Expeditious Expositions: James 4:13-17

Arrogant Planning

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"-- 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. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. — James 4:13-17

Being rich is risky business. It’s not just because wealth carries with it more responsibility, but that the pursuit of riches is a dangerous occupation for the soul. Jesus said that, “it is easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Money matters have a particular emphasis in the teachings of Jesus as seen in the Sermon on the Mount, the parables of the kingdom, and in Jesus’ rebukes of worldly leaders. James has a decidedly negative view of rich people throughout his epistle. In James 4:13-17 the main sin of these industriously rich people is their arrogance over their presumed control of their life. 

James takes these rich people to task for boasting over their business plans. He says, “Come now you who say…” James’ rebuke is not of their planning, but their boasting. You can have a calendar, schedule appointments, and organise future endeavours without defying the reign of God over your life plans. The main problem is not the plans but their evil boasts. These rich people are boasting that they will be successful in wheeling and dealing for a whole year and will assuredly make a profit. This is not a humble prediction. James calls them out and says, “you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.” The sin in their hearts was that they saw themselves as being in control over their lives, so they can determine whatever outcome they wished. They were certain that their plans would come to fruition.

Slapping these rich people upside the head, James applies themes from the book of Ecclesiastes to show how insignificant they are.  First, he confronts them on their assumption they are going to make a profit. “What does man profit by all the labour in which he labours under the sun?” (Ecc 1:3) is a key refrain throughout Ecclesiastes. Second, he challenges them on their lack of knowledge of the future, “you do not know what tomorrow will bring.” Third, he refers to their life as a “mist” that vanishes, an allusion to the “breath, vanity” (hebel) prime motto in Ecclesiastes. Though these people see themselves as captains of industry they are really only fleeting breaths that are ignorant and impotent concerning their futures. 

Instead of boasting over their plans people need to acknowledge that all human plans fall out in accordance with God’s master plan. They should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” The “God-willing” attitude affirms God’s absolute control of life and our submission to his plan. To not affirm this reality is “sin” and “evil,” for it reveals an arrogant heart of autonomy and self-determination. Christians might give lip-service to God’s sovereignty, but to really believe this reality one has to learn it the hard way. After all your plans have been scuttled by God, then you realise he is in control. As Christians make plans they should write them in pencil, not pen. In all our life-planning we need to adopt the attitude that we are merely unworthy servants of Christ, bought with a price, ready to do whatever he calls us to do.