Christ-Centered Atheism

If God’s people would, please
take your Bibles and turn to the book of James. We’re coursing through James
Epistle, and we come again to chapter four, where we have been
for several weeks. James chapter four, and we’ll
be in verses 13 through 17 this morning. There are, in the very noble
study of theology, the great study of God himself, there are
to be noted several foundational presuppositions. Number one,
that God does exist, and that secondly, he has indeed revealed
himself to humanity. These two guiding truths are
to be received and held by faith. The Bible consistently declares
that God exists and that he has revealed himself to every person
ever born. Romans 1. It isn’t an experiential
knowledge that discovers this or something that on our own
even we could discover. It is said to be innate, God
given. What leads some people to the
foolish conclusion that God does not exist? What leads to an atheistic
worldview? Sin. Sin sometimes leads some
people to reason God away. We can call those intellectual
or rational atheists as an official title, although a conclusion
that there is no God is contrary to intellect and quite irrational. But theology also notes what
is called practical atheism. These people would affirm that
there is indeed a God, but they live their lives as if there
were no God. In James chapter 4, we have been
considering a great and powerful chapter. Some of the strongest
words ever recorded in scripture, where James is warning those
who are giving over. to a worldly mindset, what they
would inherit if they do not repent. In chapter four, verses
one through 10, in that first little section, he warns them
about a worldly grasping at honor and pleasure and riches. In verses 11 and 12, which verses
we just concluded, James warns against arrogantly judging others,
a worldliness that takes a very personal attribute. And then in this section, James
rounds out his address of worldliness by rebuking an arrogant trust
in the security of our human endeavors. As one described this great chapter,
he said, this is yet another example illustrating the truth
that the root of all worldliness is pride. Pride, arrogance, arrogance
of heart toward God here, a presumptuous confidence in the future. Now, I’ve told you before, that
if you have to explain or discuss your sermon title, it’s not a
very good one. I don’t think that’s the case
today. I think it’s a great sermon title. But of all the sermon titles
I’ve ever come up with, this one absolutely demands explanation. Christ-centered atheism. And the immediate reaction of
the saints has to be, there can be no such thing. How can there
be these polar opposites blended together as one? We often speak of churches, individuals
being Christ-centered. And what we mean by that is they
are Christian, they are thoroughly Christ centered. James is writing
to Christians here in this epistle. They are Christ centered. As with the entire rest of James’s
epistle, he’s writing to Christians and he’s doing so here in chapter
four as well. We’ve already noted the strength
of James’s language. That to professing believers
whom he over and over again, 13 times in this epistle calls
brethren, nevertheless warns them against spiritual adultery. And he calls them out by name. So the idea that somebody could
be. Christ centered. And yet living
a life of practical atheism is entirely possible. That’s exactly
what James is addressing here. James is writing to Christians,
to those professing Christ, to those who are Christ-centered.
But here, to these Christians, to these Christ-centered brothers,
he addresses a frightening tendency. The tendency to leave God out
of the equation of life. to leave God out of the consideration
and deliberation and formulation and implementation of their plans. Practical atheism. And though they wouldn’t identify
themselves as such, effectively, that’s how they live. They say
that they believe in God. They say that they have placed
their faith in Jesus Christ. But practically speaking, given
the moment by moment, day by day, deliberations and choices
and things that they do, they live like atheists. They live
as if God did not exist, as if he were not in complete control. Would you look at James chapter
four, beginning in verse 13? Where James with equal strength
as with the rest of this chapter says one more time come now.
You who say today or tomorrow we shall go to such and such
a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make
a profit. Yet you do not know what your
life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears
for a little while then vanishes away instead. You ought to say,
if the Lord wills, we shall do this or that. But as it is, you
boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the
right thing to do and does not do it, to him, it is sin. Christ-centered atheism. That’s what James is discussing.
