Sermon Video: A Jealous God? - James 4:4-6

James, like John and Paul, warns of the danger of "friendship with the world".  The question, of course, is what does this mean?  Instead of reading into the text our own beliefs about the subject (which would be the error of interpretation called eisegesis), we need to allow the text to speak for itself, seeking out the original meaning of the author and the original understanding of the audience/reader (the correct mode of interpretation, exegesis).  Therefore, any definition of "the world" which relies  upon modern concepts like an anti-technology explanation or one concerning democracy or capitalism, is certainly an anachronism that would have been unintelligible to both James and his readers.  This same concept is important in all areas of Biblical interpretation.  In order to honor God's word and show it respect, we need to seek the plain meaning of the text first.  Once we have ascertained what the text meant then, we can seek to understand how we ought to apply the text now.
So, what is "the world"?  In the context of James, the world is everything which is opposed to God, all that carry someone away from God.  James gives plenty of example of the types of behavior that we need to avoid, beginning in chapter two, and when we combine that contextual understanding with an overall sense of what Scripture as a whole requires of us, it becomes clear that "loving the world" equals disobedience to the commands of God.
We, as followers of Jesus Christ, cannot afford to be dual-minded, we cannot serve to masters, the choice before us is simple: Love God or love the world.

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