JAMES 1:26-27
THE TESTS OF REAL RELIGION
We have been studying about being receptive to the Word and responsive to its teachings. Receptivity to the Word and responsiveness to its revelation must be coupled with a new way of living. One must continuously surrender to obedience and constant practice of the Word. For inner spiritual devotion to Christ as Lord will be demonstrated by meaningful external religious expressions (CIT). The book of James will never let us be content with the general, it is specific, we must do the Word. Here it presents us with three tests of real religion: the tongue, helping the helpless and maintaining personal purity in a polluted. Pure religion means practicing the Word.
I. THE TESTS OF REAL RELIGION INCLUDES CONTROLLED SPEECH, v. 26.
II. THE TESTS OF REAL RELIGION INCLUDES COMPASSIONATE DEEDS, v. 27a.
III. THE TESTS OF REAL RELIGION INCLUDES A CLEANSED LIFE, v. 27b.
The first test of real religion is controlled speech which we encounter in verse 26. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion if worthless.
The one who is truly religious will demonstrate it by controlled speech. The word religious (threskos) refers to external observances. This Greek word only occurs four times in the New Testament and two of these are here (Col. 2:18; Acts 26:5). Josephus used this word for public worship. For the Jew and the Jewish Christians to whom James wrote religion consisted of external ceremonies. These include observing the Sabbath and special religious days, attending public worship, participating in public prayer and singing. There are many people that seem pious and go through the external performance of religious rituals but how do you go about telling if the external is real or not? The Bible says that one can do all forms of religious activity yet it may not be the genuine article because it does not come from a heart where Jesus reigns as Lord.
The Bible says one way to know if a person has true religion is that he or she must tame the tongue. The vivid word bridle applied to the tongue describes the untamed potency of the uncontrolled tongue. Small bridles are used to control a large and power horse. Through the tongue the whole animal is controlled. Through the control of our tongue we learn to control our whole being. We all have need of controlling our tongue better, don’t we?
One woman said to another: "I can’t go into all the details, darling. I’ve already told you more than I heard myself."
Some time ago, R.G. LeTourneau, owner of a large earth-moving equipment company, told this story. "We used to have a scraper known as the model ‘G’." Somebody asked one of our salesmen one day what the ‘G’ stood for. The salesman was pretty quick on the trigger, and so after thinking a few seconds, replied, "Well, I guess the ‘G’ stands for gossip, because like gossip, this machine moves a lot of dirt and moves it fast!"
No matter how spiritual we think we are we could all control our speech more effectively. To bridle the tongue is to discipline it, restrain it, curb it, keep it under control. The imagery suggest that the tongue is like an unruly horse that needs bit and bridle to check its wild tendencies.
If we have not tamed our tongue all our religious activities are considered worthless. The Greek word translated vain or worthless (mataios,) suggest futile, fruitless or useless. "All the observances of ceremonial religion are futile and void of meaning if one cannot control his or her tongue." (Vaughan, Bible Study Com. 41).
To have an uncontrolled tongue and think that you are religious is self deception. The literal thought is "misleads or seduces his or her own heart." "External religious activity minus disciplined speech uncovers a persons’ self-deception. Here, the danger is not hypocrisy; it is self-deception. Such a person feels religiously authentic, but in reality he possesses only counterfeit Christianity. Deception seizes his heart –the center of personal life. What is more, all of his external religious activity is uselessly empty. Like a nutshell without a kernel inside, his religious activity reveals a disappointing inner emptiness. James’s word for "vain" pointed particularly to the worship of idols in the Old Testament. He believed that such undisciplined religion without controlled conversation might be as unprofitable as bowing before an idol. (Gregory, James, 30).
We all need to pray with the Psalmist (Ps. 141:3): "Set a watch, O Lord, over my mouth; keep the door of my lips."
II. THE TESTS OF REAL RELIGION INCLUDES COMPASSIONATE DEEDS (27a).
Pure and undefiled (unstained) religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress,
The externals of religious worship are unacceptable before God
unless accompanied by loving service and a holy life. Real religion is active compassion in contrast to empty ceremony. Thus authentic Christianity is described positively as pure and negatively as undefiled or without filth. Together, these two terms signify absolute purity. Unfortunately, as the Old Testament period had progressed, religion had drifted toward mere correctness of ceremony. James took up the prophetic demand (Jer. 22:16) that God does not desire pure ceremony as much as He desires pure people.
Additionally, real religion is pure before God. For religious
performance to impress people is one thing. Some people can give academy award performances of religious activities. But for God to view their acts as pure is another thing.
In the first century, orphans and widows had very little means of economic support. Orphans and widows represent those without defense, protection or provision. Their helplessness made them victims of oppression (Ps. 94:6; Isa. 10:2; Jer. 7:6, 22:3; Eze. 22:7; Zech 7:10; Mal. 3:5). Unless a family member was willing to care for them, they were reduced to begging, selling themselves as slaves, or starving. By caring for these powerless people, the church put God’s Word into practice. Thus real Christians are to visit them in their crisis. We are to take a personal interest in and express loving concern for orphans, and widows. We are to supply their material needs, and comfort them in sorrows and give any other assistance they may require.
