It's All Uphill

Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would come with might and power and deep conviction upon each of us,

that you would help us to understand who we really are, that you would grant us honesty about who we are in the real world,

in the presence of you, the real God.

And Father, as you bring us to better and truer self-knowledge,

that you would grant us first and foremost a better and truer knowledge of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

three persons, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

So, a bit of a trigger warning, I guess, or a bit of a heads up.

I'm going to be talking about money today.

Not talking about money because of anything to do with the church finances or anything like that.

We're starting a new book in the Bible.

Well, it's not a new book. We're starting a book that was written a long time ago.

It wasn't just written and put in the Bible a few days ago.

As if, oh yeah, there's a new book to put in the Bible.

No, we're going to be studying the book of James.

We're going to go through it from beginning to the end, take a bit of a break for Easter and Holy Week.

And the reason that I'm going to talk a little bit about money is because the book of James talks about money.

If you are at all, if this is maybe one of the first times that you've watched one of these services

or entered into one of these services, we preach through books of the Bible.

And if you're a seeker, that should be a really good and important thing for you

because it shows that we don't try to hide anything.

We don't just look at the good texts.

The texts that all say that God has a wonderful plan for your life

and don't look at the texts that tell you you have to give up certain things or stop doing certain things.

Or as a friend of mine used to say, they tell you that God had a wonderful plan for your life

and not tell you that 10 years after you'd become a Christian,

you were getting killed by cannibals in some distant place.

So we look at different things.

We go from the beginning to the end.

And our text today is also going to be talking about not just about money,

but identity, life, allegiance, and hope.

But money is one of the topics.

So let's get into it.

If you have your Bibles, it's James chapter 1.

James 1 · chapter mention

We will have the words on the screen for most of it.

But it's also very good to have a Bible of your own,

to be able to look and read it for yourself.

And I'll be using the English Standard Version for this.

And the Bible doesn't begin with talking about money.

James doesn't begin by talking about money.

It sort of gives a bit of an introduction.

But this is one of these cases where the introduction is actually really important

for the entire rest of the book.

Here's how it begins.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

And some of you, your versions of the Bible might have begun,

James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And others of you will have a Bible that has a little footnote.

And if you go down, if it said slave, it'll say servant and vice versa.

And so James introduces himself, gives his name, a servant of God

and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

You just sort of have to trust me in this.

It's basically the twelve tribes of the dispersion.

It's a letter for Christians.

It's a sort of symbolic type of language, a bit of a metaphor which is used.

But some of you might be wondering right off the bat,

especially if you're trying to figure out a little bit about the Christian faith

and you've stumbled across this video,

and you might say to yourself or to the person you're with,

here we go.

It's sort of very interesting.

This is one of the reasons why I would never be a Christian.

Like, how weird is it that people in Ottawa in the year 2021

would actually sort of like the idea that somebody is a slave?

In fact, actually, I'm going to actually say that part of the significance of this text

is that the Bible is calling us to a secure identity,

a secure, true, individual identity for you and me in Jesus,

if we understand that we are his doulos, his servant slash slave.

So if you're thinking this is exactly one of the reasons why I don't like the Christian faith is,

I mean, George, gosh, some of you might even be saying,

where can I even begin to show you where this is all wrong?

Like, life should be about figuring out who you are.

Life should be all about being the captain of your own destiny.

Life should be all about not letting other people tell you what to do or what to think.

It should be all about not getting your identity from somebody else,

but making your own.

Like, George, everything about this is just wrong.

And if you're thinking that, those are, I mean, if that's what you think, that's what you think.

And it's, in fact, a very honest way.

Christians often aren't very honest when we talk about this type of language,

and it's actually very, very hard for us to try to live it.

So what's going on here with this text?

Well, first of all, I guess I want to just challenge the idea

that we actually ever create our own identity.

And the identity, if we do create our own identity,

I mean, obviously people do create their own identity,

but it's not really everybody's serving somebody,

everybody's getting their identity from somebody else.

And you say, no, that's George, that might be true of other people.

It's not.

No, no, no, no, no.

Just you think about it for a second.

One of the ways that we see this is how we think about others.

One of the things that people would say that was so terrible about Trump supporters

is they were getting their identity from terrible things.

And we don't think of that as a good example of getting your own identity.

All of a sudden we say, no, no, no, no, no, no.

There's things that can give you your identity which are very, very bad.

And the other thing that we don't necessarily,

if you just think about it for a second,

depending on whatever age you are,

or maybe if you're only eight, this won't make any sense to you.

Although even maybe at eight it will.

One of the things that we understand about how transient identity is

and how foolish it is,

is when we think not only of, let's say, Trump supporters make American great again,

but when we think of people who are younger than us.

