Biblical Perspective or Convenient Excuse?
However, many Christians react very strongly when they hear this biblical quote because it is most often used (erroneously I might add) as a “spiritualized excuse” to NOT follow through on commitments and responsibilities by simply saying “I guess it was not the Lord’s will” when in fact it was simply their laziness, neglect or apathy to do the right thing (v. 17). So what happens is that we take a biblical principle that should strongly influence our view of the world (James 4:15) and we use it as a spiritual loophole for not following through on commitments. We have misused it and completely destroyed the integrity of the text.
But just so you know that “Lord willing” is the furthest thing from a spiritual legal loophole to get out of commitments and responsibilities. I want to draw your attention to is verse 17: “Therefore to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Here we have the other side of the coin. In fact this whole passage is not suggesting we become neglectful in our commitments, but strongly drives home the reality of doing the right thing. If you make a commitment, that means following through on it. Even if something more interesting pops up that tempts you to cancel your first commitment and go explore the new more exciting event that came across your path. Doing the right thing is following through. Then we have another problem. In today’s world, even in Christian circles, the tendency is to not commit to anything, wait until the last minute to see what provides the most excitement for me during a certain time period, and then I will do what I think will be the most fun. It is an excruciating problem for anyone trying to plan anything because, as some of you will know, no one will commit to anything until the last minute. Very hard to plan for things especially if we have to collect funds for an event.
One final corollary of this text. I run into people all the time who are invited to an event and the primary and first thing they want to know is “who is going to be there.” Remember, James already dealt with that issue back in chapter 2, when we make distinctions among ourselves by treating some people as worthy of my time and others not as worthy we are also not committing or committing to things on a premise that is not biblical.
I would encourage you to ask this: do I follow through on my commitments? Do I make commitments based on what God says is the right thing to do, or do I make or not make commitments based on what is most comfortable and convenient for me. For some this would never enter their thinking, but for all of us James makes some critical points about how we treat others and make commitments.
Pastor Brad Little
