The Danger of Denial

I am sure that you have heard the urban legend about the domestic worker who broke his madam’s precious, bone-china coffee mug. Hoping to minimise her wrath, he explained that “it wanted to break madam”. If you refuse to blame yourself for breaking something, why not blame the object itself?

Denial is a common human condition. In fact, I am pretty good at blame shifting myself. I suppose we all are, which is certainly the assumption of James in his letter to “the twelve tribes, scattered among the nations”. Scholars tell us that these were probably Jewish Christians dispersed by the persecution that broke out against the Jerusalem church after the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1-3). Life would have been tough for these refugees, so James opened his letter with advice about how to handle trials (the subject of my last three blogs).

In verse 13, James shifts from the topic of trials to the topic of temptation. This is logical, for an external trial often gives rise to an internal temptation. Significantly, James begins by saying, “when tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me’”. Humans love to blame shift, so why not blame God? Didn’t Adam say, “The woman YOU put here with me – SHE gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Gen. 3:12)? Blame God. Blame the woman. But whatever you do, do not blame yourself, Adam.

The fact, nonetheless, is that there is nothing in God that makes sin attractive to Him. He does not find the thought of tempting you alluring (13). However, there IS something in humans that makes sin attractive. James calls it lust or evil desire (14). This is where the temptation comes from. And denial is terrifying, for it gives your evil desires free reign, leaving them unchallenged.

Now why would unbridled evil desire be such a terrifying thing? James tells us in verse 15: desire conceives and gives birth to a daughter called sin; and sin, when she has grown up, conceives and gives birth to another called death. The gender in the Greek is female so as to emphasise the imagery of reproduction.

Blame shifting shows that you are not taking responsibility for your sin. You are in denial. And when you are in denial, your sin is growing. Where will it all end? With Ted Bundy the serial killer and rapist, it all began when he was a small boy walking down a country road. A car passed him, and the driver threw a pornographic magazine out of the window...

But we need not leave our evil desires unrestricted. And the basis of my ability to overcome evil desire is firmly grounded in what God has given me: new birth. In verses 16 to 17, James uses the example of rebirth to make the point that God does not give us bad things like temptation, but He does give us good gifts instead. I am sure that James used the example of rebirth because it is essential if we are to conquer the temptation of our evil desires. Now that you are a child of God, sin has no power over you. God is your dad. You have inherited His family likeness; therefore, your evil desires will only have power if you give them room to move.

The purpose of rebirth is “that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all He created”. In Old Testament times, the first-fruits of the Harvest were set apart especially for God to use. In the same way, God wants me for Himself, for His work and His purposes. Don’t know about you, but I would like to take up the legacy of my Father’s genes, presenting myself for His service and use. The alternative - dabbling in denial and lining myself up for death – simply doesn’t compare.

Cheers for now - Ian

Better than an ain't-it-awful session

Early on Monday morning, my prayer partner and I had what I have come to think of as a consider-it-pure-joy session. How was that for an opening salvo? Yes, I do realise that it needs some explanation. It may help to recall that the blogs I posted on the 1^st and 8^th of March explored James’ command to “consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (1:2). Think of this, then, as episode three.

Having given the context, I will describe our Monday meeting. I guess it started out as an ain’t-it-awful session – certainly in my case anyway! When asked how things were going, I described a state of affairs that has discouraged Gail and I on and off for many years. The details are not important, but it is enough to say that the situation falls into the “trials of many kinds” category.

Have you ever noticed that ain’t-it-awful sessions in themselves are unproductive in the extreme? However, if they become stepping stones to something else, then they are not wasted. Fortunately, my prayer partner gave me time to express my feelings without trying to invalidate or minimise them.

But then we started to try and discern the hand of God in the trial. What else could we do? For the trial seemed tailor-made to aggravate the most deeply held false beliefs that Gail and I have. And maybe that is exactly what God designed the trial to do. After all, God is perfectly justified in His dissatisfaction with our false beliefs because they are the very things that prevent us from enjoying Him to the full, tempting us to run after stuff that will never truly satisfy us. God is jealous for our affections. He wants us to find fulfilment in Him alone, for then He is most glorified in our lives. And since our overarching purpose in life is to make God famous, we will feel the most joy when our lives are invested to that end.

As our thoughts and discussion progressed along these lines, I could feel a sense of gladness and excitement building up in my heart. Yes, Gail and I were enduring a trial. Yes, it was not over yet. But there was a PURPOSE behind the trial that would result in something good for us. Our loving God was dissatisfied with where we were and had something better in mind.

So my ain’t-it-awful session became a consider-it-pure-joy session, and boy has that made a difference to everything. I am beginning to see why James made it a command.

Cheers for now - Ian

Can doubt disqualify you from God's gifts?

Ever wondered whether doubt will disqualify you from God’s gifts? Sometimes, people are tormented by the thought that if only they could generate enough faith, then God would be able to deal with the seemingly unbearable trials of life.

