¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Arrogance is bad, we all know that, as is some boasting. But not all boasting. The question is this: what are you boasting about?

Arrogant boasting is bad—that’s undebatable! We would be arrogant in boasting over our sin or allowing for sin in the church. Paul rebuked the faux sophistication of the Corinthians, who took pride in not only tolerating but seemingly sanctioning sexually immoral behavior. Paul wrote, “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst” (1 Cor. 5:2). The apostle John proclaimed more generally, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:16).

Finally, we read that arrogant boasting is a sign of the last days of evil: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy . . .” (2 Tim. 3:1–1).

James’ readers were guilty of presumptuous, self-centered boasting, and this was destroying their fellowship. Such boasting is nothing short of evil of the worst kind. And if we are guilty of it, we must not minimize it!

Our tendency is to boast, though, so we need to redirect this penchant in a good direction instead of toward self. Paul, as our example, freely boasted, as he wrote to the Galatians: “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14, also 2 Cor. 7:4). He boasted in his weakness, which contributed to his suffering for the gospel: “On behalf of such a man [i.e. himself] I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:5). He boasted in the fact that he did not receive any financial support from the Corinthians, and therefore they could not charge him with freeloading off them as he presented the gospel message to them (2 Cor. 8–10, 11:10). He also boasted in people as a means to motivate them, as he did with the Corinthians: “Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf” (1 Cor. 9:16).

James certainly would agree with Paul, who taught, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8–9). The antidote to boasting in ourselves or our good deeds is to boast in Christ (Gal. 6:14).

Lord, You only are great and worthy to be praised. In You only do I boast.