Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

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(3) Nature of Presumption (4:16-17)
James exposes here the nature of man’s presumption in planning. It is arrogance,
rooted in man-centered, foolish, heedless and sinful pride (1 Cor. 1:30;
2 Cor. 10:17; Gal. 6:14)! Man’s independence asserts itself again. In James
4:11-12, man autonomously elevated his word above the law of God, and
himself above God. Here he pits his own plan against the providence of God.
His arrogance seems to have a basis in fact. The plans again and again
appeared to materialize. It seems to allow for a justified sense of accomplishment
and exhilaration to make plans, and see them unfold themselves.
Why would the businessman not trumpet his own renown?
However, all too human exhilaration is from below, from the pit. So is
the resultant blowing of one’s own horn. To leave God out of the picture, and
then to brag about it is the height of irreligion. The ‘I’ takes center stage and
tells God to move over (Moo, 1985, 157). The exhilaration in the present
context is a devilish substitute for the joy of the Lord, the joy which comes
from above, from God’s presence! “You will show me the path of life. In
your presence is fullness of joy, and at your right hand are pleasures for
evermore” (Ps. 16:11). Autonomous exhilaration is idolatrous, since it is a
glow in the human heart that can exist outside the framework of one’s Christianity.
Further, the boastful expression of that exhilaration James calls
wicked. “To boast and brag” is “hubris” (Moo, 1985, 157-158) and “represents
human self-confidence and self-congratulation. This may find expression
in defiance of God, in disregard for God” (Mitton, 171). It is a moral evil
(Nystrom, 253)! “Name dropping, allusions to places and persons of power,
gloatings over deals to be made” (PDavids, 113), all of this originates in pride
and is an evil boast. One “claims an ability that one does not have” (PDavids,
128). The boast is in “empty plans of grandeur.” “It is a moral evil in its roots
and effects, for it robs God of his rightful honor as sovereign and exalts the
mere human as if he or she were God” (PDavids, 113; see also Keddie, 181).
Besides, it is foolish. After all, the “pride” of life, together with the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eyes, are all part of the world that passes away (1
John 2:16).
This brings us to James 1:17. It spells out the biblical alternative to arrogant
presumption. It is a lifestyle that proves to cover the waterfront! Whether
or not this verse is “a traditional saying that circulated independently of this
context” (See Moo, 1985, 157), the word “therefore” (oun) connects it tightly
with the preceding. But what is its message? According to one commentator,
this verse simply puts what James had just said in the preceding verses in emphatic
perspective by providing “a theological basis for his condemnation.”