So, you know, maybe you're a very mature 21 or 22 year old

and, you know, the orange thing happens on Tuesday,

you're actually able to see some family

and you go see, you know, maybe your next door neighbors

or maybe you go see some cousins and they're only 13 or 14

and you see what they're getting their identity around

and you think to yourself very superior,

in a very superior way, how foolish they are.

You know, how foolish you are to get your identity from a K-pop band

or this particular YouTube influencer.

But you say that because why you have a better band

or a better Instagram or social media influencer

and you don't think of the fact

that you used to actually have these different phases

and you will continue to have them.

That in fact the matter is,

is that we don't actually,

nobody actually looks inside

and gets their identity completely and utterly from themselves.

We're getting our identity from influencers

and it changes over time in all sorts of different ways

and we don't understand that.

But the fact is, we always have some type of identity.

And that identity, in a sense,

is by allowing others to speak into our lives

and have some type of control

or by putting their hope in certain things.

So it's not the case that somehow or another,

the person, if you're making this comment

about how weird Christians are,

that somehow or another,

everybody is getting their identity

from some other source.

So the issue is,

what on earth about this particular,

like why would this be the,

so part of what is so, in fact,

wise about the Christian faith

is that Christians acknowledge this.

Like we understand it.

Many people are completely blind to it.

We understand it.

Or at least the Bible understands it.

Christians can be just as foolish.

I am just as foolish.

Sorry, if I slip in and making it sound

as if somehow Christians are elite,

you all know that's not true.

We are definitely not.

In fact, the Bible even reminds us

that God chooses the weak

and the foolish of the world

to shame the wise.

But the Bible understands it.

And that's what the Bible is saying.

And so it's actually very interesting.

Look again at what it says.

James, a servant or a slave of God

and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And whether you use the word servant or slave,

the reason that,

the actual Greek word is the word doulos,

and there's no real good English translation for it.

But if you use the word servant,

I don't know,

those of you who remember

the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

or a whole pile of movies,

the servants have snotty English accents,

actually run the house

and are smarter than the people.

On the other hand,

if you think of the slavery

as it exists,

it still exists in parts of the world

and has existed in North America,

that's sort of too harsh.

But the key idea is

that you belong to somebody else.

You're actually somebody else's property

and they can tell you what to do.

In the ancient world,

doulos could be quite powerful, actually.

They could even make money

and buy their own freedom.

So there's no perfect word in English.

But the idea that you belong to somebody else

and that they have power and authority over you

to tell you what to do,

that is definitely in the text.

But it's interesting.

Here we have James introducing himself

as a servant of God

and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here's what's so significant about him.

James could have introduced himself this way.

He could have been sitting,

good suit, good tie,

really expensive glass of wine right there,

some very expensive nibblies

to go along with the expensive glass of wine.

And he could be saying,

by the way, did I mention

that I'm actually the head of the church in Jerusalem?

You know?

And by the way,

if you're the head of the church in Jerusalem,

it really means you're the head of the church

in the entire world.

Oh, and by the way,

did I happen to mention

that Jesus is my brother?

I don't mean like brother in a spiritual way.

I mean actually,

after Jesus had his birth,

Mary and Joseph had other children

and I'm one of them.

I'm Jesus' half-brother.

Did I happen to mention that?

Some of you know you think you know Jesus,

but I actually,

I know what his poop smells like

because I grew up with him.

He could have said all that stuff,

but he didn't.

In fact,

this is actually one of the things

which is very, very interesting

about this text

and why,

in a sense,

it's one of those cases

where the introduction

casts a light

on the entire rest of the book.

Because if you go back

and you read any of the ancient biographies

of Jesus

and they actually exist,

if you read any of the ancient biographies

of Jesus that actually exist,

what you'll see

is that Jesus is,

that the children

that Mary and Joseph had

after Jesus was born,

that those children,

that they actually thought

Jesus was nuts.

They didn't believe him.

They thought he was an imposter.

They mocked him.

And they,

James wasn't at the crucifixion.

And what,

so what another,

what completely and utterly

changed James' life?

You see,

the fact of the matter is,

is that James knew

Jesus very well.

And James understood

that Jesus really did die,

like he really knew

that Jesus died.

And he knew that Jesus

really was buried.

And he knew the tomb

where Jesus was buried.

And he knew where that was.

And he knew

that on the third day

the tomb was empty.

And he knew

from personal experience,

like literal

personal experience,

that Jesus had risen

from the dead.

because James

was an eyewitness

of Jesus's,

of Jesus

after he was resurrected.

And the resurrection

changes everything.

