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in what ways might modern confidence in technology or data echo the 'boasting' james warns against?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

James 4:13-16

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, and spend a year there, and trade, and make a profit.” Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live, and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

This letter, likely written by James, the brother of Jesus, to Jewish Christians scattered outside of Palestine, challenges them to live out their faith genuinely. He addresses various practical concerns, here warning against presumptuous planning and self-sufficiency.

In what ways might we be unknowingly 'boasting in our arrogance' when relying heavily on our own plans and technologies?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Proverbs 27:1

    It offers a similar warning about the uncertainty of tomorrow and human plans.

  • Luke 12:16-21

    The parable of the rich fool illustrates the folly of relying solely on one's own prosperity without acknowledging dependence on God.

  • Psalm 103:15-16

    This psalm emphasizes the transient nature of human life, echoing James's metaphor of life as a vapor.

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