[SENIOR MOMENTS] Some of these senior widows seriously need our help. I heard about a pastor who went to visit three widowed sisters. These three sisters - 92, 94, 96 years old, respectively all lived together. One day the oldest was going to have a bath. She put one foot in the tub, paused, then called downstairs to her sisters, "Am I getting in the tub or out of the tub?"
The middle sister started up the stairs to help, then paused and called back downstairs, "Was I going up or coming down?"
The youngest sister, who was sitting at the kitchen table having tea, said, "I guess I’ll have to help. I hope I never get that forgetful!" And she knocked on wood. She got up then, paused, and called, I"ll come up as soon as I see who’s at the door!
I read in A Taste of Joy by Calvin Miller about a wealthy woman who was found dead in her home. She had lived alone. The coroner found no organic reason for her death. Miller commented, "I think the cause was neglect. She was weary of setting a single plate at the table and fixing her coffee one cup at a time. The old woman had written on her calendar only one phrase, ‘No one came today.’"
God cares about the solitary person. And He wants us to care too. Lonely people need people. They need us. May it never be that because of our self-absorbed busyness, someone in our world has to write on his or her calendar, "No one came today."
Think of someone who lives alone. If no one comes to mind, call our church for the names of such people. Then phone them and ask if you can stop by. Pay a visit. Tell them Jesus loves them.
When we give with no hope of receiving in return, we show what it means to serve others. Nothing costs as much as caring –except not caring.
[A TASTE OF HEAVEN] You can be in heaven for a while yet keep your feet firmly planted on earth. No, I’m not thinking about a mysterious out-of-the-body experience. I have in mind a journey we can take whenever we do something kind and unselfish in the name of Jesus.
A Christian businessman heard his pastor tell about a widow who had been evicted from her home because she had no money to pay her rent. Her furniture was piled up on the lawn. She didn’t know where she would go or what she would do. The pastor said that if someone would help her, he would have a "foretaste of heaven." The businessman went to the home to see what he could do. He returned to church that evening and said, "I have just been in heaven. I went to see that widow, paid her back rent, helped her move her belongings into the house again, and stocked her cupboards with food. It is the most joy I have experienced in many years."
Do you want to be in heaven for a little while without leaving this earth? Do something kind and unselfish for someone in need. The joy and gratitude you see on the faces of people you help will make you feel so good that you will wonder how heaven could be any better. One of the reasons we try to plant our roots so deeply in the earth is our selfishness. The more unselfish we become, the more heavenly joy we will experience right now. Follow the example of the businessman in our story and see if you don’t get a foretaste of heaven.
A test of true Christian love: do you help those who can’t help you in return?
III. THE TESTS OF REAL RELIGION INCLUDES A CLEANSED LIFE, 27b.
to keep oneself unstained (spotless) by the world.
Genuine believers guard against contamination with the pervading moral pollution in the culture around them. The world here is the spirit of the age -every age-which reflects a godless agenda for personal and community life. Christians are to love the lost but shun the spirit of the age which is alienated and antagonistic toward God.
[SNOW WHITE ERMINE] In the forests of Northern Europe lives the ermine, a small animal known best for its snow-white fur. Instinctively this animal protects its glossy coat of fur with great care lest it become soiled.
Hunters often capitalize on this trait. Instead of setting a mechanical trap to catch the ermine, they find its home in a cleft of a rock or a hollow tree and daub the entrance and the interior with tar. Then their dogs start the chase, and the frightened ermine flees toward its home. But finding it covered with filth, he spurns his place of safety. Rather than soil his white fur, he courageously faces the yelping dogs who hold him at bay until the hunters capture him. To the ermine, purity is dearer than life!
The Lord wants us to be a people who will keep ourselves unspotted from the world. The Bible teaches that the Christian is sanctified, meaning "separated to God and holy in personal conduct." To impress this upon the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, God instructed them to put a "cord of blue" upon the borders of their garments (Numbers 15:38). Blue spoke of heaven and signified the character and destiny of His chosen people. The blue band would constantly remind them of their holy calling. It was a visible token of their being set apart unto God, calling to mind the Lord’s priority over their lives and their responsibility to obey His commandments.
CONCLUSION
Real religion must incarnate itself into life, not just generally but by specific acts in specific cases. Pure religion has little to do with ceremonies, temple rituals or special days. Pure religion means practicing God’s word and sharing it with others; through speech, service and personal purity. How pure, how real are your religious expressions?
The bus driver hated one part of his daily schedule. After every run, he had to wait 7 minutes near a vacant lot that had become an unofficial garbage dump. Litterbugs had left their trash in the field, creating an unsightly, smelly setting. One day the bus driver couldn’t stand it anymore. He got off the bus during his break and picked up some cans and other debris.
He did it again the next day and the next, before long, the field was so attractive that the driver looked forward to stopping there every day. Then he went a step further and planted some flowers. Soon people began riding his route just to admire the dump-turned-park.
That driver was a doer. He could have sat and looked at that eyesore, moaning about sloppy people and wishing someone would do something about it. But it still would have been ugly. Nothing changed until he got into action.
How often do we take action when we see a need? James said we should do what the Word says if we are looking for blessings. Then he gave an example of what "can do" Christians can do. A doer is one who will watch one’s speech, look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. What have we done to "improve the landscape" around us recently? Or are we all talk and no action?
Don’t just talk like you know what you believe; act like you believe what you know.
