Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

Imagine with me that the deacons allowed me a year-long sabbatical in Hawaii. I know it’s a fantasy, but indulge me for a moment. 

While I’m away, at least once a month, I send detailed emails to Dr. Ben Lovvorn, our Senior Executive Pastor and the Chairman of the Deacons, concerning the church and the ministries of First Baptist Dallas. I suggest the kind of preaching and worship that should take place on Sunday mornings. I discuss the children’s and youth ministries and adult Sunday School classes. I send encouraging and challenging words to our ministries for women and men, to our community outreach, and to what is taking place with our elderly and special needs folks. I offer opinions on our financial situation, and on occasion, I address matters concerning the facilities and the maintenance of our beautiful campus. I even told Chef Tim to be prepared to bake his famous chocolate cake upon my return.

As my sabbatical draws to a close, Amy and I decide to return a week early to surprise everyone. We pull up to the church on Sunday morning, and the first thing we notice is that the glass is dirty and dull. Then, we see the dead flowers and the flowerbeds overrun with weeds. 

We walk past the fountain, and the water is green and slimy. When we enter the building, little piles of dust and trash litter the corners here and there, and children are running around unsupervised, marking the walls with crayons and pens.

Since the service has already started, we slip into the back unannounced. Clearly, the carpet hasn’t been vacuumed in some time. The orchestra and choir, with what members remain, are performing some sort of Top 40’s pop song—and doing that badly off-key. And the “sermon,” if you could call it that, was nothing more than a ten-minute motivational self-help talk. 

As soon as the service is over, I run to Ben and the Deacon Chairman, Mike Deahl. When they see me, they shout, “Pastor! We didn’t expect you back for another week.”

I look around and say, “That’s plain to see.” “How was your sabbatical? Hawaii must have been wonderful. And you’re so tan.”

“What’s going on here, guys?”

“What do you mean? We’re having worship service like we do every Sunday.”

“Is that what you call it? And look at this place. Didn’t you receive my emails?”

“Oh, yeah. We got every one of them. They were amazing. You really have a way with words, pastor. As a matter of fact, every time you sent one, we read it to the congregation, just as if they were one of Paul’s letters. Then, we forwarded them to everyone on the mailing list. And you’ll like this. Some of us memorized a few of your best sentences and paragraphs. One or two even memorized entire emails! Isn’t that great? 

We’re telling you, pastor, the congregation was so taken with those emails they wanted us to hold a weekly email study. One of the seminary professors, Jim Wicker, even developed a Discipleship University class tackling the difficult passages and hard saying in each of your emails. The class was so packed we shoved them in like sardines. And get this—the professor’s notes were so detailed and useful that we decided to take your emails and his notes and bind them together into a beautiful leather bound book. It’s called the Jeffress Study . . .”

“Stop! You’re telling me you received all my emails and that you’ve read them, studied them, and even memorized them. But WHAT DID YOU DO ABOUT THEM?”

“Do? Well, uh—nothing.”

We can know the truth with our heads and become passionate about it with our hearts, but if we don’t obey it, what good is knowledge and passion? This is the question James asks and answers in the last ten verses of chapter 1.

The context of this letter is very important to understanding and applying it. James, the half-brother of Jesus, was the leader of the Jerusalem Church. The church was made up primarily of Jewish converts who were now being persecuted and scattered throughout the Roman Empire. However, they would return to Jerusalem throughout the year for special Jewish holidays that they continued to keep even as Christians.

As James observed their behavior, he was troubled by what he observed. As a result of being scattered, they drift spiritually. Their walk did not match their talk. Some were falling into unbelief; others were falling into immorality; some were involved in petty disagreements. There was barely any difference between their behavior now and their behavior before they were saved.

This is not right, James declared! Saving faith should result in visible fruit. There should be substantial differences in the lives of believers and unbelievers other than what they do from 11am to noon on Sunday morning. That is the theme of James’ letter.

James addresses specific areas of our life where our faith should make a difference: in the way we respond to trials and in the way we respond to temptation. In subsequent messages, we will see the difference faith makes in our attitude toward wealthy people, in our ability to control our tongues, in our response to physical illness, and other topics.

