Not Only Hearing and Knowing, But Also Doing
“But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.” – James 1:25
Read James 1:19-25
Not Only Hearing and Knowing, But Also Doing
We don’t hear the phrase as often these days, but I remember people often telling us, “Do as I say, not as I do.” It was as if they were admitting to not setting a good example, but just the same, we should obey what they were telling us to do.
These days there’s another phrase that’s much more fitting: “If your walk doesn’t equal your talk, the less you say the better.” Because we live in a time when people speak of lofty values and convictions, but their actions don’t seem to support what they claim to believe.
This is true not only for non-believers outside the Church, but also for people who faithfully attend weekly worship services. They listen intently to the Sunday message and nod in agreement, even occasionally affirm it with an, “Amen!” But not long after leaving the sanctuary their actions betray what they claim to believe.
I can think of many examples: Going to eat after church and not displaying kindness and consideration to a server who’s obviously having a difficult time. I remember someone who, instead of leaving a monetary tip, would leave a tract that at first glance looked like a five-dollar bill. The Gospel message contained in the tract might have been valid, but leaving a generous tip along with the tract would have made a much greater impression.
Years ago, I had a friend who was the general manager of a community newspaper chain. One of his responsibilities was overseeing the advertising department and establishing its policies. He said whenever someone came in to buy an ad and presented stationery or a business card that bore a Bible verse or Christian symbol, the policy was, “Those people pay cash.” Why? Because most of the time, they were the worst at paying their bills on time.
I heard the testimony of a couple that had been visiting a church years before. It was back in the early ‘70s and they were hippies. The man had long hair and both wore blue jeans, not the expected ‘Sunday-going-to-meeting’ attire in that time. They were spiritual seekers, but not believers. So, during the rest of the week it wasn’t unusual for them to visit the local bar.
This couple lived in a converted school bus that they would drive to church and then back to an abandoned lot that they called “home.” As it happened, after they had been visiting the church for a number of weeks, both became ill and were confined to the bus.
One afternoon there was a knock on the bus door. They found several folks waiting with food they had prepared for the ailing couple. They were from … the bar. The man giving his testimony quipped, “At that point, if we’d had a choice of whether to join the church or the bar, we’d have joined the bar.” Funny, but unfortunate at the same time.
The couple eventually became followers of Jesus – hence their testimony – but the point was they had encountered more generosity and compassion from friends they had made at the bar. A sad commentary, at least about the congregation.
In the book of James, the apostle admonishes, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). Later he adds this challenge: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:14-17).
James isn’t suggesting we’re saved by works, but rather that our actions serve to demonstrate that our faith is genuine. If it’s true that, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), shouldn’t this be reflected by how we conduct our lives and “love our neighbor as ourselves” (James 2:8)?
As another translation of James 1:22 commands, “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” Years ago, Charles Sheldon wrote a little book called “In His Steps.” It became the driving force behind the “WWJD – What Would Jesus Do” movement. It basically was saying the same thing as James: our faith and actions should be complementary – faith being worked out through our actions.