Destruction of Bitterness; James 3:14
We saw last time that the
word for “gentleness” in verse 13 is the Greek word PRAUTES [prauthj] and has to do ultimately with the concept of
humility. But it is different from another Greek word, TAPEINOPHRONSUNE
[topeinofrosunh], the standard word for humility, and that emphasizes
someone who is not self-absorbed. In the Greek culture someone who exemplified
this category of humility did not assert his own self-rights. So this is a person
who is not focusing on himself or what his rights might be but is someone who
is more concerned with others than himself. PRAUTES is more the application of that attitude. Sometimes
it is translated gentleness, other tomes it is translated meekness, but it also
has the idea of someone who is very much in control and has strength under
control and is operating on God’s plan for their life. It is used to describe
Moses. Numbers 12:3 NASB “(Now the man Moses was very humble, more
than any man who was on the face of the earth.)” This is to be one of the basic
character qualities to characterise the believer.
Ephesians
4:2 NASB “with all humility [topeinofrosunh] and gentleness [prauthj], with patience, showing tolerance for one another in
love.”
Colossians 3:12 NASB
“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of
compassion, kindness, humility[topeinofrosunh], gentleness [prauthj] and patience.”
So the idea here that
underlies this is that the person who is grace oriented understands his place
and role in the plan of God, that God has saved him on the basis of who and
what He is and not on the basis of who and what he, the believer, is. It also
emphasises the fact that it is someone who in their thinking is oriented to the
plan of God and is moving forward in their life with the application of
doctrine. So if you are spiritually mature, or think you are, then this should
be demonstrated in your life through your behaviour and your character.
Now there is a contrast here.
Many times the way we learn things is by contrasting one thing with another. So
let us read through this and see how James contrasts true wisdom which is
derived from the Word of God and should characterize the believer’s life with
human viewpoint wisdom—James 3:14-18. Verses 14-16 describe human viewpoint
wisdom and its results and verses 17 & 18 describe divine viewpoint wisdom
and its results.
James
Human viewpoint thinking is
always called foolishness. In contrast there is divine viewpoint which is true
wisdom, and the biblical concept of wisdom comes from the Hebrew concept of chokmah which
always means skilful application of knowledge.
James
One of the things that we see
here as we make our way down is that James uses a very interesting word in
verse 16. Two Greek words in v. 14 are repeated again in v. 16: “For where
jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” He
uses a very different word for “evil” when it comes down to that particular verse, he uses the Greek word PHAULOS [fauloj]. This is a word that came to mean something that was
worthless or contemptible. It is a very practical type of word. It is not
talking about evil in its inherent sense of moral evil, of systems of evil. It
characterises evil as something that basically doesn’t work, evil as something
that is good for nothing and is ultimately destructive. So James, in keeping
with the whole scene of this epistle, chooses a word a word for evil that focuses
on its natural outworking, that evil never produces what you think it will
produce. So what James is saying here is that if you are operating on a human
viewpoint concept of life it is going to end up producing something that is
trivial and good for nothing, and is ultimately destructive. It has the idea of
something which is unstable and this reminds us of what James says back in 1:6-8.
The person who is not operating on divine viewpoint on the basis of faith is
unstable. This means that what he does has no value and is ultimately
destructive, and so the term PHAULOS also has this idea of instability and
destructiveness.
“But if you have bitter
jealousy…” Here we have the combination of two words. The first is ZELON [zhlon], the accusative of ZELOS, the standard word for jealousy,
and it is modified by PIKROS [pikroj],
which is the standard word for bitterness. If you want to really mess up your
life, if you want a formula to really make yourself miserable, how to destroy
your family relationships, destroy your life, then you just start being bitter.
Nothing is more destructive in life than a person who gives himself over to
mental attitude sins of bitterness and jealousy. And the terms are related. Remember,
the context of James is facing trials. So often when we face trials we see
certain adversity that comes into life and instead of responding through the
application of doctrine what we do is try to handle it ourselves and we react
in terms of mental attitude sins and in terms of emotional sins such as resentment
and bitterness. Then the second term here is “selfish ambition.” This, too, is
a very interesting word in the Greek, ERITHEIA [e)riqeia], and it is listed in almost every list of sins of
the flesh in the Scriptures. It relates to a feeling or attitude of hostility or
opposition. It emphasizes a self-centred or self-absorbed individual, someone
who focuses on what they don’t have and what somebody else has. It is exhibited
in an attitude of resentment based upon jealousy and it implies the connotation
of rivalry. So ERITHEIA is more than simple selfish ambition, it is jealousy,
rivalry, resentment, inordinate ambition and competition, and it is based on
arrogance, self-absorption, and ultimately the pursuit of something for merely
personal gain. It is realted in terms of its root to
another Greek word ERIS [e)rij], which is translated, for example, in Galatians
James says that if this is
how you find yourself, then he is going to give a mandate to avoid it: “do not
be arrogant and {so} lie against the truth.” In other words, you are going to
have to recognize this.
The doctrine of bitterness
1)
The Greek noun is
PIKRIA
[pikria] and it refers to the results from grief,
disappointment, disillusion with circumstances, people or events; when life goes
completely different from the way you think it ought to be. As a result of that
we begin to focus more and more on self, so we become self-absorbed which is
the first of the arrogance skills.
2)
Bitterness is a
mental attitude sin produced from the sin nature and has its source in
arrogance and self-absorption.
3)
Bitterness is
often related to self-justification and self-deception; it is the opposite of
humility and meekness. A classic example is in Hebrews 12. Remember in Hebrews
the writer is addressing primarily a Jewish audience; James is addressing a
primarily Jewish audience. The writer to the Hebrews is addressing a Jewish
audience as primarily priests who are going through various tests and
adversities, primarily pressure from the Jewish community because they have
become Christians, and they are ready to throw away their Christianity and go
back to the old Judaistic sacrificial system of the
Mosaic law. So the writer of Hebrews is warning them
that if they go back into the old ways then they will forfeit the blessings
that they have as a believer, eternal rewards and eternal inheritance. In order
to encourage the readers the writer has come to chapter eleven where he focuses
on numerous Old Testament heroes and how they advance to spiritual maturity
through learning doctrine and applying it in their lives. Then he comes to a
conclusion in 12:1 NASB “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud
of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the
sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance [HUPOMONES/ u((pomonhj] the race that is set before us,