James 4:4-5 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit He has place within us should be faithful to Him.”
Wow! Those are some really strong words James uses in these two verses, perhaps to underscore the seriousness of the issue. Jewish prophets would often use the terms prostitute (Isaiah 1:21, Hosea 9:1) and adulterers (Jeremiah 3:1-10) to describe those who were spiritually unfaithful. Our relationship with God can be described as a marriage with God as the husband and believers as His bride. What could be more damaging and painful to a relationship? It causes not just pain but a feeling of betrayal and the loss of trust. So when we pursue a friendship with the world it breaks our trust with God. We cannot physically remove ourselves from the world, it surrounds us each and every day, it is unavoidable. Not to mention the fact that if we do as Jesus instructed us to do, go forth and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we cannot totally separate ourselves physically from the world. But James is talking about our behavior, does it reflect a worldly attitude or lifestyle? Are we selfish, prideful, envious, materialistic? Do we think and speak like worldly people? If someone met you for the first time, what kind of impression would you leave? Would they say you are different from most people, kind, considerate, humble or would they say you are like everyone else? What would they say once they got to know you? Would they continue to think positive about you, or would your worldly behavior and attitude come out? Do we worry about what the world will think of us rather than what God thinks of us? If we are attempting to please the world then we are making ourselves an enemy of God. We are bombarded everyday through TV, social media, podcast and so on, telling us what is good, normal and right in man’s eyes. But God, our creator, is the only one who has true wisdom, the only one who will not lead us down the wrong path, the only one who has the right to tell us how we should live our lives. And do not fool yourself into thinking you can pursue worldly things and remain faithful to God, “no man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). We must make a choice, and God takes our choice personally. He is a jealous God; He is passionate for us. Friendship with the world puts us in the position of being unfaithful to God. In Mark 8:36 it tells us “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” I think it’s good for us to step back and look at our life sometimes in order to make sure we have our priorities right. And if we are not putting God first then we need to re-evaluate our actions, words and thoughts. And take to heart “that the spirit He has place within us should be faithful to Him.” Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.