Summary: Arrogance appears in our lives when we judge others and plan without God. The solution is found in the Lord.
The Cure for Arrogance
James 4:11-17
“11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister[a] or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge,the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”
“13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”
The book of James presents a problem everyone can have and this is arrogance. We also call this pride. It is a real problem when it is found in the church. Evidently it was a problem in the church at Jerusalem and at times it is a problem in the churches of today.
Now I have a little joke for you. When I played in the band I noticed that (the other school) had very different hand shakes for each section.
The trombones slide their arm forward and backward in a slide movement when the shook hands.
Tuba players hugged and said hello since their instrument went around them or sat down to say hello during concert season.
Flute and oboe simply annoyed others with their shrill voices.
Clarinetists would move their fingers rapidly on the back of your hand.
But trumpet players would grab you hand forcefully and say, “Hi, I’m better than you.”
Well, pride and arrogance can be bold, but sometimes the one exhibiting the symptoms is unaware. OK! Let me give you another example of arrogance with man .
During the days when Mohammed Ali was a great boxer, he would go around in his arrogance and say that, “He was the greatest.” Humility was never his strong suit! One day, back in his prime, he was on an airplane and the plane was ready to take off. The flight attendant had repeatedly asked him to put on his seat belt. He finally told her, “I’m superman and superman doesn’t need seatbelt.” The flight attendant didn’t hesitate a minute, but shot back with, “Superman does’nt need an airplane either, so buckle up.”
In the book of James we read one problem that affects a lot of people and that is arrogance and pride. It is a real problem when it is found in the church. Evidently it was a problem in the church at Jerusalem and at times this can be problemic in church. The book of James identifies two ways in which arrogance surfaces in our lives. Thankfully we also have the scriptures to tell us the truth.
I’m Better Than You
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Let me point out another folly of judging others. Bishop Potter was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the help desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship’s safe. He explained that ordinarily he never thought of himself to be one of privilege, but he had been to his cabin and had met the man who was to occupy the other bed. Judging from his appearance, he was afraid that he might not be a very trustworthy person. The help desk attendant accepted the responsibility for the valuables and remarked, ’It’s all right, bishop, I’ll be very glad to take care of them for you. The other man has been up here and left his for the same reason!’”
All of us have a problem with making snap judgments about people. We stereotype according to clothing, race, sex, nationality, etc. Honestly, can any of us say we really believe the stereotypes about people? And yet we find ourselves agreeing with others about what people are.
A schoolteacher decided to travel across America and see the sights she had taught about. Traveling alone in a truck with camper in tow, she launched out. One afternoon a water pump blew on her truck. She was tired, exasperated, scared, and alone. No one seemed interested in helping. Leaning up against the trailer, she prayed, “Please God, send me an angel, preferably one with mechanical experience.”
Within four minutes, a huge Harley drove up, ridden by an enormous man sporting long, black hair, a beard and tattooed arms. He jumped off and went to work on the truck. Within another few minutes, he flagged down a larger truck, attached a tow chain to the frame of the disabled Chevy, and whisked the whole 56-foot rig off the freeway onto a side street, where he calmly continued to work on the water pump. The intimidated schoolteacher was too dumfounded to talk. As he finished the task, she finally got up the courage to say, “Thanks so much.” Noticing her surprise, he looked her straight in the eye and mumbled, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” With that, he smiled, closed the hood of the truck, and straddled his Harley. With a wave he was gone!
Now, let me give you another experience to consider. In some states, there are issues with illegal immigration. For example, in Texas, when some people see a person with a certain heritage, they joke that all Mexicans are bad drivers. Unfortunately, stereotypes exist.
These are blanket statements about people. What is the real issue? We are setting ourselves as God, the Judge of all. I have found once you get to know someone their lives are as good and bad as yours are and they have the same concerns about family, working, etc. “I’m better than you” is based on my comparing you to me. I place myself over you because of what I see or have assumed.
The truth is that we Are All are Sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. 
There is only one Lawgiver and the Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
The solution to judging others and placing yourself on a pedestal is to see people including yourself through the eyes of grace.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:7,
“What makes you better than anyone else? What do you
have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is
from God, why boast as though you have accomplished
something on your own?”