Like,

you might not think

it does

because,

you know,

it's not the case

that somehow

or another history,

historians have proved

that Jesus didn't rise

from the dead.

and that it,

in fact,

actually,

it's very,

very interesting.

You can see time

and time

and time again,

Frank Morrison,

I think,

was in the 50s.

There's another fellow,

I can't remember

his name right now,

J. Warner Wallace,

who was a cold,

a detective

who specialized

in cold cases.

And he went to study

to prove

that Jesus didn't

rise from the dead.

The fellow who wrote

the book,

The Case for Christ,

he went to study

to prove

that,

in fact,

Jesus had risen from the dead.

And everybody

who studies the issue

ends up becoming

a follower of Christ.

Because,

in fact,

the historical evidence

is quite substantial.

And if,

in fact,

it is the case

that there was a man

who did actually die,

and then on the third day

he didn't just

sort of get resuscitated,

but actually defeated death,

if that has actually

happened in history

and it's happened

in history

in such a way

that it's part of

a larger story

and narrative

and that it can include

and make a difference

for you

and your life

for not only today

but for all eternity,

that changes everything.

And that truth

of the true death

of Jesus

and the true resurrection

of Jesus

and the true meaning

of what it means,

that changes everything.

See,

the fact of the matter is

Jesus knew

what James' poop

smelled like

because they grew up together.

And Jesus knew

what James thought about him.

And Jesus knew

all of the terrible things

that James would have said

about him.

And Jesus knew

all of that stuff,

but Jesus died for James.

And Jesus rose for James.

And Jesus came

to save James

just as he came

to save you.

He comes

so that ordinary people

like you and me

can put our faith

and trust in him.

And it makes a difference

for all eternity.

And you can't put

your faith and trust

in Jesus

as the one

who actually knows

the truth about God,

the truth about creation,

the truth about sin,

the truth about eternity,

the truth about you

and all your particularity.

And he loved you so much

that he died for you

and rose from the dead.

To know him

is to belong to him,

to become his doulos.

And so all the rest

of the way

through the book of James

as we read it,

you have to,

in a sense,

keep toggling back

to the beginning.

There's a couple

of other places.

I'm going to mention

one of them a little bit

in a moment

to remember,

okay,

all of this flows

out of this real

defeat of death,

the real defeat of hell,

the real defeat of judgment,

the real defeat

of the shame

and the dishonor

and everything

which is just wrong

about death

and wrong about my life.

That has been defeated,

has been dealt with

by Jesus

in a way that means

that I can be in him

and be right with God

and the end of my story

is going to be

completely and utterly different.

How on earth

should I now live?

That's what the whole book

is about.

So,

the very first thing

that we're going to look at then

after we have this

as a bit of a beginning

is some of you might say,

well, okay,

that's very interesting.

In fact,

this is a perennial mistake

made by Christians,

even Christians today.

See,

the problem we have

as Christians

is we forget the gospel,

we forget who Jesus is

and we forget his word.

It's one of the reasons

why a church like ours,

we preach through books

of the Bible

so that,

you know,

we don't just pick

and choose little verses.

We look at the things

which are going to be

very hard,

very challenging,

very frightening,

and the things

which will elicit huge hope.

We try to look at it all.

And so,

people might say,

okay,

wow,

if you actually now belong

to somebody

who's defeated death

and defeated hell,

defeated whatever whole demonic

or hostile spiritual powers

have on you,

they've all been defeated.

You now belong,

you put your faith

and trust in Jesus.

He doesn't count

how good you are.

He accepts you

and he's the one

who makes you right with God.

He now becomes,

in a sense,

your owner.

Like,

surely that means

that life will be easy.

And many,

many people make that connection.

Life will be easy.

Well,

in fact,

let's look and see

the next three verses,

verses two to four.

It goes like this.

I have to watch my time

running around out of time.

Count it all joy,

my brothers and sisters,

when you meet trials

of various kinds.

Okay,

now,

but here's,

it gets actually a bit odder.

It goes against this idea

that if you know Jesus,

life will get easier.

Look,

when you meet trials

of various kinds,

verse three,

for you know

that the testing of your faith

produces steadfastness

and let steadfastness

have its full effect

that you may be perfect

and complete,

lacking in nothing.

And the word perfect there

is a telos word.

It's an end word.

In other words,

it has this idea

that there's this proper end for you.

This,

in a sense,

if you have,

you know,

everybody,

many,

many people have this sense

that we despair

when we lose it,

right?

But when we don't lose it,

we have this sense

that there's like

a type of a destiny,

an end,

a summing up,

a completeness,

a direction,

that life isn't just

one dang thing

after another

and then you die.

