James 1:17-27
Walk the Talk
The story is told of five frogs are sitting on a log that is floating in a pond. The five frogs have a committee meeting and decide that they are going to jump into the water. So how many frogs are there on the log? The answer is five because talking about a jump into the pond is not the same as actually doing it.
I am told that professors in business schools sometimes use this joke to communicate the difference between stated intentions and actual behaviour: it is even the title of a book on the subject.
You see, there is an awful lot of difference between what people say that they will do and what actually happens. And is not just in business, it is in every aspect of life.
And it applies equally to our lives as Christians. And it is nothing new because that is just what James is saying in the middle of our reading from the first chapter of his letter. V22. ‘ Be doers of the word, not hearers only.’ RSV. (Do not merely listen to the word… do what it says NIV). In other words, you’ve got to walk the talk. As Christian frogs we should jump off the logs and put what we believe into practice in our lives. As Christians, we have to walk the talk.
How should we walk the talk?
Well, if walking the talk is important, the first question we need to ask is ‘ how should we walk the talk?’. How do we do this? Fortunately James gives us some clear instructions here to help us.
First of all, James says that we need to
Avoid the deceptions. You see, human beings are very good at manipulating the facts to suit our own prejudices, or to avoid uncomfortable truths. He uses the word ‘deceive’ three times – vv 16, 22, 26. And what James is saying here is ’For goodness sake open your minds and stop kidding yourselves’. Don’t deceive yourselves.
There are many ways in which we do deceive ourselves about the truths of Christian living. We deceive ourselves by enthusiasm and the amount of energy we put into church activities. We deceive ourselves by our celebration of our spiritual heritage. We deceive ourselves by our church rituals and ceremonies. And we deceive ourselves because we try to convince our selves that this is good Christian living. But it isn’t so because these activities do not of themselves help us to walk the talk. So we need to avoid the deceptions that we so easily fall prey to.
Secondly, James says that we need to
Remove the obstructions. What he is saying is that there are things in our lives that obstruct us, stop us walking the talk as Christians. There are things in all of our lives which act as a barrier to us walking the talk. There are things in our lives are clearly not putting what we believe into practice. James gives some examples:
Get rid of all moral filth v 21
Keep a tight rein on your tongue v26
Don’t get angry v19
This list is not exhaustive! You see it is easy to deceive ourselves over this. It’s very easy to deceive ourselves by saying that ‘ I do not get angry’, or ‘ I have very careful about what I say’, and think that that is all right. But there are other obstructions that we may need to remove. It may be pride, or lying, or maybe some other thing that we know is wrong and is a significant obstruction in our lives. Feeling bad or saying ’I’m sorry’ is not good enough.
We need to deal with the obstructions in our lives. We need to remove the obstruction.
But getting rid of obstructive things in our lives is not enough. We also need to
Obey the instructions. One of the great things about the Protestant tradition is the focus on the word of God. We ensure that the Bible is read in our services, and we preach from it. We are going to be staring a Bible study group in the autumn. And it is easy to deceive ourselves that we are centred on the word of God - without doing anything about it. It is easy to deceive ourselves that we are listening to the word of God, it is easy to deceive ourselves that we know the word of God, and it is easy to deceive ourselves that we have the intentions to put the word of God into practice. But what James says is that you actually have to let it get inside you. ‘Humbly accept the word planted in you’ v21. In other words, our knowledge of the word of God has to be so much more than just superficial. It is not just head knowledge, but heart knowledge too. The word of God has to be an integral part of our lives. And when it is integral to our lives we do what James encourages us to do. He says ‘Don’t just listen to the word, do what it says’ v22. So when the word of God is integral to our lives, we obey its instructions and put it into practice. We can walk the talk.
Why should we walk the talk?
So we have thought a little bit about how we should walk the talk as Christians. But why should we do that? Why should we walk the talk?
Unless we are careful, all that I have said just now may seem like a list of rules. But James says that the reason we should walk the talk is that we have a change in our motivation. Many people think that by living a ‘good life’ (whatever that might be) will score them points with God. But you see, this is not about scoring points keeping rules or following a routine. This is about
the response of real love to God
who gives us ‘every good and perfect gift’ v17. This is the God ‘who chose to give us birth’ v18. So this is not about going through the motions, but it is because of our response of love to the God who created us and provides for us. We want to walk the talk because we really love God.
What this is about is actually a complete change of our hearts and minds. God doesn’t want slavish keeping of rules, but wants a loving relationship where we obey him. God doesn’t want us to just go through the routine; he wants us to live lives that are changed because we love him. And that love and that change go hand-in-hand. In other words, the result of our response is of love to God is
the result of real lives.
The result of our response of love to God is lives that are authentically Christian. The result of our response of love to God is that our lives are lives which do the word as well as just hearing it. So, James says that as we humbly accept the word that is planted in us v21, and as we continue with it V25 and put it into action, it changes us.
It gives freedom v25,
It brings blessing to us v25
It brings salvation v21
It brings righteous living v20
It brings a life of authentic action vv26-27
a life of conviction – not conformity
a life of control - the tongue.
a life of compassion - the heart
This is authentic Christianity.
And it seems to me that this is absolutely crucial. Because frankly, if Christianity is not going to make a difference to my life and the way that I live my life, it’s a waste of time. If Christianity is not going to make a difference to our lives and the way that we live our lives, we are worth no more than to be objects of great pity. And indeed, if Christianity is not going to make a difference to our lives and to the way that we live our lives, then we are in fact liars.
And so, if our faith does not make a difference to our lives and the way that we live our lives, then we must not be surprised if people do not take us and our faith seriously.
Somebody said recently that "...the single most cause of atheism in our world today is Christians...who acknowledge Jesus with their lips...but walk out of the church doors and deny Him with their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
And this problem is nothing new. When Mahatma Gandhi was a student in South Africa he often attended a Christian church. He was attracted to Christ and often read the New Testament. But, he never became a Christian. When asked why he said, "I got the impression that [Christians] were just a group of worldly-minded people going to church for recreation and conformity to custom. I have the highest admiration for the Christian life and for the Christ of the Bible. And I might have become a Christian if I could have seen one."
So the call that James has made upon us to walk the talk is not just for our own individual benefit. It is for the benefit of our Christian family and it is also for the benefit of the world. For if we do not walk the talk, we cannot be surprised if we are not taken seriously. If we do not walk the talk, we cannot be surprised if we have no impact in the world. But if we do live authentic Christian lives, our lives and the lives of those around us are changed and can be changed in ways which we cannot yet imagine!
Lets get walking!
