I’m following up on my last post. In James 4:13-17 he warns Christian businessmen that they are conducting their lives and their businesses as if God had no part in them. They made their business plans as if nothing could ever happen to disrupt them.
These professing Christian businessmen had a purpose. It was to “carry on business and make money.” There was no question in their minds that they would have the money and the product and the clientele to make a killing in business. The Greek word for “make money” carries the idea of a passionate love of profit. These men were greedy for gain. Yet James’ point is still not the condemnation of planning to make a profit. It was planning without a concern or interest in the will of God. They presumed their plan was just fine with God! They presumed God would not interfere with their moneymaking plans! Their sin was that they carried on their business and loved their lives in such a way that God was simply left out! This is nothing less than practical atheism!
We discover the bottom line in verse sixteen. James writes, “As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.” These men left God out of their lives and yet they boasted about their plans as if they were self-made men! They did not give God any credit for their success in business! How easy it is for us to forget God when everything is going according to our plans! Moses warned the Israelites about the danger of such sin just before they entered the land of Canaan. “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:10, 11, 17, 18).
We need to be careful not to sin by condemning these men without giving thought to the way we live our own lives! Like them, we live in a society that carries on all of its daily business and activities without any awareness of God. In our culture we live as practical atheists too! We Christians live in constant risk of being influenced by such godlessness. Professing Christians can get caught up in this spirit of independence from God and self-dependence and begin living without God on a day-to-day and hourly basis! People choose churches and leave churches without thinking about what God would want. They choose colleges or decide not to go to college all on their own. They choose a spouse and have children without giving a moment’s consideration to what God wants them to do. They choose jobs and buy houses and sell houses and move away according to their own desires. They buy boats and cottages and condos and cars and motor homes and all kinds of toys without ever asking God if they should. They do business and buy and sell stocks and change jobs for more pay without thinking whether God wants them to do these things. People live their lives every day and never even ask God what he wants! This is practical atheism! It’s amazing to listen to the things people say. “God wants me to be happy.” “God wants me to make more money.” “God wants me to have a healthy self-esteem.” Where do we get this stuff? It all comes from our culture and our presumption!
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