And given that it’s the Lord’s table today, all I’m going to
do is introduce this, probably just verse 13. We’ll introduce
the subject and take it up in greater measure beginning next
Lord’s Day. But what James is addressing
here is the human tendency of presuming upon God. presumptuous
living, the sin of omitting God from the equation of our consideration
in our planning, in the conduct of what we do and putting it
into effect. It’s the offense of presumptuousness
in thought and in word. Go again to verse 13. And I want
you just to meditate on that with me. When James says, come
now, you who say today or tomorrow we should go to such and such
a city and spend a year there and engage in business and make
a profit. And so with this very abrupt
introduction, James begins to address the great and prolific
sin of presumptuous. I say great because it is a direct
offense against God himself. And I say prolific in that it
is so common and such an easy sin to commit. We’re so quick
to plan. We’re so quick to forecast. We’re
so easily set on our, we so easily set our sights on some flag planted
somewhere deep into our calendar. The future dates that we hold
as given. And here in verse 13, As quickly as James begins, we
see the sin of presumptuousness on full display. It unfolds before
our very eyes. We know this sin because we do
this sin. Watch how James lays out this
hidden pitfall of human nature. The planner, and it could be
anyone planning anything, The planner announces his agenda
as if it’s already unfolding. In fact, in his mind, it’s as
good as done. And notice how full and complete
his plan is. The speaker is almost giddy with
excitement. It comes off as almost childlike,
except we know that we do this even as adults. The planner,
the speaker here, whom James is quoting, can scarcely take
a breath because of his enthusiasm. I’m going to do this and this
and this and this. To what one referred here is
deliberate and calculated arrogance. With the articulation of each
new element of his plan, his anticipation builds to near bursting. Presumption is piled upon presumption
on top of presumption. Everything is laid out. Nothing
is left to chance. Nothing is open to providence.
Nothing is contingent upon God’s sovereignty. Everything is as
good as in the books. And James’s whole point is that
nothing is dependent on God to this man. God is nowhere figured
or mentioned in the entire course. Consider it. This guy knows where
he’s going. He knows what he’s going to do.
He knows how long he’s going to do it and even how much he’s
going to make. All the details are schemed out.
The only question that remains is when are we leaving? Success is guaranteed because
I’ve planned it. No pause is given to contingent
to the contingencies of life. No caution is afforded to the
unforeseen circumstances. No humility is exhibited before
the sovereign providence of Almighty God. I’m going and this is what
I am going to do. That settles it. And in case
you think that this is a phenomenon that was only creeping in in
James’s day, consider the testimony of scripture. Presumptuousness
is a longstanding sin. Isaiah 56, 12, calm, they say,
let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink, and
tomorrow will be just like today, only more so. Psalm 49, 11, their
inner thought is that their houses are forever and their dwelling
places to all generations. What is presumptuousness? When
do we do this? When we promise ourselves great
things. when we do things, as Thomas
Minton says, without prayer, where we are too confident and
too neglectful of God. That’s presumptuousness. Let’s look at this verse one
statement at a time. Come now, you who say, in a book
In a section, in a chapter that contains strong language, some
of the strongest in all the Bible, James doesn’t back off one bit
here. In fact, he presses this point
hard. He knows what he’s about to confront. It is the great sin of presumptuousness,
and he challenges it with all directness. Come now. Perhaps with the same directness
we might say in more modern vernacular, come on, let’s be real. It is a direct challenge to the
mindset and the behavior that he is preparing to address. One commentator likened it to
the rousing of a sleeper. Yes, I would agree with him. If the house is on fire, Come now, you who say. Come on, today or tomorrow. James begins here to quote the
man’s plans. And of course, we have the privilege
of knowing the end from the beginning here, knowing how this whole
thing develops, even more how it concludes. And if this subject
wasn’t so serious, the way that this outline begins is almost
comical. Look at it in its context. Today
or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city to spend a year
there and engage in business and make a profit today or tomorrow. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow,
tomorrow or today. And we’re left wondering, maybe
it’s packing. Maybe he’s like that guy, like most guys who do their packing
30 minutes before the flight leaves. Maybe it’s finances. Maybe he’s waiting for the check
to come in. Maybe it’s a lack of preparation. He still has to pull a few things
together. He still has to assign a few
duties. before he pulls out of town.
