Christianity Is More Practice Than Philosophy
That is often misunderstood in our society. People seem to believe that if we claim to believe a thing that is enough! Regardless of how we behave or what we actually do, if we believe the right things - this somehow makes everything alright. James didn't think so. I have often said that we thank God for the little letter of James and we thank God it is only 5 chapters long. Were it longer, the exacting nature of James' arguments would be so demanding, we might lose heart. But, in God's wisdom and Providence, there are only 5 chapters and they are stacked with practical commands, warnings, and instructions proving that our walk of faith is exactly that - a walk or a practice - rather than just some ideals we claim to believe. With all of these practical pathways verbalized in James let's examine 5 of these,one in each chapter. The reader might very well find others but these will suffice tonight.
In Chapter one we find James proclaiming many famous exhortations. Perhaps the most well-known is his astounding command, "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only , deceiving yourselves." (Ja.1:22). What follows is an argument defending his statement that is so brilliant, arguments to the contrary are rarely even attempted much less paid any real attention. James says in so many words that obedience is the only path to true freedom. He uses the term 'deception' with deadly accuracy. His analogy of looking into a mirror has many implications. Here are 2. The man who hears (understands the command of God) and refuses to do it deceives himself (tricks or lies to himself). He is like a man who looks into a mirror and then forgets what he looks like. The idea is that we look into a mirror to discover whether our physical appearance is acceptable or not. If we were to look and see dirt on our face but did nothing with the knowledge (such as clean ourselves) but just forgot what we saw, it would be foolish indeed. The other idea included in this analogy is that the Word acts like a mirror for the condition of our heart, soul, and life. God's Word reveals what HE knows about us and what we should do about it. To refuse to practice the truth when it is revealed to us is to lie to ourselves and not face the truth about ourselves. This is tragic indeed. We cannot afford such self-deception. Self-deception occurs to such a degree that we actually believe a lie about our condition - believing our excuse or our twisted view of life instead of hearing what God thinks and then doing what is right about it. Finding out what we are really like is not an act of cruelty but kindness. I want my wife to point out when I have a spot on my jacket so that I do not go out in public and embarrass myself. It is an act of love on her part. So it is with God. But we lose this loving protection and then do damage to the people around us, damage to our holy assignment from God, and damage to our testimony of one who believes in Jesus - when we refuse to follow His instructions.
Chapter 2 contains the equally well-known, "faith without works is dead." (spoken 3 times - Ja.2:17,20,26) This passage is not a contradiction to Paul's famous statement that we "are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast." (Eph.2:8) Paul was attacking one problem and James another. Paul was confronting an error that one could be saved by an successful effort to keep the Levitical Law. This error caused legalism and self-righteousness. Both have been a bane to human kind as long as they have existed. These must be repented of and forsaken if the seeker is to find any peace with God and have a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus! James was confronting an error that was completely different. This error exists in the thought that our actions mean little. It is what we believe that matters. That is a terrible error which James began to confront in our previous comments from chapter one. James says that faith without appropriate action is the faith of devils (Ja.2:19). Strong and accurate language. Real faith produces something and this portion tells us of 3 key behaviors that real faith produces. First, real faith produces acts of self-less kindness (Ja.2:15-17). If we refuse to notice others needs and refuse to do anything about those needs, we do not have living faith. Christians are called to sacrifice and kindness. Sacrifice gives without thinking of inconvenience or loss. Kindness is intentional and not just courtesy which can be momentary and cost us little. One has to 'go out of their way' to be kind and Jesus has called us to sacrificial & kind. Second, real faith gives the best and most precious thing we have to God as Abraham did when he sacrificed his son to the Lord (Ja.2:21-24). Isaac meant everything to Abraham! Real faith holds nothing back from the Lord but offers him our all, our best, willingly! It is the proof of real faith and EVERYONE WILL UNDERGO THIS TEST! To believe is to make Jesus our 1st & best love! Hearing that one might say, "I don't know if I have that much faith." But the question is really, do I believe in God at all?" God is good. When we follow Him, He only takes from us what is harmful (as a good parent) & replaces it with more of HIMSELF & His will. These aren't shabby but priceless, but one would only know that if one believed God enough to give away their life and all that one holds dear. Then one discovers that they have not lost anything but gained everything! Why do we try to hold onto what we cannot keep while not receiving what we cannot lose? Third, we find strength to walk a path less travelled. Rahab resisted the temptation to 'cave in' to the leaders of her society but hid and protected the spies Joshua had sent to search out the situation in Jericho before Joshua's armies attacked (Ja.2:25). She did not 'go with the flow' to save her own skin. She resisted the pressure of her society and chose to keep a loyalty with the people of God! When she did that she overcame sinful temptation & the lure of this world. What an amazing women Rahab was. The Christian who claims to believe in God but keeps a life style that identifies with the ways of this world does not practice living faith. Real faith causes one to break from normal sinful patterns and actually practice a holiness of life with obvious loyalties to Jesus, His Gospel, His kingdom, and His Word! These 3 things are what living faith produces in the believer.
