This passage contains harsh words from James to the established Christian church of his day. James saw that the beliefs and principles that carried the movement since the day of Pentecost had been replaced by established human structures, acquiescence to the benefits of worldly society, and self-congratulations on the prosperity of the church. The established church was ignoring the warning signs that Unity in Christ had become fractured, that the eagerness for service had waned, and that obedience to God had been diluted by compromise to society.

We can gain a stronger sense of the context in which James wrote this passage by looking at the last part of chapter three, since James wrote the entirety of this book as one letter. Just prior to these verses, James has emphasized the fallacy of trusting in "earthly, sensual, and demonic" wisdom. It was that kind of worldly thinking that has led to a church that was divided, selfish, and ineffective.

There is another important context in which we should consider this passage, and that is the teaching of Jesus recorded in Luke 12:6-7: "Aren't five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don't be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows." Jesus taught this lesson on a hillside to crowds of common people that the Jewish church had dismissed as unfaithful, unclean, and unworthy of God's attention. In this teaching, Jesus soundly contradicted the opinions of that established church and emphasized that every person is valuable in God's Kingdom.

When we consider the passages from Luke and James together, we get a strong sense of the meaning of humility as it should be lived out in a Christian's life. In God's eyes, we are priceless, but we are in desperate need of the renovation and reconstruction that only God can do. That renovation can only take place in us when our focus is on God, our will is subjected to God's will, and we trust God to do that which is best in our lives. When we decide to interrupt God's work in us, to make our own decisions, set our own directions, and pride ourselves on our own work, we are left only with partially rebuilt ruins of our spiritual selves. We can deceive ourselves that we are not so bad, and that we are certainly better than other people around us--but we can never be what we should be if we do not let God continue to work in our lives.

This is the heart-broken cry from James, that those people who should have been the most humble and obedient to God had instead interrupted God's work by their own pride. They were confident that they could provide for themselves what they needed, both in possessions and knowledge, and even that their wisdom was sufficient to lead others of God's people. As Revelation 2:4 expresses so eloquently, "you left your first love", and those to whom James wrote did not even recognize that they had lost their humility, and so lost their focus on God.