Maybe it’s whimsy. Maybe he doesn’t know when he’s
leaving. He intends to leave, but he really doesn’t know. Maybe
it is some contingency that has already come up. He doesn’t know
exactly when he’s going to get out of town. I just don’t know.
Maybe tomorrow, maybe today. And it’s almost hilarious. coming from someone who has literally
laid out the entirety at least of his next year. It’s all mapped
out. He’s got it all figured out,
but he doesn’t even know when the trip begins today or tomorrow. And just to be sure here, I don’t
take this statement as a statement of humility. There were some
that suggested, you know, that he was at least starting on a
good foot here. As if he was to say, you know,
I’ve got so much to do. I just don’t know how I can possibly
get out of town in time. I don’t take it that way at all. There is an uncertainty as to
the departure, no doubt. But even that doesn’t seem to
inform this individual of his presumptuousness. In fact, he
makes the sin worse because regardless of when he leaves, his plans
will succeed. He can’t even control the time
of his departure, but he knows precisely how much money is going
to be in his pocket a year from now. I suppose I should interject
here. That one of the very old translations
based upon a very early and somewhat unreliable Greek text. Reads
today and tomorrow. Today and tomorrow would suggest
a much shorter business trip, wouldn’t it? I’m going. And in two days I’m going to
do all this stuff. Like I say, it’s a very short
business trip. What’s interesting is that some
of the older translations built upon this Greek text don’t even
translate it today and tomorrow because it doesn’t make sense. It’s not a reliable text in the
first place, but it begs the question of what do we do with
the upcoming phrase that forecasts spending an entire year in a
place of business? It’s not just a two day trip.
It’s not today and tomorrow. It’s today or tomorrow. It’s
not referring to the length of the trip, but to the time of
the departure. He’s got a general idea, but
he really doesn’t know. And this adds to the absurdity
of the whole plan. We don’t even know when we’re
leaving, but when we do, boy howdy, We’re going to go do this
and this and this. It’s just absurd. Arrogant. Every single one of James’s readers
would have picked up on this irony. The first place where
we typically see God’s sovereign providence, if we’re trained
and prepared to observe it as such, is in the timing of our
departure. Don’t you usually see it then?
You plan, you prepare, and the day comes and something always
seems to delay our well-timed, carefully orchestrated, meticulously scheduled exit.
There’s an old familiar phrase, isn’t there? The best laid plans
of mice and men often go awry. We know it. Why experience is so familiar. It’s proverbial. Let’s look at this plan. Once
he gets out of town today or tomorrow, we shall go to such
and such a city. Let me clarify something here.
It’s not undefined. It’s not as if it doesn’t matter
where this guy ends up. It’s not as if the man is suggesting
that any old city will do. That’s not at all what James
says. That’s not what he means when
he says such and such a city, the person, this planner, the
one who has everything all figured out has a particular destination
in mind. It’s almost as if he unrolls
a map out on the kitchen table and circles a particular city
with a crayon. Here, this is where we’ll go. James, however, leaves it undefined. He broadens it in order to make
it universal. If James were to have said, for
instance, We shall go to Antioch, blah, blah, blah. Some people
might have concluded that to go to Antioch on business is
a sin. And so James leaves it perfectly
wide open. Come now all of you who set your
sights on a particular place for a set period to accomplish
a precise task for an expected gain. Their presumptuousness
begins, but it only begins with this statement. I am going there. I am going there. I am going there. There’s no pause to consider
the potential for political changes Robbers, thieves, sickness, calamity. Consider the Apostle Paul’s well
aimed intentions to take the gospel of Christ to specific
cities. If there ever was. An occasion. If there ever was anything in
which God in his sovereignty might grade on a curve, right? and allow plans to stand as the
man made them. This would be it, wouldn’t it?
The apostle Paul’s missionary journeys. He wants to go there.