You know,

and maybe

if it's during COVID-19,

you die all alone

with people

who don't even know you.

And this perfect is,

in other words,

you come to that

for which you were made.

And the implication

of the text

is that there's always

going to be things

that are trials.

And the trials

can be both

surprising things

that come out

of the Christian worldview.

They can be things

that happen

like obvious trials

like ill health,

bad finances,

loneliness,

job setbacks,

relational setbacks,

many other problems

that come with aging

if you live long enough.

But it's also

other different types

of trials,

things that reveal

who you are,

things that reveal

how you've treated people,

things that reveal

your character.

character.

It's a very, very general

and all-encompassing word.

And the Bible here says

that this is something

which is going to be

with you all of your life.

In fact,

I felt like saying

at the beginning

and I decided

I'd talk about money,

the book of James

is only 108 verses,

but there's 59 commands

in the 108 verses.

So here's the good news.

At the end of the book of James,

you have 59 new things

on your to-do list.

Nobody likes hearing that.

We like having small to-do lists.

But it's not going to be,

these to-dos aren't things

that are going to crush us.

They're things to meditate upon

to help us to make,

to reach that end

that fits with the uniqueness

that we are,

that have been woven into us

in our creation

and that have been redeemed

into us through Christ.

But here's the thing.

In self-help books,

generally what happens

in self-help books

is they'll obviously talk

about difficulties

and obstacles.

But the inherent message

often in self-help books

is that as you master

the self-help books,

these things will happen

less and less.

You know,

because you just become

smoother at seeing ahead,

you get better at

forming your own future,

you know,

you have your own

preferred future

that you move towards,

you get better at

handling comments,

at handling feedback,

you just get better

and better and better

at all of these things

if you follow

the self-help book.

And even though

you're going to have

to face things

and there'll be maybe

a lot of stuff at first

and it's going to reveal

things about you

that have to be dealt with,

but the idea is

that once you master

the things in the self-help book

that life gets better,

it gets easier,

in a sense there's fewer obstacles.

And in this sense,

the book of James

is saying,

that's the complete opposite

of what, in fact,

the Christian life is.

And the fact of the matter

is it's actually the opposite

of what life is really like.

See, the reason we keep

going back to self-help books

is because, in fact,

they don't tell us the truth.

There constantly ends up

being things.

And part of the thing

about self-help books

is they end up making,

many of us,

at first they're very exciting

and at first they might work,

but then crap happens to us.

And we feel even more

depressed afterwards.

So the Bible actually has,

here's the thing

which is so wonderful

about the gospel,

is when you understand

that Jesus has died for you,

he loves you so much

that he died for you,

that he knows everything

there is to know about you

and still he died for you.

And he not only,

in his death,

deals with everything

that's wrong with you,

but at the same time,

he doesn't present you

in terms of the one or two

little good things

that are in your life

or the 15 good things

that are in your life.

He actually says,

I'm going to give you,

in a sense,

all of my destiny

I give to you.

Not only do I take your doom,

I give you my destiny

and you're presented

for all eternity,

in a sense,

covered with his perfect life.

But the thing,

here's the thing

which is so wonderful

about the Bible,

it is both,

gives you,

it gives you,

at the same time,

a realistic assessment

of each day

and a realistic hope

for the end

of the story

of your life.

And that's what,

that's what James

is talking about.

On one hand,

here's the realistic thing

about your life.

You're always going to be

dealing with selfishness,

you're always going to be dealing,

you know,

those of you who are married,

if you think there's going

to be a time

where you actually never say

something cutting

or hurting to your spouse,

ha, ha, ha,

you believe that myth.

It ain't going to happen.

Where you're never going to have

to struggle with selfishness,

there's never going to be

issues around money,

there's never going to be issues,

yeah, forget about it.

If you read some book

that tells you you can do that,

throw it away.

It's only going to make you depressed,

okay?

By the way, as well,

you want to increase

your wisdom quotient,

stop looking at Facebook

and Instagram.

Maybe make it that you spend

one minute a day

or five minutes a day,

because all it does

is show you everybody else's

perfect life

and depresses you,

right?

So,

so the Bible here

is very,

very,

very realistic.

realistic.

Your life is going to be

filled with trials.

That's realistic.

But here's the thing,

in Jesus,

in Jesus,

it gives you

a realistic hope

that the end,

for the end of the story

of your life,

which is that you come

to your telos.

In fact,

if you were to skip down

to verse 12,

which we'll just read briefly

at the end,

it says that the end of life,

you have this crown of life,

which is bestowed upon you

by Jesus.

It's already waiting for you.

That's the end of your life.