But in these final verses of chapter one—after James has discussed trials and temptations—he pauses to remind us of the centrality of God’s Word in our lives.

God’s Word of truth was central to our spiritual birth. We were made alive by God’s Word. But our spiritual life didn’t stop with our salvation; it just began there. First Corinthians 15:20 says that Jesus was the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” What does that mean? Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead, but not the last. “First Fruits” was a special offering that came from a sample of the harvest. It wasn’t the entire harvest.

In the same way, Jesus’ resurrection was just a sample of millions of others of his followers who would be raised physically from the dead. However, Jesus was also just a prototype of people who would possess the character of Jesus Christ.   

Yes, one day, God will give us a new body like Jesus—that’s glorification. But right now, God is molding our minds, will, and emotions to become like Jesus Christ. 

Just as God’s Word was instrumental in our regeneration—making us spiritually alive so that we can believe and be justified—It is central in the work of sanctification, making us more like Christ. God’s Word is like a bar of soap that washes away the grit and grime of ungodliness. It is like a chisel that God uses to chip away any attitudes or actions that hinder others from seeing Christ in us.

How do you know if you’re really saved? By how you respond to trials, by how you respond to temptation, and now, in verses 19-27, by how you respond to the Word of God.

We can summarize these three aspects of spiritual maturity—accepting, acting on, and abiding in God’s Word—with one simple command: be doers of the Word. And as we’ll soon discover in our study of James 1:19-27, it’s in the doing that we demonstrate Christlikeness.

1. Accept the Word (James 1:19)

James had already called the Jewish believers who first read his letter “beloved brethren” (v. 16). In that verse; he gave them a warning not to be deceived into believing that God was the source of their temptation, which leads to sin, which leads to death. In this next section, beginning with verse 19, James calls them “beloved brethren” again, but this time, he challenges them to be doers of God’s Word, which begins with accepting the Word.

He then adds a little extra spice to his language to arrest their attention. He says to them, “This you know” (v. 19). 

The New International Version translates this phrase as “take note of this.” It’s his way of saying, “Listen up. What I’m about to tell you is of utmost importance, and I don’t want you to forget it.” What follows are four commands.

• Be Quick to Hear (James 1:19)
• Be Slow to Speak” (James 1:19)
• Be Slow to Anger (James 1:19-20)
• Receive the Word (James 1:21)

2. Act on the Word (James 1:22-24)

Hearing the Word of God read or preached is important, but it’s just the first step in a never-ending series of steps toward Christlikeness. As Bible teacher Warren Wiersbe put it this way, “Many people have the mistaken idea that hearing a good sermon or Bible study is what makes them grow and get God’s blessings. It is not the hearing but the doing that brings the blessing. Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them! If you think you are spiritual because you hear the Word, then you are only kidding yourself.”

James says you’re deluding (paralogizomai) or deceiving yourself (v. 22).

In contrast to the doers of the Word, James offers an illustration of what mere hearers do. He writes, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was” (James 1:23-24). 

No study, no teaching of God’s Word is complete until we answer the “So What” question. “What should I do differently because of the truth I’ve just read or heard?”

3. Abide in the Word (James 1:25-27)

The Greek word for “abide” (parameno) means to “persevere”—to practice over and over and over. We don’t reach maturity by acting on the truth of God’s Word once or twice any more than someone who wants to run a marathon can achieve that goal by running a few miles a few times or someone wanting to learn to play a musical instrument can master that instrument by a couple of practice sessions.  

Instead, receiving God’s Word and acting on God’s Word is a way of life for us that produces spiritual fruit continually, as Psalm 1 promises.

But this kind of spiritual fruit doesn’t come automatically. It results from receiving and nurturing God’s Word in our lives. What does that look like?

Five Principles for Abiding in God’s Word

1. Listen to God’s Word
2. Read God’s Word
3. Study God’s Word
4. Meditate on God’s Word 
5. Obey God’s Word

Full Passage: James 1:19-27