He is God and you are not. Thankfully we worship a God who has mercy and grace for each of us. He loves each of us and desires that we come back to the permanent relationship that we are suppose to have with Him.
When we look at our lives and compare, there is only one comparison that counts, “All have sinned”. We are all on a level playing ground. We were all sinners, lost, without a hope. The only difference between me and someone else is I know Jesus. He is the only one who matters when it comes to comparison.
Can we blame Hollywood superstars, and movies for inflated opinion of ourselves? Probably! However evidence for an over inflated opinion of ourselves comes from the College Board that administers the Scholastic Aptitude Test (the SAT exam). Millions of high school students take each year. On that test there are a number of other questions besides the ones about math and English which the students are asked to answer. For instance, they are asked to evaluate their leadership ability.
Recently in an exam, 70% of the students rated themselves as above average in leadership, and only 2% as below average. Sixty percent rated themselves as above average in athletics while only 6% said below. When they rated themselves as to how easy they were to get along with, 25 percent said they were in the top one percent, 60% said they were in the top 10%, and absolutely no one said he was below average in being easy to get along with. Therefore, from this evidence, we understand that our youth are taught to “toot their own horn;” instead of glorifying God.
How many in this room thought their life would turn out different? All of us made plans about our life we were taught a lot in school and that lie is that you can be anything you want to be. Unfortunately life doesn’t always turn out like we think it will. I would guess there are more broken dreams than realized dreams in this room.
Most people plan their lives around self. People give no thought to life itself but we continue to ignore everything for the sake of furthering our careers, our jobs, our savings, etc. we need to look to the writings of the Bible, because it is truth, and we should base our life on that. To the wheel of God is what’s best for each one of us. Not the own wheel, but your Will Be Done.
We are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Our lives are short-lived. Seeing souls saved is the most important event. Therefore, we ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
Should we make plans, absolutely! But we also need to recognize that the is the One who holds the future in His hands. We need to be flexible, because God is in control and knows what’s best for each one of us.
We make plans and recognize that it is only by the grace of God that we accomplish them.
Augustine said, Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love and the future to God’s providence.”
The Root of the Problem is Sin
As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
Back in the 1950s, a man named James Kennedy was an studio instructor. Back then, Dr Kennedy was an alcoholic.  Hey drank whiskey for morning, to noon, and into the night. He also  committed fortification. He lived a very worldly life. When he started dating a Christian girl, she asked him, “Where do you go to church?” And he said, “Nowhere. You don’t have to go to church to be a good person.” Then, with an air of arrogance, he said, “You can be a good Christian WITHOUT going to church!”
And the girl said, “No you can’t!”
Years later, Kennedy said, “That was the first time anyone had ever challenged my little pet saying. I was taken aback. And it made me rethink everything I believed.”
A week later, Kennedy was sleeping in bed in a drunken haze. When he woke up, he heard a preacher on the radio. He got up to turn it off. But before he got to the radio, he heard the preacher say this: “Suppose that you were to die today and stand before God. And he asked you, “What right do you have to enter my heaven?’ what would you say?”
The question stopped Kennedy in his tracks. He sat back down on the bed. And listened as Dr. Donald Barnhouse share the gospel message. That Jesus died for our sins. And rose from the dead. And that if we surrender our lives to him, all our sins would be forgiven. And we would get to be with Jesus in heaven forever. And right then and there, Kennedy completely surrendered his life to Christ.
The next day, as he was shaving, he kept looking at himself in the mirror. And saying, “I’m forgiven! I’m completely forgiven! I’m going to spend eternity in paradise with Jesus!” And he was so happy. And so grateful. That he decided right then and there, “I want what happened to me to happen to as many people as possible.” And he started going to church with his new Christian girlfriend. They dated for three more years. They did not commit for vacation. The power of Jesus Christ changed him. And for the last 45 years, Dr Kennedy has shown his appreciation for Jesus Christ by living a life of loving service.
I hope the last example describes you! I hope we are all willing to work for the kingdom, because Jesus Christ made us free!
However, some listening to my voice might say: preacher everything is not right with me and Lord. How can I make it right?
That is the start to the best decision one can ever make. As we sing a chorus meet with me and I’ll introduce you to Jesus.
