September 7, 2021 (Wednesday)
Quick. When I say “religion,” what do you think of?
I hope you came up with great answers. James has three
images of what religion is about. I’m guessing two of them will be shocking to
those not familiar with the book of James. I’m guessing two of them are
regularly ignored by those familiar with the book of James. Let’s dive in.
James starts with a subject he has already proposed. The
tongue. “If you
claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself,
and your religion is worthless.” [James
1:26 NLT] Let’s listen to Jesus for a word of wisdom, “But the words you speak come from the
heart—that’s what defiles you.” [Matthew 15:18 NLT] What we have to
understand is, the mouth (tongue), exposes what is in the heart.
If you can’t control your words, it means we are only
pretending. We think we are religious. We think we are saved. We think we are
in a secure place. However, if what comes out does not honor God then our
religion (faith) is worthless. We are going to learn later in James how difficult
controlling our tongue is in practice.
The next two images is found in the next verse, “Pure and genuine
religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in
their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” [James 1:27 NLT] In a day when the government helps
the elderly, we can feel free to not care for orphans and widows. The key is to
be sensitive enough to pick up on “distress.” Some people are good at that
skill, others not so much. Either way, when it comes to our attention…
If I can stretch the point a bit, orphans and widows were
the most vulnerable of the population. I would argue, they are not the only
vulnerable ones in our society. James is requiring us to help those who need
help. I know our minds run to money, but possibly caring for others involves
more. Think about it.
The last one is probably on the list of what “religion”
means. Other translations use the image of stain, contamination, and evil. You see,
pure and genuine religion is not just about doing (or not doing) stuff. There are
many people who are good at helping others in times of need, but do not follow
Jesus. They are good people, but without Jesus, will suffer a terrible
eternity.
However, if we claim to be religious and cannot control our
language, ignore the needs of other, and allow the corruption of the world to
seep into their souls; then we are just fooling ourselves. It is a very
delicate and complicated dance between faith and works.
James is just getting us warmed up to the idea that you can’t
have one without the other.
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