of 2019, many people would’ve expected 2020 to be a year of opportunity. Many countries would’ve seen it as a year tremendous growth. Many churches would’ve expected it to be a year of blessing but instead we find ourselves at the end of 2020 not knowing the best way to describe how the year went by. “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring”. One of the biggest humbling lessons of 2020 for us as believers should be – we don’t have full control of our lives and we don’t have full knowledge of what will happen next.
- Fails to see God’s will as most decisive (v15)
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
As I was thinking about this verse, I just was reminded that if I truly believed that God’s will is final and decisive for me, my prayer life would look very different. Very often we assume that just because we’ve prayed about a plan of ours, that it’s God’s YES for us. No, I think if we believed God’s will is final, then it requires us to surrender our plan and humbly acknowledge – “God, even if you chose and take another route for me, I will still continue to love, serve and trust You”. That’s what this verse means. It’s not just a cliché “God willing” phrase it involves surrendering our plans and dreams and willing to submit to God’s detours.
- Steals glory from God (v16)
16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
When we think about someone who boasts, most of the time we assume it’s someone else. If you’re like me you’re imagining a person who is wealthy and famous who can’t stop boasting about himself/herself. But think about it, if we relied on our plans and dreams, if we are ignorant of life’s certainties, if we don’t see God’s will as most decisive in our lives, what’s going to happen? Eventually we will begin to find ways to steal the glory that was meant for God. We are all glory thiefs. “I did it, my great plans and dreams made it possible and now I deserve to enjoy the fruit of it”. Pride is a huge problem – it blinds us and puffs us up. So what’s the answer?
3. Grace is the solution to pride
One of the verses we read last week powerfully spoke to me. 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Think about it, if I’m blinded by pride & puffed up by pride, how can I change? The only way is when God does something in my heart which I couldn’t do for myself.
I’ve always been moved by the story of the calling of Peter in Luke 5. A huge crowd gathered to listen to Jesus preach near the lake & what was Jesus’ choice of a pulpit? It was Peter’s boat. After Jesus finished speaking, Jesus tells Simon “Take the boat deep into the lake and let down your nets for a catch”.
Peter with a weary and discouraged voice tells Jesus “Master, we toiled all night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets”. They go into the lake and let down the nets and to their shock and joy – they somehow were able to catch such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
They called the other boats to come and help them & these boats began to sink with the weight of the wish. It’s an absolutely astonishing miracle. But I find it interesting that Peter’s response to this whole miracle was falling at Jesus’ feet & humbly confession of sin. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.
He realized he was in the presence of God & that’s what made him aware of his own sinfulness. At the moment, he’s not thinking what’s wrong in the lives of other people, no he realizes how sinful he himself is. And Jesus’ response to this knowing everything about Peter’s life is “Don’t be afraid”.
Think what those words would’ve meant to Peter at that time. “I’m not here to judge and condemn you, I’m not here to embarrass you, I’ve come here to make you my own & I’m going to lay down my life to pay for your sins”. And Jesus also adds one more thing when he says “from now on you will be catching men”. For a person filled with the awareness of his sin, this would loudly to his ears telling him “God’s not done with me yet. He can change me. He can also use me”.
In a very personal way that day, Jesus showed Peter a picture of his grace to a fisherman. And guess what – God does that to us when we read and study God’s Word – where we go back thinking “That message was for me. I need to hear this. I need to repent because of His grace”. Maybe that’s what God is telling our hearts today.
Would you turn to Him and repent of the pride in your heart? Knowing that inspite of God knowing everything about us, He still showed us grace which we didn’t deserve and He continues to love us and work in us for His glory. V17 I believe is a reminder to repent in the light of all that we’ve read and studied.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
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