It’s as if God should say, well, I really would like him to go
to Macedonia. But his conversion, after all,
was so dramatic. And his personality is so dynamic. And his purposes are so exciting. Let’s let him go to Galatia. In fact, let’s let him go wherever
he wishes. Let’s not us, the all-knowing
Trinity, stand in his way. That’s not it at all. Paul and
his journeys read like a seemingly ill-planned, haphazard, crisscross,
hopscotch, of an ever unfolding journey, don’t they? It’s as
if an intern travel agent planned it. It’s as if entire pages and sections
of his travel guide suddenly go missing. Let’s leave off considering
the Apostle Paul for a moment, back to James’ friend. Look at
verse 13, today or tomorrow, we should go to such and such
a city and spend A year there. This too is very specific. We don’t know when we’re leaving
today, maybe tomorrow, but we’re going to this certain place.
And when we get there, we’ll take a year for us to accomplish
our goals. 365 days, one 10th of a decade. No more, no less. I’ve got it
all figured out. James cites the case of this
man and literally translated, he says, we are going to go do
a year there. We’re going to go do a year there
in this particular city. Paul used this same exact word
to discuss the careful execution of his plans. You want to hear
it? 2 Corinthians 11, 25. Three times
I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I was shipwrecked. A night in the day I have spent
in the deep. I did the ocean. Literally, Paul says, I have
done the ocean. Shipwrecked in treading water,
been there, done that. We effectively say the same things
a lot of times, don’t we? Next summer, let’s go do New
York. Let’s do Paris. Let’s do Longmont. The point is that there’s no
variance to the plan at all. No humility in the statement,
no potential for anything to be adjusted, nothing to go wrong,
even to complete their goals in the exact year planned. It’s
fixed. It’s set in stone. It’s absolute. But it’s ill informed. It’s presumptuous. It’s not guided by biblical principle
and sound reason. Proverbs 27 1 says, Do not boast
about tomorrow. For you do not know what a day
may bring forth. As we noted, as great as Paul’s
work was. It was constantly being adjusted
by all kinds of contingencies, wasn’t it? Theological issues
arose that suddenly sent him elsewhere. Storms arose. Persecution
arose. Famine. Other ministry opportunities. His schedule was constantly being
reshaped. The bottom line here for James’s
friend is that he doesn’t even know if he will arrive there. After all, there could be a plane
crash. Check that. In this case, a donkey crash
or sickness or redirection or a closed border or hurricane
or earthquake or fire or any manner of disaster. All things, all kinds of things
could keep us from arriving at our desired location, and then
we would have to hang on somehow, some way for the obligatory 365
days. Which one of us doesn’t know
firsthand that our plans to reside in a particular place for a particular
length of time are only as good as the paper on which they’re
scribbled, aren’t they? And yet the presumption grows.
Look at it again. Today or tomorrow, we shall go
to such and such a city, spend a year there, and engage in business. You see, the plan continues to
unfold. Here, the specific purposes become
very clear. This is a business venture. The
Greek word here is that from which we get our word, emporium.
Initially, this word was used of very general travel. But then
it came to be used of business travel, travel in the course
of buying and selling and making money. And I’ll just tell you
that James is not against it. That’s not what he’s railing
against here in this verse. Our friend says, we are going
to such and such a place to set up shop. And please know, James
isn’t speaking ill of any of this in and of itself. Nothing
wrong with business, nothing wrong with buying and selling,
And it’s not that we’re trying to play like a Johnny Raincloud
here, but even if he leaves relatively on time and he arrives relatively
intact, the adventure has only just begun, hasn’t it? You see, he has real business
considerations to attend to now. Who is the competition? Are there
supply issues? Is there a workforce? What about
the economy? Those are all rather important
questions to consider, aren’t they? I mean, if you’re going
to be in business and you’re going to guarantee results. Those are important questions.
I remember when I first came back here. I had a manager who
had moved here from the East Coast. And he came here very sure of
himself. He was a very confident guy.
And he was ready to teach us all a lesson. So he ordered 500,
an entire trailer load of dehumidifiers. Those of you from Colorado know
where I’m going here. I don’t think we sold a one.
For all James’s friend knows, his business plan is just as
questionable. You’ve got to know your market.