And it gives you

a profound energy

to persevere

through these trials

and to create

the type of personality

which is steadfast,

which can handle

the setbacks

that begins to have,

the steadfastness

means you have

the maturity

to apologize

when you do make

those cutting comments

or you apologize

because you should have

done something

and you didn't

and to deal with

the health issues

and the financial issues

and the relational issues

that God is building

into you

as you walk

with his son,

this steadfastness

to be able to walk

and endure with it.

Now here there's going

to be a little bit

of a problem

and I'm going to probably

have to say this

every week

in the book of James.

And one of the things,

if you go and you look,

basically there's very little

structure to the book of James.

Those of you

who are familiar

with the Bible

are familiar with books

like the book of Proverbs.

And in the book of Proverbs

there's lots of different

individual proverbs.

Sometimes they're grouped,

sometimes they're not.

In fact, if you wanted

to look at all the Proverbs

in money,

you'd have to look,

you know,

here in chapter 3

and chapter 7

and chapter 10

and chapter 15

and chapter 20

and chapter 31

or whatever

to try to see it

because it just sort of

goes in and out

of all these different ideas

and the same thing here

with the book of James.

In many ways,

the book of James

is closer to the book

of Proverbs

where the book

is a series

of wisdom commands

and wisdom insights

that every one of them

is something

or a little group

of them

is something

for you to meditate upon,

to memorize

and to pray into.

And so now

the Bible seems

to take a bit of a,

James seems to take

a little bit of a jump

because it's now

going to talk about

something which actually

touches on one

of the fears

that many non-Christians

have about the Christian faith

which is that

the Christian faith

encourages intellectual suicide,

blind faith,

and a refusal

to deal with doubts.

Like, let's look

and see what it says

in verses 5 to 8.

If any of you

lacks wisdom,

let him ask

or her,

ask God,

who gives generously

to all without reproach.

Need to make,

and it will be given him,

just,

or her.

You have to hear that,

right?

That if you lack wisdom,

if you ask God,

he will start to give you

wisdom without reproach.

He won't say,

without reproach means

it's like,

I don't know,

you know,

somebody wants to

borrow some money from you.

You say,

what do you mean

you want to borrow money from you?

You haven't paid back

the last money.

Like,

all you do is waste the money.

You know,

your kid comes and says,

you know,

can you lend me 20 bucks,

dad,

or mom?

And you say,

fine,

you just wasted

the last 20 bucks I gave.

You're like,

where is it going?

You're just wasting it

on Uber Eats

or,

I don't know,

something like that.

God gives you

without reproach.

He doesn't even tell you,

yeah,

I've been waiting for it

because you've been

an unbelievable fool

for a long time,

so I'm glad you're fine.

No,

without reproach.

I read it to you again.

If any of you

lacks wisdom,

let him or her ask God

who gives generously

to all without reproach

and it will be given to them.

But let the person

ask in faith

with no doubting

for the one who doubts

is like a wave of the sea

that is driven

and tossed by the wind.

For that person

must not suppose

that he or she

will receive anything

from the Lord.

They are a double-minded man,

unstable in all their ways.

And you can see

how this,

on a superficial reading,

makes it sound

as if,

once again,

Christians are very,

very anti-intellectual

because,

in fact,

most of us would say

that doubt is good.

In fact,

for most people,

a sign of wisdom

is doubting.

And the Bible's actually

not going to disagree

completely with that.

One of the things,

if those of you

have heard me preach before,

say,

if you go back

and look at the Gospels,

the ancient biographies

of Jesus,

you'll see that Jesus

actually never

dismissed a good question.

He welcomed good questions.

And if you go back

and you read

part of what we call

the Old Testament

or our Jewish friends

call the Tanakh,

books like Habakkuk

are all organized

around really good questions.

We just went through

the book of Lamentations,

which has people

asking God

really good questions.

So it's not a matter

that there should be

no questions.

So what's going on

here in this particular text?

And what it is,

is this.

First of all,

the word faith here,

we have to begin with that.

Faith isn't a power

that you have.

It's not like

the little train

that could.

That, you know,

you've got to make it,

got to make it,

got to make it.

I can do it.

I can do it.

I can do it.

I have faith.

I have faith.

Faith is not a description

about your own

particular power.

Okay?

It's not as if

the world is divided

between, you know,

those of us

who have really

strong abilities

to have this faith power

and be persistent in it,

and those who are weak,

although obviously

some of us differ

in those types of things.

The second thing

is that it's not about,

once again,

it's connected

to not being a power,

but in the Bible,

the word faith

is always relational.

It's inherently

a relational word.

