Lesson 26: Playing God (part 1)
Read James 4:11-17 - www.bible.com/bible/59/jas.4.esv

The tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits… “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brother and sisters, this should not be so,” - James 3:5, 10.

A few years ago a book was written about games people play. It talks about ways people manipulate others without their even being aware of what’s happening. One of the most popular games among Christians which James now addresses in our passage is playing God. As James wrote earlier when it comes to having our needs met we either resort to fighting or we humble ourselves and surrender to His control. James urged humility but he knew that some would choose to play God instead.

There are 2 ways to play God – with others or with ourselves.

James 4:11 shows how we play God with others.
 - Speak against your brother or sister. It’s the idea of talking about one person to another with the intent of lowering the listener’s estimate of the one spoken about.
- Judge others. The word means to pronounce condemnation upon someone. In order to judge someone you have to know all there is to know about that someone or something. It requires the kind of knowledge that only God possesses. (Matthew 7:1-5) When we judge others. We speak against the law as if the law is only for others to keep and not us. James probably means the Royal law (James 2:8) such a person sets himself above the law.


 James 4:12 give the reasons why we should not play this game.
- We place ourselves in a position of authority reserved only for God.
- We excuse ourselves from or ignore our own failures.
- We show contempt for God’s Court - James 4:11-12. James has some words to say about this tendency to appoint ourselves as judges. In 4:11-12, he warns us against assuming a position that we are not qualified to take. How often do we make judgments as though we were God when we have little or no understanding of people’s motives or circumstances?

James 4:13-17 - playing God with ourselves. This is the most self-deluding version of the game, and it is played in our own lives. We imagine ourselves as the final authority over our life and then living like it. Take God completely out of the picture, don’t depend on Him. Don’t even recognize His existence.

*Thought question: How do you play God with other people? ____

We’ll study this more in the next lesson.