And this man is winging it. Today or tomorrow, he says, we
should go to such and such a city, spend a year there, engage in
business, and make a profit. This he guarantees. An investor
would love this guy. But in a list of outlandishly
presumptuous statements, this may be the most presumptuous
of all. Because it is contingent upon the success of all of the
others. His departure, his safe arrival,
the supply chain, the workforce, little or no competition, economic
stability, physical health, stamina, absence of crime, natural disaster,
only to name a few. And still, one would have to
turn a profit. Bills would have to be paid, high rent, employee
theft, insurance, et cetera, et cetera. Profit? If you’re lucky. We need to be very careful here.
There’s nothing wrong with buying and selling. I’ve said that.
In order to make a profit, that’s the whole point of business.
But there’s reason to pause here, because the only other place
in the New Testament where this word is used is 2 Peter 2, verse
3, speaking of false teachers. 2 Peter 2, verse 3 says, in their
greed they will exploit you. And there are some commentators
and pastors that spoke ill of business itself as an act of
the exploitation of others. But it doesn’t have to have that
sense. James isn’t saying here that business is bad, that business
ventures are bad, that making money, making a profit
is sinful. He isn’t saying that at all.
This man is going there literally to exploit the market. That’s
not a bad thing. That’s business. If you’ve ever played the game
of Monopoly, it always just drives me crazy. The people want to
change the rules of the game of Monopoly, right? They want
to make deals and arrangements that build these kind of perpetual
friendships and mutual prosperity, socialism on the board. The goal of Monopoly is to win. To own everything and to see
to it that everyone else is bankrupt. That’s the goal. And if you don’t
like the goal of the game, don’t play
Monopoly. James isn’t saying that monopoly
is bad. Let’s be clear. There’s nothing
wrong with planning. But nothing wrong with evaluating
markets and determining to go to a particular place or city
to start a business. There’s nothing wrong with forecasting
a business plan. There’s nothing wrong with labor
or business or industry or making money. Nothing wrong with any
of that. There’s nothing wrong with determining the going rate
of the market, setting your price and making a profit. Nothing
wrong with any of that. Then what? What is James’s concern
here? Why is he so exercised? The entire underlining concern
here is the sin of presumptuousness. It is disregard of God. God,
as we have seen, is completely left out of the equation in this
man’s mind. In the first 12 verses of chapter
four, the whole theme has been preference for the world over
God himself. And it’s no different here in
verse 13. Only here, instead of the world’s allures. Instead
of our own reputation being placed above others, here it is our
plans that are held in high regard, regardless of God’s mind on the
matter. This is the sin of presumptuousness.
It’s a sinful tendency to which we’re all subject. It is the
foolish inclination to look way ahead in life and not just look
to the future, but to set and establish a plan that even if
only in our own mind is fail safe. Absolutely assured we can count
on this plan. And so given this plan, which
in our estimation is near genius, We begin to speak in like terms. As soon as we can get going,
everything will begin to fall into place. The course we’re
taking will arrive on time. The place we’re going, the plan
we’ve developed, we might as well begin counting our profits
now. Victory is ours. Success is ours. And it is so because we planned
it. All we have to do is get started,
it’s as good as done. It’s presumptuous. And it’s one of those slippery,
elusive tendencies that we all know is commonplace, but none
of us think that it’s true of us. There’s an odd old saying,
if you have bad breath, you’re usually the last one to know.
Such is the case with presumptuousness. Webster’s defines it as overstepping
due bounds by taking liberties to undertake without leave or
justification. We put God in obligation to see
to it that our plans are profitable. That definition reads like an
outline of James’s friend’s plan. But we all do that kind of thing
all the time, don’t we? We overstep our boundaries when
we intrude on God’s sovereignty, and we do this by refusing to
lay our plans before him in prayer. When we run ahead of God, we
do something without his justification, without God’s blessing. And yet
we do all of these things with great confidence. It’s presumptuousness. It’s a sinful confidence in the
future, and the future is not guaranteed. It’s an arrogant,
overconfident attitude, an air of self-sufficiency because it
is planned and carried out and communicated with a complete disregard of
the sovereign providence of God. Jesus tells us of just such a
man. Turn just for a moment to Luke
chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, to set the context
as you’re turning, Jesus is preaching. He’s in the act of preaching.
