Matt Chandler - Worldliness, Godliness

Look, in James, starting in verse one, it asks, «What causes quarrels, and what causes fights among you?» Now, it doesn’t get much more down to earth than that, does it? Is it not this: that your passions are at war within you? What we see happening here is that almost all of us get into conflict and quarrels, right? I mean, has anyone here gone a full year without quarrels or fights? No, like, just peace in Jerusalem in your world? Most of us experience conflict and quarrels from time to time. Now, sometimes these quarrels stem from legitimate wrongs, legitimate sins, and legitimate harms done to us. Sometimes quarrels are warranted; not all fights are evil. However, the type James describes here arises from a disordered heart, meaning the conflict is not external but rather internal. Look back at verse 1: «What causes quarrels, and what causes fights among you? Is it not this: that your passions are at war within you?» So, what causes these quarrels? What causes these fights? It’s not really what’s going on around you. It’s not your crazy sister or your loony mother-in-law; it’s something occurring inside you. The quarrels happening around you have everything to do with you. It’s not circumstantial; it’s an internal spiritual reality.

Here’s how I would try to unpack it: lives tend to grow in one of two ways, and sometimes they’re a combination of both. You can probably identify yourself as belonging to one of these two branches. Some people, by the grace of God, are aware of His goodness in their lives. They can spot simple generosities that God has given them. They appreciate their health—they know what it feels like to be strong—and they’re glad for their well-being. They have a bit of money in their pockets to go out to eat, and that gratitude for God’s graciousness leads to gladness. Here’s what’s great: gladness fuels gratitude, which in turn fuels even more gladness. It becomes a bonfire of praise. Those of us who have been trained to spot God’s generosity in our lives recognize that we aren’t guaranteed health, wealth, good friends, fun marriages, or stable families. None of that is owed to us; it’s all a gift from a loving Father. When we recognize it as such, we grow in gratitude, and the more gratitude we have, the more gladness we experience. The more gladness we feel, the more we notice the blessings God has generously given us. Thus, we develop an ever-expanding joy in life and in God because our focus is on His goodness, not on our lacks.

This leads me to the other way people tend to grow. The other path is seeing everything as something they are entitled to. If you feel entitled, you grow not in gratitude and gladness but in contempt. When you believe you deserve certain things, you feel that God owes you something, and when you don’t have it, you become contemptuous—first towards others and then eventually towards God Himself. When you see other people being blessed, you can’t rejoice in that; it feels like an offense because you believe you deserve those blessings too.

Sidebar—let me stray from my notes: you really don’t want God to give you what you deserve. The greatest celebration in a person’s heart should revolve around the unfairness of God’s grace. You don’t want what you deserve, because what you deserve is death and eternal torment. That’s not what God gives. In fact, think about the stunning reality of common grace: those who mock and belittle God still receive His good gifts. Those who hate Jesus Christ can still be married, can still enjoy life, can still have money, can still eat good food, can still be physically healthy. All of these are gifts of common grace given to all mankind out of the generosity of God.

When you don’t receive the blessings you feel entitled to, you develop feelings of entitlement and contempt—first towards those being blessed (because you wish you were blessed) and then eventually towards God, feeling indignant that God hasn’t given you what you believe you deserve. As a pastor in the Bible Belt, I often come across many 20- and 30-year-olds who grew up in the church. They were good kids, right? They followed the rules, avoided rated-R movies—except for ones about Christ being crucified; they only listened to «Christian» music, and they didn’t curse, drink, or party. At some point, however, God didn’t give them something they truly wanted. Silly as it sounds, they didn’t get into the college they wanted or were broken up with by someone they cared about. Eventually, they didn’t receive what they felt entitled to, so they said, «Forget you, God, ” and they left. They didn’t really want Jesus; they wanted His stuff. They believed they could put God in their debt, but you simply cannot put God in your debt.