It's more to do

with the idea

of who you trust,

who you hope in,

who you see

as being significant

in terms of

providing meaning,

and, you know,

there's a bit of

a group of words

around it,

but it's always

connected to

a personal reality.

And the third thing

is that the word power,

you see,

we tend to think

of power,

North Americans

tend to think of faith

as something in a sense

which is a type of power,

that if you just have

the faith,

you can overcome

the obstacles.

If you have the faith,

you can climb that hill.

If you have the faith,

you can make it

to the top of Mount Everest.

You can get that job.

You can get that guy.

You can get that girl.

You've got to have faith,

and it's as if

it's your power.

But in the Bible,

the more important issue

than the strength

of your faith

is the object

of your faith.

So here's the thing.

I've known several people,

still know several people

who are terrified of flying.

I mean terrified of flying.

One of the people

that I know

who's terrified of flying,

basically he had to get

a little buzz on

before he got

into the plane,

and then he had to

magnify his buzz

once he was on the plane,

otherwise he couldn't fly.

Others just basically

just white-knuckle it

if there's some reason

that they just

cannot avoid flying.

But they have

no faith in flying.

But what matters

isn't their faith

but the plane.

I mean,

if you think about it,

if you met somebody

who said,

I can fly,

I can fly.

My faith is through the roof.

I read this self-help guru.

I've done the yoga.

I've got the guru,

the book.

I'm pumped,

and they run off

the edge of the Grand Canyon.

It doesn't matter

how strong their faith is.

Their faith is completely

and utterly foolish,

foolish, foolish, foolish.

They plunge to their death.

You see that?

So the person

who has huge faith

but it's a stupid object,

foolish object,

they plunge to their death.

The person with

virtually no faith

but it's the right object

that the plane,

in fact,

is good,

they fly.

They make it

to the other end of it.

And so if you understand that,

you start to understand

what's going on

in the text.

That what the Bible

is actually saying here,

it's warning us

about something

which is very,

very true in life

all the time

but it's also just as true

when it comes to

our relationship with Christ.

How do you think

it would work

if you love two women

at the same time?

Do you think that will help you

to grow in love

for one of them?

How would it work

if you decided

that you were going

to both be a fully committed

agent of China

and a fully committed

agent of Canada

at the same time?

How is that going to work?

How is it going to work

if you say

you're going to devote

your entire time

everything you do

in your time

to being the best

rock climber

you can possibly be

but at the other time

you also think

that your basic goal

in life

is to make

a million dollars

through some type

of scientific innovation.

Well, you know,

some of those things

you might be able

to manage it a little bit

and dial some up

and dial some down

but the fact of the matter is

is if you have

two different faiths,

two different hopes,

two different trusts

and they go

in opposite directions,

I mean,

right?

That's what the text

is saying here.

That's the significance

of this idea

of being a double-minded man

unstable in all your ways.

And so,

and so the point is,

you see,

that if in fact,

here's the Christian claim,

you go back to what James said

at the beginning of his book,

there is a person

who actually left

the splendor

and the glory

and the majesty of heaven

took into himself

our human nature

was so willing

to become weak for you

that he became

a fertilized egg

in the womb

of the Virgin Mary

and lived a normal

human life,

suffered the trials

and temptations

that you and I do

only without sin,

actually died on the cross

not for anything he did

but for you and for me,

that in a sense,

his death

is all of the things,

all of the stuff

that justice demands

of you

was laid on him

and he does all of that,

he takes all there is to it,

he rises from the dead,

he does it all

and completely

and utterly

out of love

for you

in the hope

that you would put

your trust in him,

that he could be

your Lord and Savior,

he could be your Lord

and Christ.

Who better is there

to put your trust in

for facing life

than him?

But you know what,

we know,

we understand,

well, you know,

I can put my,

but I know,

oh, there's money,

oh, there's sex,

oh, there's power,

oh, there's prestige,

oh, there's the house,

oh, there's this,

oh, there's that,

there's my body,

there's my leisure time,

there's all these things

and so Jesus knows

that we waffle.

See, part of the purpose

of these texts

is that on one hand

it's a profound call

for us to meditate

about the fact

that we can be

going,

trying to go

in different ends

at the,

going in different directions

at the same time.

Try going forward

and backwards

at the same time.

You know,

imagine somebody

could fool with your car

that they could put it

in park,

you could put it

in drive and reverse

at the same time

and then you stepped

on the gas,

how's that going to work?

It's not going to move you

either forward or backward.

You're going to be unstable,

right?

And in a sense

the human being

is able to have

in a sense

their body,

their foot on the gas

and they can press

the gas harder

and harder and harder

while the car's

trying to go

both forward,

backwards and sideways

all at the same time

and it just makes

it unstable.

