21.08.07
James (11): Achilles Heel - James 4:11-17
It was the great Greek author Homer who first talked of the hero Achilles and his famous battle with the city of Troy. Achilles was a tower of strength, moody, arrogant but un-defeatable. Achilles – the hero who killed hundreds of Trojans and defeated the Trojan hero Hector in one to one combat. But Achilles was finally killed, when another Trojan hero Paris shot him in the heel with a poisoned arrow. And so, since 1855 when the term was first used, we talk of an Achilles heel being a fatal weakness which, in spite of overall strength, can lead to our downfalls. And according to James, we all have an Achilles heel – our tongues. Our tongues cause fights and wars in church fellowships as we enlist them in the service of devilish wisdom. In James 4:11-17 James goes on to give us another two examples of areas in which our tongues are our Achilles heels: slander and boasting.
[A] Slander (vs. 11-12)
Our Achilles’ heel – our tongues – they cause all kinds of havoc and none more so than in the area James speaks of in vs. 11-12 – the area of slander. There are two things I want to notice about this slander:
1. Defamation of Character – the word for slander is literally the word ‘speaking against’ – we would call it ‘defamation of character’. Our tongues, when they should be used to build each other up and help each other grow, are too often used to pull each other down. Here are a couple of examples of how we can use our tongues to slander others the Bible itself gives: we slander someone when we question legitimate authority – as for example the Israelites did in the wilderness when they questioned Moses’ authority. We slander our elders and ministers by not accepting their authority. Also, we slander someone when we talk about them negatively in secret – when we gossip about them. And, what we say in private may well be true – not all slander is lying, it can be truthful – but nonetheless, it is still slander. And thirdly, we slander someone when we bring up incorrect or unfounded accusations against them – against their character or behaviour. What is at the root of such slander? It is when we have a superior attitude to other Christians – when we look down on them and we use our tongues to tear them down, whether in private or in public. But the problem with slander is this: if we follow James’ argument about true humility in the fellowship, from 4:6-10, the rug is taken from under our feet. If we are truly repentant and humble before God ourselves, we won’t have a superior attitude – we won’t stand above someone and speak against them – rather, we will be humble before God and before them.
2. Deformation of Law – James tells us that slander isn’t chiefly a sin against another person – it is a sin against God’s Law. It is setting yourself up as a master of God’s Law rather than its servant. Follow James’ reasoning on this: if you slander someone, then you are breaking God’s Law because the Law says, “Love your neighbour as yourself” and by slandering them, you aren’t loving them in the way you would have them love you. And then, by not loving someone with our speech, but slandering them instead, we are saying to God that we know better than the Law – that somehow, we think that the law shouldn’t have said, “Love one another”, but rather, “Criticise one another” – in other words, we stand in judgment over God’s Law thinking that we can dream up a better law than He has done. And then thirdly, by doing that, we are usurping God’s authority – we are putting ourselves in the place of the Lawgiver – we become lawgivers rather than law keepers. At root then, to slander someone is far more serious than at first it might seem – it is a deep sin against God. But James retaliates – after all, there is only one judge and one lawgiver – only one who makes the law and judges perfectly. And only one who can carry out the sentence of the law – either saving or destroying – you can’t save anyone, you can’t destroy anyone – only God can do that – only He has such authority – so why, in our slander, do we take God’s place. After all, James asks, “Who are you to judge?” When you stand before the awesome purity and righteousness and love of God and you realise your own sinfulness, your only true position must be one of humility. The woman who slanders another, James is telling us, has never really understood how great and holy God is, and how weak and sinful she is. Don’t slander, because if you do, you’ve got God to deal with.
