Sermon Tone Analysis

The problem with common sense

Have you ever noticed that you can speak to almost anybody and bring up the topic of common sense and talk about the lack of common sense these days, and you’ll have everyone nodding their head, often quite furiously as we all know how shocking it is that common sense has just gone out the window and no one has it any more.

The worlds gone mad!

The irony is, however, if everyone is in agreement that common sense has been lost, then why is it that the issue remains?

Let’s take a common complaint you hear about the modern world - parenting.

The complaint goes, a generation ago, when a child got in trouble at school, they would go home, and the child would again be in trouble with the parent.

Today, when a child gets in trouble at school, the child goes home and the parent writes a letter to the school.

Here’s the problem - ask almost any parent today and they will heartily agree - yes it’s a terrible problem.

Last year at youth group, there was a particular child that was common factor in many of the behavioural issues we had been having.

Because of the problems I had a number of discussions with the parent - and it was here that I really noticed the irony of the situation.

You see, the mum bemoaned to me how parents today always side with the child, but then, seemingly oblivious to her own contradiction, ignored the evidence that her child was the one causing the problems and instead tried to argue that it was all the other children’s fault and that her child was the real victim.

Now I want to suggest that the root problem is selfishness.

Our focus on ourselves blinds us to the fact that we are making poor choices.

Now I’m going to make a suggestion and you can argue with me later if you want.

But I’m going to suggest that the root problem is a focus on self

It is because of selfishness that we can point to everyone else lacking common sense, while the whole time we are the ones making the poor choices.

Seeking wisdom

This message follows closely behind the message I gave last week about two types of wisdom.

You see, I explored the two descriptions James gave about wisdom - one that was worldly, the other that was from heaven.

Now on the surface it is clear.

The heavenly wisdom is better by far.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just commit to choosing the heavenly wisdom over the worldly wisdom and that was it?

If it was that easy, then this sermon would be redundant, as would the first half of chapter 4.

But it’s not, and as we jump into , we’ll see that he’ll explain how a big part of the problem is our lack of humility.

Central to his idea is that we can’t achieve heavenly wisdom because we are too full of pride.

So as we dive into the passage, don’t think about how everyone else fails to live wisely.

To think that would entirely miss the point of the passage.

Instead, I want you to consider the ways in which your own selfishness blinds you from truly taking hold of the wisdom that comes from heaven.

The problem

So before we dive in, let’s remind ourselves of what James said of the two types of wisdom in the last half of chapter 3.

He told us the origin, the characteristics and the results of such wisdom.

Regarding the origin, we see the one comes the earth and is unspiritual and demonic.

The other is from heaven.

Th characteristic of the worldly wisdom is that it is full of envy and selfish ambition - a point that he’ll pick up on in our current chapter.

Whereas the heavenly wisdom is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

And finally the result of the worldly wisdom was disorder, whereas the heavenly wisdom will result in us being made fit for God.

Fights

Now a significant aspect of all of this, is the concept of heavenly wisdom resulting in peace.

But there is a sad reality.

While we can witness great examples of peace within Christ’s church, unfortunately all too often we see fighting and arguments.

James saw it in his day.

It turns up too frequently throughout church history.

And it certainly happens today.

And it is what drives James to ask the very pointed question: “What causes fights and quarrels among you?”

James’ language

Now before I actually explore his answer, just look at the language he is using.

The word translated “fight” is the same word used for “war”.

The word “quarrels” can sound like small bickering, but its the word “conflict”.

He says of our desires that they “battle” within us, but this word “battle” could be translated (as it is in the King James Version) as “wage war”.

He also says in verse 2: “you do not have, so you kill”.

This word “kill” could also be translated as murder.

The point I’m trying to make is that James is actually using very vivid and strong language.

We can sometimes sugar coat our disagreements as not being a big deal - but it is.

And I want to suggest that it is more than just a bad look.

You know, that idea that we just want to keep the peace so that people might think it is a nice place to be.

But it goes beyond that.

You see, keeping the peace is actually about drawing closer to the sense of order that God is bringing about.

In one sense, it is a theme that runs throughout the Bible.

start with perfect order.

But introduces chaos, which essentially gets worse and worse up to .

But then from onwards, which is of course where the story of Abraham commences, we get first a promise of the peace to come, and slowly but surely, the peace and order reveal itself culminating in Jesus Christ who firmly establishes a kingdom of order.

The point I’m trying to make is that when we fight and quarrel, we are actually moving against the Biblical narrative.

We are moving away from what God wants.

And so I think the strong language used by James is entirely appropriate.

They are not mere squabbles.

Rather you are committing murder - particularly when we consider murder in the sense that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount when he said that if you are angry at your brother or sister, you are guilty of committing murder.

The cause

Well, as James asks the question, he suggests essentially the same issue I raised a moment ago.

He says: “Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?”

Now I’ve been calling it selfishness, but lets call it for what it really is - sin.

You see, we’ve all got this sinful nature, and it causes a battle within us.

A battle between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of this world.

I’m sure you all know what that battle feels like.

Eating

Now time for a little confession - it’s always good to do a little confessing from the pulpit!

Well, after youth group, there is sometimes some leftover food.

As the new week begins and I sit in my office doing various tasks on the computer, it’s not uncommon to get the munchies.

So I get a few chips.

It always starts as just a small handful.

But then once you’ve got the taste - well, suddenly my taste buds are crying - more! more!

But my head says, no you don’t need more - you’re not even hungry!

And so this battle rages.

My taste buds coveting that taste sensation.

My head telling me it’s bad for me.

This example might be fairly benign, but it demonstrates that internal battle.

But at the heart of the battle is selfishness.

It is a battle because it is just so hard to stop.

Cause and effect

The second sentence in verse 2, outlines the process even clearer.

You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.

Think about it.

When you deeply desire something for your own gain, one of two things happens.

Firstly, you can get what you want - but what happen then?

Well, you might hope you’d become satisfied, but the reality is we just want more.

And we will continue to want more and more until we get to the second option, which is we don’t get what we want.

And then that coveting spirit leads us to fighting and quarreling.

You see, when you covet, there is a natural progression to fighting.

We can draw a very strong correlation between our selfish desires and the conflicts we have.

I find this a very interesting observation.

You see, we more often think of our conflicts in perhaps more noble ways.