What Most People Miss About The Christian Faith

Introduction

When I read studies and surveys on the state of Christianity, one thing that strikes me as odd is how heavily many of these surveys rely on self-identification. In many cases, if someone says they are a Christian, they are considered a Christian for the sake of the survey. I am not convinced that this is the best way to measure whether someone is a Christian or not. In fact, I am positive that it is not the best way. The fact that a person claims something about themselves does not, in fact, make it true. I can claim that I am a mechanic all day long, and I may be able to handle small repairs and maintenance on my own car. If you were to trust me to make a major repair on your own car, you would not be very impressed with the work that I do. You would need to find a real mechanic to fix your car.

If I were to claim to be a mechanic, I would be wrong. My self-identification as a mechanic wouldn't be enough for you to trust me with your car. A person who claims to be a mechanic should be able to back their claim up with their ability to repair vehicles. The real mechanic is the person who is able to fix cars, not the person who claims to have the skills. This is important, because it illustrates the point that James was making in James 1:22-27. Here, James explains why the difference between those who know about Jesus and those who know Jesus is the same difference between the mechanic and the person who simply claims to be a mechanic.

The Primary Difference

There is one primary difference between those who know Jesus and those who simply know about Jesus. It isn't knowledge. It isn't which pew a person sits in. It isn't even how many Bible verses a person has memorized (as good as this practice is). Instead the primary thing that divides the person who knows Jesus and the person who simply knows about Jesus is summarized in James 1:22-27. The one thing that serves as the primary difference between those who know Jesus and those who simply know about him is this: Do they listen to what he says?

The instruction that we receive as we study Scripture and the message we hear about Jesus Christ only work the way they are supposed to when they are applied to our lives. We can know everything about the type of sunscreen that we have in our pack when we go to the beach. But if it is not applied, you still get sunburned. We can know everything there is to know about the insect repellent we have when we go hiking in the woods, but unless it is applied, it will not keep the mosquitos away. We can know everything there is to know about the batteries that we use to power, say, the TV remote. We can even know everything there is to know about how the remote works. But unless the batteries are put in and the remote used in the way it was intended, it won’t work. We can know exactly how to make soap, but unless we apply it each day, we are still going to stink.

In the same way, we can know everything that there is to know about Scripture, about Jesus, about God, about the Church, and about the Gospel. Unless it is applied to our lives personally, it does us just as much good as the sunscreen or the bug spray that isn’t applied when we need it. 

James tells us that the person who thinks that they are okay by just hearing the word, but never applying it, is deceiving themselves. How so? Well, James tells us that “if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like.”

James compares the person who hears, yet doesn’t do with a person who looks in the mirror, sees his reflection, and immediately walks away and forgets what he looks like. This comparison makes sense when we consider the picture that James is trying to paint. The “mirror” that James is referring to would have been a piece of highly polished bronze. It would have been polished enough for a person to look into it and see his or her face. Then, as now, the goal of the mirror was to provide an exact image of what a person looked like. A person who looks into the mirror, then walks away and forgets what he looked like would have gained no real benefit from the mirror. It has had no impact on his life. In the same way, a person who looks at Scripture, and sees the person that God desires for him to be, and hears the message about Jesus, and understands how much God loves him, and sees the way that God wants to transform his life, and yet walks away and applies none of it has gained nothing. This is perhaps the greatest tragedy of all time that James is describing.

Seeing Our Reflection

When we look at Scripture, we see the message about Jesus, and we also see the kind of people God has called us to be. A people who are unified by their love for Jesus. A people who imitate the humility that Christ displayed in his life. A people who are called to reach out to the world with the message of a God who loves them so much that he carried everyone’s sin, shame, and burdens on his own shoulders on the cross so that those who trust in him for salvation can be saved. If we walk away and do not live as though this is the case, it does no one any good. 

There is a scene in the movie “The Lion King” in which Simba, the main character, meets Rafiki the baboon. Those of you who know the plot line of the story will understand the analogy that I am making. Rafiki leads Simba to a pool of water, where he instructs Simba to look into the water. Simba, looking, sees his own reflection. After being told to look harder, he sees the reflection of his father, the king. 

This analogy breaks down at some point, so I don’t want anyone to read something into this analogy that isn’t intended, but I think it gets us close enough before it breaks down. The point is that, in the same way that Simba looks into the pool and sees who he is supposed to be, so also, when we look at the instruction in Scripture that is given to us as Christians, we see who we are supposed to be. It is a tragic thing to walk away and forget that Christ has called us to be his holy people. 

James draws a sharp contrast between those who look at the word and do not apply it and those who look at the word and apply it. He tells us that “those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.” In contrast to the tragedy of those who forget who they are supposed to be, those who put the word into practice are blessed. They are not like those who forget who they are, but instead remember who God has called them to be.

True Religion

James closes by taking everything that we have read so far one step further. James tells us what true religion looks like, and can I say that every example that James gives in this passage involves some kind of action that is fueled by love. And I know that some may hear the word “religion” and immediately think of a list of rules. But the way James uses it here is more along the lines of “working out our faith in the way that it was intended.” 

James lists two main ways in which true religion is worked out: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” 

When we look at who we, as Christians, are called to be, it involves loving and caring for other people as a reflection of our love for God. In fact, James lists two of the most vulnerable populations in his day: orphans and widows. The picture that James is painting is that Christ reached down and redeemed us when we were spiritual orphans, the most vulnerable kind of person. If we are to reflect that love, we are called to put our faith into action in helping and serving the most vulnerable around us. We are called to be a people who are fueled not by impulse, or anger, or forgetfulness. Instead, we are called to be a people fueled by love for God and love for one another. The point that James is making is that there is something wrong with our faith if our faith does not make itself known by the love that we have for others.

How are you going to put your faith into practice today, tomorrow, this week, this month, and this year? How are you going to show those around you the love of Jesus Christ? How are you going to point broken people in the world to the Healer and Savior of souls? Let us know in the comments.