[B] Boasting (vs. 13-17)
Boasting is not always bad – we can boast in Christ and who He is, and that is good. But that is not the kind of boating James has in mind. Our Achilles heel comes to the fore again in the way we arrogantly boast in our own strength. What James says about boasting in these verses can be divided down into four sections:
1. The Principle of Boasting (vs. 16) – literally, vs. 16 talks of the man who is boasting in his arrogance – he is boasting and bragging. The word for bragging, or arrogance here is a word well known to Classical scholars – it is a synonym of the word ‘hubris’ – we talk of someone who is arrogant having hubris. The word hubris is scattered through the Greek Legends and in particular through Homer’s Illiad. The best example of hubris, according to Homer, is from the tale of the Greek hero Achilles. After killing the Trojan prince Hector, rather than giving Hector the dignity of ceremonial mourning, he ties his body to the back of his chariot and parades him before the walls of Troy. Achilles is full of arrogance and hubris – boasting in his own strength – puffed up with pride and bragging. And James says that such hubris, such arrogance and bragging is evil. But before we think that we aren’t guilty, let’s ask if we ever puff ourselves up – do we ever say, “I’m sufficient, I can do that – you bet I’m your man” – and not in a humble sense, but in a proud, arrogant manner. “I can preach, I can pastor, I can govern, I can do my job, I can get whatever girl I want, I can look after my family, I can make all the money in the world, I can do anything”. It’s boasting in our own abilities – it’s hubris – shaking our fist at God and saying to Him, “I don’t need you. In fact, I can do a better job of it than you can.”
2. The Practice of Boasting (vs. 13) – the example is given of a businessman who plans for the future, but leaves God out of the equation – he is full of hubris. In vs. 13, although it isn’t well translated in the NIV, listen to what the businessman conjures up in his mind – “Today or tomorrow we will go to a certain city and we will spend a year there and we will engage in business and we will profit.” Like as not, there would have been merchants among those James was writing to – businessmen – and he is pleading with them not to say “I” or “we” all the time. It’s all hubris – it’s the hubris of Achilles, boasting in the greatness of his achievement of killing Hector. And for us to take such pride in our arrogance is nothing short of the same devilish wisdom working itself out. Some of you will be getting your exam results soon – be careful of dragging them behind your carriage!
3. The Peril of Boasting (vs. 17) – this arrogance and hubris is sin – it is the exact opposite of the humble Christians James wants us to be. It’s not a personality trait, it’s a sin – it is as serious as that. Even if it was the only sin you ever committed, it would be enough to condemn you eternally. It is serious enough for the Son of God to shed His blood on the cross. Our boasting cost God dear. And it may yet cost us dear. According to the Illiad, Achilles hubris led to the Greek gods condemning him to Hades. What will our arrogance cost us?
4. The Pathway for Boasters (vs. 14-15) – what is at the root of boasting? It is a lack of reality – James asks the businessman whether, in fact, he knows what will happen tomorrow. Of course not. There is a high probability that things will work out the way the businessman thinks, but any number of things could get in the way. Chief among those is his own mortality. 100% of people who die suddenly have plans for tomorrow – but death takes us, whether we are 9, 19 or 90. And James tells us that our lives are like mists which appear for a very short time and then disappear. Only God knows what tomorrow holds. And James then takes us onto the kernel of the problem of arrogance – it is a lack of dependence upon God. Boasting is practical atheism – where we say we believe in God, but we act as if He didn’t exist. To use the language of vs. 15 – “we will do that, and I don’t care if God wishes me to or not.” The pathway for boasters is to realise that they owe everything to God – they owe God for the breath they have, for the pulse they feel, for the homes they have and the futures they will enjoy. And furthermore, they depend upon God for everything – without God, there would be no today and no tomorrow. The boaster’s tongue reveals his lack of trust in God. The humble Christian knows that she owes everything to God and that she need to depend upon Him from second to second. If you are going to use your tongue for something, don’t use it boastfully, but use it to express your dependence upon God for everything.
Double-mindedness is a poisonous snake; our tongues are the number one agents of the serpent. We use it to slander others when we should use it to worship God; we use it to boast of our own abilities when we should use it to express our own weakness and our dependence upon God. The cure for double-mindedness is to trust more in Christ – to ask Him to give us eyes only for Him. Then, rather than being our Achilles heel, our tongues can be our greatest weapons for winning people for Jesus. AMEN