And so part of the

point of the book

is if you just

flip through,

it's not going to be

on the screen,

you just have to

trust me,

James 4, 6,

it's a verse

that you need

to remember.

In a sense

if you remember

James 1, 1

and the light

it shines

and James 4, 6

shines light

it helps you

to understand

what's going on

and James 4, 6

tells you this,

but he gives

more grace,

therefore it says

God opposes

the proud

but gives grace

to the humble.

See, part of these

texts is to humble us.

To humble us

to say,

Lord,

I really need wisdom.

I don't know

how to handle

this thing

which has just

come to me.

I need wisdom.

And Lord,

I need to have

a purity of will,

a purity of heart,

a purity of direction.

I am just so torn.

I renounce

those things.

Please help me

to not be double-minded

or triple-minded

or quadruple-minded

but to be single-minded

and following you

and allow you

to put those other

things in my life

because he cares about it.

That's why

the book of James

is going to talk

about money.

It's going to talk

about power.

It's going to talk

about prejudice.

It's going to talk

about privilege.

It's going to talk

about how you use

your tongue.

It's going to talk

about sickness.

It's going to talk

about how you spend

time with others.

It's talking about

the real world.

And you look at it

and you say,

Lord,

I really need your wisdom.

I really need you

to put these things

in their proper order

and hierarchy

that I might live well

for your glory.

So that text

is there

in a sense

that when we come

to James 4, 6,

we say,

that's me, Lord,

standing in need of prayer.

Help me to get off

my high horse.

Help me to get off

my pride.

Help me to acknowledge.

Help me to be like

a little child

and just say,

I need help.

I need help, Lord.

I need help.

Well,

I just have a few minutes

to talk about

the money bit,

which I mentioned

at the beginning

because now the text

goes in this other

completely different way.

And the text

is going to sound

a little bit odd,

but let's read it.

It's verses 9 to 11.

Let the lowly brother

or sister boast

in their exaltation.

Lowly here means

poor,

no power,

lower working class,

very, very,

not even lower

working class,

like low.

And let the rich

brother or sister

in their humiliate,

sorry,

so let the low,

verse 9 again,

let the lowly brother

boast in his exaltation

and the rich

in his or her

humiliation.

Because like a flower

of the grass,

they will pass away.

For the sun rises

with its scorching heat

and withers the grass,

its flower falls

and its beauty perishes,

so also will the rich

man or woman

fade away

in the midst

of their pursuits.

So it's obviously

talking about money

and it sort of sounds

very, very odd.

It says,

to the poor person,

listen,

what you need to remember,

actually if we just

jump up to verse 12

and then we'll go back

to verses 9 to 11.

Verse 12 said,

blessed is the man

or the woman

who remains

steadfast under trial,

for when he or she

has stood the test,

they will receive

the crown of life

which God has promised

for those who love him.

So on one hand,

remember the Bible

is giving us

a realistic assessment

of the life

that we live right now,

but it does it

in the context

of a realistic hope

for what the end

of this story

of your life will be.

And so if you're

watching this,

and the fact of the matter

is you don't even have,

I guess they still

make nickels,

you don't have two nickels

to rub together,

you're not even living

paycheck to paycheck,

you're sort of hoping

that by the end of the year

you'll end up being

sort of around the place

you were a year before,

you're just,

you're low income,

and the Bible actually

never says that that's a sin

or anything like that,

that that's a sign

that there's something

wrong with you,

but we're going to be

talking at other places

about how you might

deal with some of this stuff,

but it says,

you know,

the thing for you

to remember

is the end of your story.

You know,

your mom and your dad

might look down on you,

your neighbors

might look down on you,

the rich might look down at you,

no political party

really cares about you,

even the so-called

left-wing parties

in Canada

have fundamentally

given up on the poor,

they're all consumed

with identity politics,

which is a middle class,

upper middle class,

and an upper class pursuit,

and so,

but Jesus hasn't

forgotten about you,

and this is the end

of your story.

You think,

think about that,

how much he loves you,

how much he loved you,

and one day,

you know,

the funny thing is,

this text is completely correct,

because one second

after death,

poor person,

you and Bill Gates

have exactly the same

amount of resources

under your control,

but if Bill Gates

or any rich person,

any tech magnate

has died with their back

in rebellion against Jesus,

they've lost everything

with more to lose.

You,

crown of life.

Jesus saying,

I am so glad,

Bob,

I am so glad,

Sue,

that you are here.

I died for you,

I loved you,

I've walked with you

all these years,

and now you can see me

face to face.

That's the end

of your story.

And the message

to the rich

is a very interesting thing.

