World or God - desire, adultery and puzzles

    [4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
(James 4:4-5 ESV)

Adultery?

    [5] For your Maker is your husband,
        the LORD of hosts is his name;
    and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,
        the God of the whole earth he is called.
 (Isaiah 54:5 ESV)

The Bible is the record of the love story of God and his covenant people.  He made us, cares for us, pursues us, redeems us, etc. etc.  And we?  At times we try to get what we want without reference to him.

Is desire bad?  No.  Desire is good.  The whole question is of loyalty and propriety.

1. WORLD   (     )
2. WORLD   god
3. (            )   God
4. GOD         world

1. The first option is wanting things in the world and going to the world without reference to God.
2. The second is wanting things in the world and trying to use God/religious stuff to get the things you want.
3. The third is only wanting God, and nothing in the world etc.  This is monasticism, withdrawal, and so on.
4. The fourth is desiring God as the categorically greatest good, and following him in how to approach the good desires in the world he has created.

4 options of desire world/god and the JAMES 4 strife issues via a party with pizza delivered:

1. first option: My temptation is to just get what I want without reference to God; its nobody's business.  If I want the first piece of pizza at the party, I just maneuver my way up to the front and get what I want.
2. second option: My temptation is to just get what I want, but 'god' can be useful.  If I offer to pray for the group maybe I can go up next to the pizza and be the first to get it. 
3. third option: I don't care about pizza, I just love God.  I don't even need food, or people, or anything.  I'll just go to a room by myself with God and forget about pizza, and people, and parties and everything.
4. fourth option: be grateful to God to be alive, enjoy the pizza when it is my turn, but don't be undone if my favorite kind is already taken, look for ways to grow in contentedness and graciousness, whether through receiving pizza or not.

That is my reconstruction from Sunday.  The deal is God created the world, has us in the world, so loved the world he sent his Son, will recreate the world...  the 'world' is not bad, the 'world' in rebellion, the system of good/evil outside of God, that is what is bad.  That is why what follows in James is:

1. don't despair, God is gracious if you will just humble yourself (admit the desire dysfunction)
2. clarify your trust/loyalty: move toward God and away from the devil

God's grace will sort out our loyalties and habits towards desires if we persevere in humility and trust.  Again, that is the whole point of the book, helping this group not to lose hope in the face of big problems, rather to gain confidence to patiently endure in doing right even when it is not obvious or easy.

world vs. God (friendship options)

Yesterday left off with the question: Why are we called adulterers for having desires (hedone)?

Why can't we all get along?

After a drugged up out of control driving spree through L.A.  The police finally stopped the defiant driver, Rodney King, and then in spectacularly controversial fashion beat him into submission.  Hugely irrational responses followed (understatement).  Rodney asks for peace, in the form of a question:

No Rodney, we can't all get along.
But why not?

    James [4:1] What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? [2] You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. [4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
(James 4:1-5 ESV)

The flow of the book of James has been to persevere when things are tough.  Persevere in what?  Faith that changes how we talk and act.  True justice and mercy, from the heart, even to where we don't maneuver for advantage with people who are able to help us ($$$).
Now, he challenges the group to ask themselves?   "Why can't we all just get along?"

The answer is the same as what Siddhartha observed: DESIRE.  Here it is 'hedone'.  For Sid it was Tanha.  Allegiance to our cravings shapes our ethics.  Loyalty to lust, over fidelity, restraint, whatever... that is what makes us dangerous.

I want it SOOOOOOO badly! (that I will __________)
James says we are ready to murder.  This may well be an allusion back to his brother's way of talking, as in Matthew 5:

    [21] “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ [22] But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
(Matthew 5:21-22 ESV)

The act of murder is the decision to negate someone's 'made in the image of God' status and judge them to be unworthy of life.  The dramatic use here probably doesn't involve literal daggers and such, just the decision in the heart to X the competitor out and attack them in what ever ways best help one to get what they want.
Said again: I quarrel because I want my way so bad I am willing to change my view of people, more or less like a murderer does, in order to get what I want.
The next option is to not be so aggressive, rather, take one's desires to God.  But James has to deal with people who have 'tried' this and still weren't satisfied.  He explains that they are just trying to use God for their desire, not really being submissive to God and willing to have their desire met, or replaced, or whatever God would wisely decree.

Now, the interesting bit is what follows.  By doing this we are called: Adulterers.
Tomorrow I will look at that.  Why 'adultery'? 

wisdom from above

There is a description of a mature, composed person:

James 3
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

The contrast is between harshly driven 'self' vs. granted (from above) poise.  Wise enough to be:
pure - not mixed
peaceable, gentle, open to reason - not fearful, willing to consider options
full of mercy, character (good fruits), impartial, sincere - not hollow, already defined by transcendent good, not just a personally defined 'good' (e.g. 'good for me')

What is gained by being someone who receives and applies 'wisdom from above'?
a crop of 'righteousness'
again, what is 'righteousness'?  Things as they should be.  Copacetic, and all that ;-)

How should I pursue this 'rightness', this shalom, this sukkha, this 'yeah baby, that's what i'm talkin' 'bout!', this 'yesssss'?

be at peace and go about things peacefully (not unilaterally, e.g. selfishly, connivingly).

How does that happen?  Circle back to 'wisdom from above'.  The GOSPEL is that Jesus is Supreme, which personally means his offer of reconciliation to God (supreme good and great) is real and applicable to me without costs (e.g. 'gratis').

So....
I should not be grabby and aggressive.
I should turn upward to God and receive his gracious wisdom.
That should calm me down, mainly due to feeling safe, loved, provided for, informed, etc.
Then I look at opportunities with a belief that there is a healthy, shalom-type outcome to pursue
That makes it easier not to get defensive, anxious and weird
Then I learn more and am able to better reconcile concepts (beliefs, ideals, etc.) and actual experiences.
Done rightly this goes from peace (at rest with God), through peace (not anxious when encountering options) to peace (actually good outcomes, or contentment with challenges if things don't work out).

That seems to be what is going on in the end of James 3.  James 4 will describe why that is so hard to achieve.

James 4

    [4:1] What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? [2] You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. [4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? [6] But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
    [11] Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. [12] There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
    [13] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— [14] yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. [17] So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
(James 4 ESV)