Personal Hygiene

"But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was." James 1:22-24

This week in youth group we studied the idea of being doers of the word and not merely hearers. As I was thinking of a good introduction to the topic, I came up with the idea of comparing the way we treat God's word and our faith, with how we treat our personal hygiene. What if we treated them the same? Here's what I mean:

What if I just thought about and understood why I use the personal hygiene products that I use, but never actually used them? What if I merely did research on my shampoo, but never actually applied it to my scalp? Do I really need to put on deodorant? Nah, that would be too much effort. Showering just makes me feel uncomfortable, and I don't feel like doing it today.

Even though this example is extreme, it is not far from the way we interpret the word of God. Check out this quote from Mark Dever in his book PROMISES KEPT (this is a commentary on the New Testament). Dever states "It is easy to deceive ourselves. It is easy to sit and listen to a sermon or read a Christian book and think that because you have understood something the preacher says, you have moved closer to God. Certainly, understanding something the Bible says is good. Yet hearing and understanding something the Bible says but not making sure that it translates into how you live is quite dangerous. I fear that many religious people in churches have a toxic buildup of religious knowledge that is not lived out. James becomes a terrifying book when we consider all the hearers who have not become doers, especially if that includes you."

Wow! When I read that quote for the first time, it really challenged me. Am I just a hearer of the word? Do I think that just attending a church service, or spending time reading God's word is all I need? I'm deceiving myself. If I'm just a hearer of the word and not a doer, what is the point? James later talks about how faith without works is dead! Don't hear me say that you need works to save you, that is a lie. We are saved by grace alone, and faith alone. However, the EVIDENCE of faith is WORKS. If we are not living out our faith, is it real? When we were called out of darkness, we were called to repentance. We were called to a new life. We were made new in Christ, therefore according to Eph. 4:22-23 "that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind."

The Christian life is not supposed to be lived passively. It is not a call to fire insurance or a get out of hell free card. It is a call to action. It is a call to repentance. We are to show our faith in God by our works. Let's be doers of the word!

Like looking in the Mirror

These last two weeks we have been studying the book of James as a youth group. Last wednesday, we covered James 1:5-11. If you are looking for a place to do devotions, James is an excellent read and is filled with practical and challenging applications. Anyways, one of the topics James addresses was very challenging for me and I want to share that with you as well.

When you get up in the morning, what is the first thing you do? Or maybe it is the last thing you do before you leave? You always take a look at yourself in the mirror to see if everything is "looking good." You use this mirror as a way to interpret how other people will see you in the day. As we were studying through James, this idea came up. In James 1:8-11, he addresses to Christian believers. One is a poor man, and the other is a rich one. To the poor one he says, "Glory in your high position" and to the rich one he says, "Glory in your humiliation." Why would James say this? It seems like he is saying exactly the opposite of what their status is in their world. As I looked deeper into the meaning of the words and studied what some commentators had to say, it became very clear what he was talking about. Here's what I found:

When you take a closer look at the Greek and the context of the passage it becomes very clear. James is telling them to evaluate themselves according to God's standards and not the world's. To the poor believer he says, "Glory in your high position" meaning, even though you have a low position in this world, realize that you are a child of God and that you have an inheritance in heaven that is far higher than anything here on earth. To the rich believer he states, "Glory in your humiliation." In the Greek, the world humiliation actually meant, in reference to your sinful body. He was telling the rich beliver that, even though you have a high position on earth, realize that you are a sinner saved by grace. It is only by God's grace, and nothing of your own merit, that you will inherit the kingdom.

I thought that this concept was amazing and just wanted to share it with you. May we look at God's word, and God's standard like a mirror to evaluate who we are. We cannot allow ourselves to give in to what the world says about us whether it is good or bad. We must realize that we need to interpret our value by spiritual standards and not material ones!