I’ve had a few people over the course of 25 years interrupt
me in the midst of a sermon, but I’m not the king of the universe. Jesus is preaching and someone
in the crowd blurts out, look at verse 13, teacher, tell my
brother to divide the family inheritance with me. And I love
this because not even Jesus obligates himself to litigate and, uh,
you know, counsel every little situation. He said to a man who
appointed me a judge or Arbiter over you. And he said to them,
beware and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not
even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his
possessions. And he told this parable. Verse
16, the land of a certain rich man was very productive and he
began reasoning to himself, always a dangerous practice. He began
reasoning to himself saying, what shall I do since I have
no place to store my crops? You see where this is going?
Do you sense the arrogance? And he said, this is what I will
do. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there
I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my
soul, soul, You have many goods laid up for many years to come.
Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry. And if that’s the way the story
ended, that’s how most people would assume. But God said to
him, you fool, this very night, your soul is required of you.
And now who will own what you have prepared? Problem is that we’re bombarded
with all sorts of encouragements to this, to cultivate this mindset
of presumptuousness. We’re told by everyone from coaches
to the media to athletes to movie stars that we control our own
destiny, that we can make life perform for us. Nothing wrong. with a positive
mental attitude, there’s nothing wrong with a hopeful disposition. But the notion that mere positive
thinking will alter our reality and produce some kind of self-appointed,
self-determined success is blasphemous. Popular culture, self-appointed
psychological experts, especially professional athletes, will tell
you, set your mind on a goal, believe in yourself, and just
do it. But it’s more than just the prevailing
slogan. They suggest to us that we’re
supposed to go after life as a mere self-belief, infusing
our ability We’re told to visualize ourselves accomplishing our goals. And if we do, we’re already on
the way to realizing it. But the really frightening part
is that when it’s all said and done, such a person can take
a bow and proclaim, I did it on my
own power. I get all the glory. And this is why I would say that
it’s much more than just an advertising slogan. It’s a mindset, and in
fact, it’s more than a mindset, it’s a philosophy, and it’s more
than a philosophy, it’s a theology, it’s a religion. It’s the religion
of self. I would suggest that it’s based
on a hyperactive confidence in self. A gross faith in human
ability that is self-centered, self-sufficient, self-absorbed
independence from God himself. Proverbs 16.1 says, the plans
of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from
the Lord. God doesn’t rebuke us here for
making plans. It’s good and right. He doesn’t
forbid us from pondering and planning for the future. But as John Calvin in his inimitable
style put it, It is a very insane thing to undertake to execute
what we cannot pronounce with our tongue. We can’t make it
happen. And yet we boast. We have no idea what the future
holds. How can we lay hold of it as if it were in our power
to bring it to pass? It’s not the planning that’s
sinful. The sinful flaws in the presumptuousness revealed by
the self-centered approach that moves us along as if there was
no God. Practical atheism. Stephen Charnock
perhaps coined the phrase practical atheism. And of it he said, hence
from a practical atheism springs all presumption. The common disease
of the world presumption is an invasion of God’s dominion. When
we resolve without thinking of the necessity of a divine warrant. As if ourselves were the lords
of our time and of our lives, and if as if God were here to
serve us. When we presume upon our own
strength or wit to get the better of our adversaries, when we are
assertive, In the expectations of success. He says such. Is practical. Atheism. And if your Christ centered.
That can’t be the pattern of your life. Examine your heart. Before the
throne of grace. Our merciful King. We thank you,
we thank you for every person in this room who has placed their
faith in Christ, and yet we know, Father. We know because of the
weakness of our human flesh. The pressures of life, the foolish. Theories of the world, we know.
How prone we are to fall into this sin. To make boast of things
we have no control over. Lord God, we pray. Examine our
hearts and show us our foolishness in this and the weeks to come
as we consider this passage. Show us the way out. Lord, you’ve
shown us what the sin is. And we know how prone we are
to it. Grant us the grace. To rise above
by your grace to overcome. This great sin of presumptuousness. We pray all of these things in
Jesus name. Amen.