Yes, Satan often tortures Christians because of their doubts, tantalising them with the possibility that life could be different with an absence of doubt. As always, there is an element of truth in Satan’s accusations, for doubt can hamstring the work of God. For example, James writes, “[the one who doubts] ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord” (Jam. 1:7). And Satan loves to use this verse to oppress Christians.

But how can Satan use the very words of Scripture to deceive us? For a start, He tempts us to apply James 5-8 out of context. This passage relates to the specific case of asking God for the wisdom needed to “consider it pure joy” when one is ambushed by the diverse trials of life.

God promises to give us wisdom if we ask in faith and without doubt (v5). But we need to be very careful about substituting the word “wisdom” with, for example, “healing” in the last sentence. Does the Bible teach that we will always be healed if we ask in faith and without doubt? We would need to search elsewhere for the answer unless we are prepared to take this verse out of context. But surely the very fact that we will face diverse trials leaves room for having to endure illness without miraculous healing from God? Maybe the trial you are facing is not due to a lack of faith but for a test of your faith (see last week).

So Satan tempts us to take Scripture out of context. But he also muddies our understanding of doubt. James says that the doubting man “ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord” (v7). If we go by the word “anything”, it does seem that doubt disqualifies us from receiving wisdom along with a wide range of other things that God has to offer (including healing). But what kind of doubt does James have in mind?

James is not referring to just any kind of doubt. The force of the Greek describes a permanent state of doubt. But someone who lives in a permanent state of doubt is unlikely to be a Christian, for Christians are by definition believers. Further, the doubting man is described as being double-minded. Such a person can’t decide whether to trust God or not because his loyalties are divided. We must settle in our minds that God and His ways are dependable. If we hedge our bets by trying to get the best of both worlds, we will get the worst of each.

Further, according to verse 5, we must not doubt that God is generous. He will give you enough to get through your trial in a way that it works for your good – do you believe that? What is more, God gives without reproach. That is, He will not give you wisdom on the basis of your previous record. He knows that you have blown it in the past. But only His wisdom will prevent you from repeating past mistakes, so He gives generously knowing that you desperately need His help.

Does this mean, then, that even the slightest doubt will disqualify you from God’s gifts? I think not. We are all in the process of developing an unswerving trust in God. Sometimes we fall short of that ideal, yet in essence, we believe that He is good and able. Our default setting is belief, even though we may go through periods of doubt from time to time.

Therefore, the fact that God has denied you something does not necessarily mean that you are lacking in faith. And a few niggling doubts as you ask God for something will not disqualify you from receiving it. After all, God healed the son of a man who said, I believe that you can heal my son but help me in my unbelief (Mar 9:24).

Cheers for now - Ian

Consider it pure joy - ya right!

James gives a puzzling if not offensive command right at the start of his letter: consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.  And this IS a command – or so the Greek scholars tell us. To be honest, I have always treated this command as a bit of a joke. Whenever I face a trial, I just grit my teeth, mumble “consider it pure joy” and squeeze a hollow laugh from my stress-constricted throat. Consider it pure joy? I mean really!

Yet James seems to think it really important to consider trials as occasions for gladness. As I have already mentioned, this is a command, and it must have been weighing heavily on James’ mind if it was the first thing he wrote about in his letter. In fact, James is not the only advocate of the joy-in-trials proposition. For example, Paul writes in Romans: “...we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings...” (Rom 5:2). It would seem then that if the command is important (and presumably for our own good), we would do well to take it seriously.

The thing I find difficult is trying to feel an emotion of gladness or delight whilst experiencing something that is unpleasant.  How am I to deal with this difficulty?

Notice that James approaches things from a cognitive perspective. If we deal with the mind, the emotions will follow. To begin, James says “consider” or “count” it pure joy. He is referring to an activity of the mind, a process that involves looking beyond the trial to the fruit it will produce. The trial, he says, will develop perseverance, which though desirable in itself, must complete its work if we are to be mature and complete (v3&4). That is to say, the trial will help to supply things that I lack in my quest for transformation. Further, the perseverance I develop during trials proves my faith to be genuine and keeps me in the race until the finish when I will receive the crown of life (v12).

Therefore, looking at the trial itself will not fan joy into flame, for trials are horrible, depressing things.  But reflecting on the effects of the trial may produce a joyful emotion. And wouldn’t you say that this way of thinking is much more productive than the usual thought-tapes we play when facing a trial? “I will get through this trial, and it will make me complete” is a far better and truer thought-tape than, “I can’t do this; I don’t deserve this; this isn’t fair”.

James continues with his cognitive approach in verse 5. Here, he recognises that his readers will require divine wisdom in order to “consider it pure joy” when overwhelmed by a trial. Wisdom is located in the mind. Yet when I have the wisdom to see trials as an occasion for rejoicing, the emotion will follow. And believe me; such wisdom is not natural to us. It must be given to us by God.

So may you begin to reflect on the potential fruit of your current trial. And I hope that you will be able to savour the prospect of greater maturity, delighting in the promise of completeness. But if you are like me and are lacking in wisdom, give God a shout, for He gives generously to all without finding fault (v5).

Cheers for now - Ian