A man leaves his business in the hands of someone to look after things while he is gone. When he returns, he asked the one he left in charge, did you get my letters and read my instructions? Yes, he replied I received them, and I read them.
How could it be that this man received the letters and read them, and the business was in such a mess. It is because he read them and did not do anything. What good are reading the letters if you are not going to do anything.
That is what James wants to know? What good is reading the Bible and having good Bible knowledge if you are not doing what the Bible says? That is not practical. James insists we need practical Christianity that puts knowledge into practice.
The practical book of James is written by Jesus’ brother. James speaks to the practical side of Christianity. Christianity is doctrine, but it is more than doctrine. His point was to influence believers to a practical Christianity. It is written to Hebrew Christians. It seems that some people were hearing the word but not doing anything.
There is a righteousness in practical Christianity.
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (James 1:19-12)
James wants us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. James says as Christians we need to pay more attention to others have to say rather than what we ourselves want to say. In other words, listen more and talk less.
You may have noticed those who talk who talk all the time and not listen to anyone. They just talk, talk and more talk.
The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,
and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.
28 Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
and discerning if they hold their tongues. (Proverbs 17:27-28)
You can remain silent and appear dumb or speak and remove all doubt. (Ha ha) One man was so quick to talk and talked so much and so fast that it was said he talked 40 miles per hour with gusts up to 70 MPH. Slow down the talking. The only thing we are told to speed up in this passage is our listening. Once you say it then it is like toothpaste that has
We are also told to slow down our anger. No wonder James is the book of practical Christianity. If we did these two things, slow down our talking and slow down our anger we would be very practical Christians. We would also be off the charts in our righteousness. Not getting angry quickly produces the righteousness that God desires James tells us.
That means getting angry quickly is a very big deal. It is exactly the opposite of the righteousness God desires. We follow this one verse James 1:19 and we are incredibly righteous Christians. You don’t get more practical than having the righteousness God desires.
James says get rid of all moral filth. The idea is like putting off dirty clothes. You put off the dirty smelly shirt and put on a clean one. There is a spiritual idea that you get rid of what is filthy and put on what is clean.
We are to accept the word planted in you. Already in James 1:18 we are reminded that God gave us birth through the word of truth that was planted in us. What James is against is someone who accepts the Word of God in their life for salvation and then does not allow the word to work righteousness in their life. The work of righteousness in your life through the planted word is part of your practical Christianity.
Your spiritual birth is followed by exhortations to shun evil of the old life. You are to live by the word of truth that saves you. This will mean a work of righteousness in your life. The word that saved you must work righteousness into your life. We continue to grow like a baby grows and develops we grow in our walk with the Lord.
Do something about it! James is a book of action. We are not told to improve our intellectual knowledge, but put in practice what you already know to do. We used to have an expression for people who gain knowledge but are not very practical, we would say they are “ivory tower” Christians. James does not want us sitting in our ivory tower, he wants us out in the streets applying what we know.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. (James 22-25)
What James is saying here is one of the arguments for house church. First are the patterns found in the New Testament; Romans 16:3-5, Colossians 4:15, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Philemon 2, and Titus 1:5. In the house church setting you have created an accountability environment to be doers of the word. A congregation can easily become hearers, like a lecture format.
When you hear a good message don’t deceive yourself into thinking that you have done something. What was the application point in the message. How have you applied that. Don’t be a hearer only. Some churches put strong emphasis on ensuring that good preaching comes from their pulpit. Unless there is good doing from the hearers, they have missed the practical teaching of James.
There is a made-up story about a man who had a dream about heaven. The story is not true but the point it illustrates is true. In this story a man had a dream he died and went to heaven. He toured heaven and it was marvelous just as he imagined it would be. He sees mansions, streets of gold and pearly gates. Then the angels showed him a room with shelves and there were rows and rows shelves with mushrooms on the shelves.
The man asked why so many mushrooms in heaven? The angel explained they were not mushrooms, but they were people’s ears. They were the ears of the many people who heard great Bible messages but did not apply the teaching. The result was that only their ears made it to heaven.
Of course, we don’t believe in the immortality of ears, but in practical Christianity we must be more than hearers. We must be doers of the word. There is action required when hearing takes place. If you think attending church and hearing great biblical messages is enough, you deceive yourself.
James uses the imagery of someone who looks in the mirror. They look intently, they gaze into the mirror. They see their face and find out what needs to be done. They need to shave; they need to wash some dirt off their face, and they need to comb their hair. But they go away and do nothing. Compare that to someone who hears the word of God and does not do anything.
A person would be foolish if they looked in the mirror and said yes I sure need to do something to get my face presentable and then go away and do nothing. What use was the mirror at all if they do not do anything about what they saw in the mirror?
The man may have used the mirror to find out he needs to shave his face. He would be foolish if he looked in the mirror and said, yes, I sure need to shave today. Then he goes off and does nothing about his unshaven face. He never shaves. What use is the mirror for him. Yes, that is foolish and that is the point James wants to make about not only hearing the word we must act on what we hear.
The person who looks intently into the and responds to what they see has used the mirror in a practical way. It is foolish to hear the word of God and not respond in action. What use is a hurricane waring system if people ignore it? What use is an air traffic controller if pilots don’t listen to the warning not land the plane now when the runway is not clear? What do you do with what you hear? That is the practical question.
Jesus gave the warning when we spoke of the wise and foolish builder.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (Matthew 7:24-26)
The Apostle Paul says the same thing when he writes in Romans, For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Romans 2:13)
James gives is the application of being a practical Christian.
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:26-27)
This practical action of controlling the tongue is developed more by James in Chapter 3. James will be comparing the tongue to a bit in the mouth of a horse, ruder of a ship and a spark that is able to start a forest fire. The true test of someone who is a doer of the Word and not a hearer only is how are they controlling their tongue.
The tongue can be used to praise someone, or it can be used to curse someone. You know how the world uses the tongue as a weapon to destroy others. We all need to be on the alert to how much damage we can cause with our tongue.
When I worked for Quaker Oats, we had three grain mills: an oat mill, a corn mill and a wheat mill. There were so many people using their tongue to harm others that some said that the rumor mill was the fourth mill there at the factory.
When we live out our faith practically, we will be helping orphans and widows. Practical Christianity does not seek out the limelight or try to be noticed before your brothers and sisters it says we get involved in service without seeking glory for yourself.
We need to do everything to keep being polluted from the world. If you allow the worlds spiritual pollution to spoil you will make their Christianity worthless. Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold (Romans 12:2)
You must come to Christ by faith. You must live by faith. There is a practical aspect of living by faith and following the prescription of the medicine of James 1:19-27 is the best way to live a healthy practical Christian life.
