James finds evidence of a problem in the messianic community, especially among the teachers, and he finds the source of the problem to be the yearning, desiring, and craving for power. He must tell them so (James 4:1-3). Next he connects the self-originating issues in a connection with the world (4:4-6):You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:And the last little paragraph fills up volumes of debate, and we'll get to that debate in due course.
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."
Like his brother, he posits two options and draws a big line in the sand and says, "Take your pick." Choose "friendship" with God or choose friendship with the world. James sets up this contrast with "you adulterous people," which strikes readers today as harsh, esp for someone who has made it clear that use of the tongue is so important. In James' mind, this is not inconsistent so we should give him a break.
The point is clear: those who are in friendship with the world, seen in misuse of the tongue and lack of wisdom and the acting out of craving desires, hate God. (Friendship and hate, as contrasts, come perhaps from Jesus: Luke 14:26-27.)
This is one serious contrast, and James' intent is to pry the teachers loose from their self-originating desires. Adultery makes sense here: friendship with God cannot be shared with the world -- it's adulterous in one's relationship with God.
The point is clear: those who are in friendship with the world, seen in misuse of the tongue and lack of wisdom and the acting out of craving desires, hate God. (Friendship and hate, as contrasts, come perhaps from Jesus: Luke 14:26-27.)
This is one serious contrast, and James' intent is to pry the teachers loose from their self-originating desires. Adultery makes sense here: friendship with God cannot be shared with the world -- it's adulterous in one's relationship with God.
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Scot,
Great stuff.
Why don't you read James's discussion of the wealthy in the light of a passage like this? (First, read James in light of James!) Abuse of wealth, favoritism, economic power, are more ways of being a friend of the world instead of a friend of God. These infect the community - so the problems are first and foremost within the community rather than economic oppression from without. Persecution and oppression play a role - but not indiscriminate economic oppression (poor vs rich), rather Jew vs gentile, believer vs unbeliever, of God vs of the world.
I think that this is a piece of your interpretive framework for James 1:2-2:13 - but as a relatively minor component, indiscriminate economic oppression overshadows all else. But it seems to me that economic oppression is a piddling little thing in the context of the persecution of the believers and the total reversal of power expectations in the teachings of both James and Jesus.
Jesus called us the unbelieving generation – and He was referring to Christians. Today the lukewarm, tepid and lackadaisical in Christendom flood the churches. Lukewarm in the sense that they lead lives full of compromises. Absolute commitment has been replaced with casual association. Jesus is now ‘one of those things’ no longer ‘the only thing’. Christianity is now the answer to ‘what’s your religion’ instead of being obvious as a lifestyle. Has Christianity changed since the days of the apostles? Has the standard changed? Has Jesus changed? Jesus' message constantly demands for devotion totally not partially – being not only convinced about what you believe but being converted by it. James is as frustrated as Jesus was as he airs his complaints at the churches lethargy towards the ideals set down by their forerunners in Acts 2:42-47.
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