If you look at it again,

and the rich,

let the lowly brother,

verse 9,

boast in his

or her exaltate,

that they're exalted,

and the rich

in his humiliation.

Because like a flower

of the grass,

he or she will pass away,

for the sun rises

with its scorching heat

and withers the grass,

its flower falls

and its beauty perishes,

so also will the rich

man or woman

fade away

in the midst

of their pursuits.

So what are they

to boast in?

Remember,

this is talking about

those who are in Jesus.

It's,

in a sense,

helping us to try

to have a proper

eternal perspective

on riches.

Now,

it's very,

very interesting.

The Bible never says

that money or riches

are wrong.

It never says

that money or riches

are evil.

It's not like Marxism,

it's not like cultural Marxism,

which delights

in creating the other.

It's very interesting.

Cultural Marxism,

which drives so much

in our society,

it always talks

about inclusion,

but it actually

is the opposite

of inclusion.

It's entirely based

on a narrative

of inclusion

and exclusion,

that the other,

the rich,

the white,

the whatever,

that they're the bad ones,

the evil ones,

you can do anything

to them,

and they deserve it

because it's terrible.

And the Bible never says

there's something

inherently wrong

with riches.

It never says

there's something

inherently wrong

with wealth.

Christians in the years,

like one of the,

some of my French-Canadian friends

remember,

or remember the stories

within French culture

about how the priests

and the Catholic,

you know,

whether it's true or not,

that they wanted

to keep the Catholics

ignorant and poor,

talking about poverty

if it's some type

of a virtue.

The Bible never says that.

In fact,

even here,

it's not saying,

it's not saying to you

if you're,

you know,

a 20-year-old,

a 30-year-old,

a 40-year-old

trying to change

your financial fortunes,

trying to make more money,

try to provide

for your family.

The Bible's not saying

anything against that.

It really isn't.

It's very realistic.

In fact,

you can look at other texts

that's going to talk

about the significance

and the importance

of being able

to provide and care.

The message of the Bible,

it goes beyond this text,

I'm just sort of giving you

a big summary,

is earn as much as you can

and give as much as you can

because,

you see,

the problem is

that money does,

that the big problem

is money is one

of the main things

that rules you.

You think you rule it,

but it rules you.

You think it serves you,

but you serve it.

How do you know?

Do you remember,

you know what,

in 2019,

the inflation rate

in Venezuela

was 300,000%.

You had lots of money?

None.

impoverished you.

2008,

housing prices fell

by one-third,

as did the stock market.

You folks here

who own a home

and you're maybe

counting the dollars,

$750,000 house,

that something like 2008

happens again,

boom, boom,

ka-ching, ka-ching,

ka-ching, ka-ching,

ka-ching,

ka-ching,

in a bad way,

$500,000.

And maybe even less than that

because if you actually

tried to sell it,

who knows if you could

even get $500,000 for it.

And if you bought

that house for $650,000

and you're counting on

the $100,000

you just made

in the housing market crash,

you now own the bank,

you now owe the bank

$150,000.

You've gotten poorer,

not richer.

And if I talk about that,

does that make you anxious?

Does that make you upset?

We have a problem

with money, friend.

We put our hope

and our trust

and our faith in money.

We get our identity

from money.

You know,

one of the things,

it's so funny,

movie stars

who are rich,

they'll give us

all this advice

on politics,

on this and that.

They all think

they're wise.

You know?

What is it about

having money

that makes you

think you're wise?

That you're wiser

than poor people.

That you're better

than poor people.

I mean,

that's just life, folks.

And what is this text

saying which is so wise?

What you need

to remember

George?

Let's say you become

very, very wealthy.

You're going to lose it all.

That's what you need

to boast in.

That, you know,

to sit lightly with it.

And by the way,

just sort of in closing,

one of the ways

that you learn

to sit lightly with it,

you can't learn

how to sit lightly

with it by speaking

in tongues,

by having a vision.

The only way

it can become lighter

to you

is by giving money away.

If you wait

to have enough money

to be generous,

you will never be generous.

They've done surveys

after surveys

where people say,

if I only had $10,000 more,

my life would be

more comfortable.

That doesn't matter

if you're making $40,000

or $120,000.

It's always just

beyond the horizon.

Which is why

the biblical teaching

of, you know what,

you have this secure hope

in Christ,

the end of your story

is known in Christ,

He loves you so much

He died for you.

Money is all,

it's all going to be gone.

It's really good.

It's really important.

Eating is good.

Having a roof

over your head is good.

Clothes, good things.

Make money.

You have lots of kids

or you just have

lots of dependents

or whatever,

make money.

But the way

you need to be

more light-handed

with it

or having this other,

it's by giving.