Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

A Brother’s Wisdom 76

posted by Scot McKnight | 1:10pm Thursday June 25, 2009

WallStreet.jpgJames doesn’t mince his words into small bits that can be digested easy; he’s on the prowl here because he finds the sin of presumption as arrogance. Here are the words from James 4:13-17:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that
city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why,
you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You
are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Planning, once again, is not the problem. Planning without marking off our future as in God’s hands, signed off perhaps by making the sign of the cross over our future, is the sin. James calls it boasting and bragging.

And here James trades in wisdom, as we see in Proverbs 19:21: “The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established.”



And James reminds the merchants that anyone who knows something to be good and does not do it, for that person it is sin. Sin is here rooted in conscious knowledge.

Merchants know that the future is in God’s hands, not theirs. Therefore, they ought to be putting all futures into the hands of God and entrusting them to him. Instead of presuming and arrogantly seizing control of the future, they ought to be living a life marked by the cross, the life marked by death to our plans and life to God’s.



Leave a Comment ยป
Related Topics: James
beliefnet
  list archives most recent most popular  
beliefnet
Previous Posts

This blog is no longer active
This blog is no longer being actively updated. Please feel free to browse the archives or: Read our most popular inspiration blog See our most popular inspirational video Take our most popular quiz

posted 3:10:39pm Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Our Common Prayerbook 30 - 3
Psalm 30 thanks God (vv. 1-3, 11-12) and exhorts others to thank God (vv. 4-5). Both emerge from the concrete reality of David's own experience. Here is what that experience looks like:Step one: David was set on high and was flourishing at the hand of God's bounty (v. 7a).Step two: David became too

posted 12:15:30pm Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Theology After Darwin 1 (RJS)
One of the more important and more difficult pieces of the puzzle as we feel our way forward at the interface of science and faith is the theological implications of discoveries in modern science. A comment on my post Evolution in the Key of D: Deity or Deism noted: ...this reminds me of why I get a

posted 6:01:52am Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Almost Christian 4
Who does well when it comes to passing on the faith to the youth? Studies show two groups do really well: conservative Protestants and Mormons; two groups that don't do well are mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. Kenda Dean's new book is called Almost Christian: What the Faith of Ou

posted 12:01:53am Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Let's Get Neanderthal!
The Cave Man Diet, or Paleo Diet, is getting attention. (Nothing is said about Culver's at all.) The big omission, I have to admit, is that those folks were hunters -- using spears or smacking some rabbit upside the conk or grabbing a fish or two with their hands ... but that's what makes this diet

posted 2:05:48pm Aug. 30, 2010 | read full post »

Advertisement
Comments read comments(2)
post a comment
MatthewS

posted June 25, 2009 at 2:28 pm


Before this trip through James I had never seen such a strong connection between wisdom and humility.
Probably every culture that has ever existed has had wisdom writings. I wonder how many other communities/cultures have linked humility and wisdom so.



report abuse
 

Jim Martin

posted June 25, 2009 at 10:39 pm


Scot,
I really like these thoughts:
“Planning, once again, is not the problem. Planning without marking off our future as in God’s hands, signed off perhaps by making the sign of the cross over our future, is the sin. James calls it boasting and bragging.”
Very true! It is easy to live from the perspective of a self-exalting human being. Such a person believes that he/she can will something to come about by simply working the formula (whatever that might be).
And–there are others who are on the other end of this. Those who believe it is more spiritual to not plan, etc.
I like the way you word this, “Planning, once again, is not the problem. Planning without marking off our future as in God’s hands…



report abuse
 

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.

Share this story

Related Topics: James
beliefnet
  list archives most recent most popular  
beliefnet

About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Help

Media Kit

Subscribe

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.