In chapter 3, James comes to grip with the world of iniquity that exists in what people say. "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity." (Ja.3:6a) He tells us that if one is able to control what he/she says, that person has attained perfection. James laments the troubles caused by defiled speech. In other words, a river of sin pours out of the mouths of all of us; no one is exempt! It defiles all around us. We can control huge ships with a rudder and powerful horses with bits in their mouths, but not our own tongue. We have tamed virtually every beast known to man but not the tongue. We bless God and then turn around and say the most vile things about our brethren. Even if what we said were true to some degree, the obvious truth is that WE SHOULD NOT SAY IT! But we do - over and over again. This is sad and discouraging when we face the truth of this in people in general and in ourselves. What are we to do? Admit our great need, pray for a cure individually & corporately, and be abundantly forgiving towards people who have failed in this way. Be particularly forgiving for people who have said unkind or untrue things about us, for we too, have sinned in this way. I get the distinct impression that James is commending deep humility about this and patience with others while we do not tolerate the sin in ourselves. Sadly, it is usually the other way around. We are tempted to kill those who have failed in keeping control of their tongue while we excuse ourselves or don't even pay any attention to our own sins. So often, we want to be saved by grace but we want everyone else to be saved by works.
In chapter 4, we find more incredibly valuable exhortations. Ja.4:7 says, "Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Did you know that the pronoun 'you' at the end of the verse is plural! AMAZING! We might interpret this is in modern English, "Submit yourselves to God. All of you resist the devil and he will flee from all of you." James was not just challenging us to surrender to Jesus and reject the lies and temptations of the enemy. He was encouraging us to do all of this TOGETHER! When we read the New Testament with an open and unrestricted heart & mind, one cannot escape the monumental emphasis God's Word places on fellowship = serving God with others. This unity, this togetherness, this mutual dependance, this family, this body, this army, this flock, this fellowship is a source of such enormous strength that James (under God's direct inspiration I might add) claims that the enemy simply cannot even hang around to fight when Christians band together to resist him and submit themselves to the will of God! The devil FLEES! I wonder if I will ever see the people of God in America figure this out. They find every reason & excuse under the sun not to have a vital connection with other Christians on a daily basis. They think that going to church once a week will suffice. They live anemic lives as a result. The promise is enormous in scope, broad reaching and powerful. The promise is without prejudice toward any race, gender, age, or creed. Get together to help each other pursue the right and reject the wrong and watch how fast the power of temptation towards sin disappears - Hallelujah! I have seen this blessing in my own life. I have sadly seen the opposite in my own life - trying to battle against my sins & personal demons in secret and alone and gaining little or no victory. God has designed the fight to be won another way. Depending on God and drawing from the strength of each other's faith - that is the secret to winning the war against sin in attempting to live a holy life ("without which no one will see the Lord"). Come on, you can do it, swallow your pride and get with another Christian for the EXPRESS PURPOSE of doing God's will and defeating the devil's temptations and lies. Do this consistently and defeat the lie of the once per week Christian! Watch what happens! You will be amazed at the victories! It cannot be any other way. God has promised (Ja.4:7).
Finally tonight in chapter 5, we find, "the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Let me define each key term in this sentence as we attempt to come to grips with yet another astounding promise. The effective (in faith & trust, according to God's will) & fervent (put your whole heart & self into it) prayer (that request, supplication, intercession, call or cry) of a righteous man (those made righteous by the gift of God since we have no righteousness of our own) avails much (accomplishes an enormous amount of good). This is our inheritance - answered prayer. We are agents of change to bring about God's will and intervention in this world. That family member that is destroying themselves, that working peer who is anti God and anti you, this sick society we live in (I just heard a statistic that nearly 30% of adult Americans suffer from some type of addiction), any condition around us that does not reflect the righteousness or will of God, we can change by praying about it. Get in the fight my friends. Great victories are on the horizon.
Well, there you have it. Christianity is not philosophy but real action (practical & useful). We hear you James. We have run from these things but we hear you. O Lord, do not leave us to our own way. Do not leave us in a pseudo-Christian life that has no practice in it. Get the fire burning in us again. Then we will let our light shine before men to the degree that they will see good works and glorify our Father in heaven. Be of good cheer my friends. We are not those whose faith is dead but are of those who have living faith - who are destined to do something about what we believe! Jesus keep you strong.
