What's Real

English

What's Real?

James 1:26-27

Ever since the very beginning of human life as recorded in Genesis 3, human beings have tried to hide things about ourselves that we don't like -- and thereby to come across as being very different from what we know we are genuinely like inside. Because of that, there have always been shysters, Charlatans and fakes in the world. But, it seems, we have taken this matter of making our outsides look very different from what is inside us to new levels in our contemporary world. We're so good at working on our outside appearance that, sometimes, it is almost impossible to distinguish the genuine from the fake.
As I was talking with some of our younger pastors and leaders about this over the past week, almost each one told me that social media provides a particularly effective venue for us to present ourselves not in ways we really are but in ways we want others to think we are. For example, Pastor Jesse Oakes wrote me this: "Social media accounts are often advertisements for our best self. They seldom capture the flaws, malaise, and confusion that are parts of normal life. Comedian Chris Rock once joked how in dating relationships, for the first six months you aren't dating that person, you're dating their representative.
Jesse is right. We can Photoshop things into and out of our pictures. We can airbrush out any unwanted blemishes or fat. And, even if people actually have to see us in person rather than online, we have aesthetic surgery and Botox and countless ways of altering our external appearance. Let me be clear: I'm not saying it's necessarily wrong to make ourselves look better than we do when we first get up in the morning. I'm simply saying that it's becoming increasing difficult for us to distinguish what is real from what is not.
But today, as we come to the last two verses in James 1, we see that what God does not want us to do is fake our relationship to him. God's Word constantly tells us that, spiritually speaking, what people see on the outside should be consistent with what is inside our hearts. But, sometimes it's hard to separate the authentic follower of Jesus from the one who is faking it. In fact, James even says we can deceive ourselves about this. So, how can we tell what is real and what is not?
There is no passage in God's Word that is clearer or more concise about this question than James 1:26-27. In those verses, James tells us how God sees things. God sees beyond the external and looks inside our souls. And, God also knows the ways that our external actions will inevitably show what is happening inside us. He says that what we should look for among those who truly know him, i.e., what is genuine "according to God" (v. 27), is not what most human beings think it is. So, what is God specifically looking for when he looks for genuine faith?" James points out one thing that genuine faith in Jesus is not and two things that it is. Let's see what Pastor James says about this.

What Is Not Real – according to God
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless (1:26).
The people James describes here are clearly not authentic Christians but they truly thinks that they are. They do religious things and talk big talk about what they do, but their inner life with God is empty. "Religious" is not a word we like to use a lot in our churches. The Bible doesn't use it a lot either. "Religious" was and is a very broad word that basically speaks of the outward and ceremonial parts of whatever religion we say is ours. What the Bible is saying is that, when we do lots of religious activity, we often can be self-deceived by all we do. You could think, "I do many religious things and most people do not. So, I'm OK with God for sure!!"
A lot of this outward religion is simply wrong or misguided. At the same time, some of it could be good! In fact, there are a lot of things that God asks us to do in the Bible that fall into this category of religious activity. But, God says, the activity can fool us into talking big about how deep our commitment to the Lord is based on our religious practices, when we may not have lives surrendered to God at all. I'm sure you know this is true: We can attend church every week, participate in the Lord's Supper, hold our hands in the air while we're singing, (or not hold our hands in the air while we're singing)... But, those things are not the heart of the matter. They flow out of the heart of the matter. Those things do not make us right with God.
No, when we have surrendered our lives to our merciful God through faith in Jesus, we look for ways to worship him and grow in our faith. What happens is that when our faith in Jesus is real, we want to go to church, to give and serve, to be baptized and receive communion... But the heart of the matter is a genuine relationship to God through faith in Jesus – not external rituals. If external practices become the heart of the matter instead of your love for Jesus, your religious activity will be empty.
It's like what happened in the book of Malachi. People didn't love God at all and they were not living for him. Still, they were doing religious things. They were showing up at the Temple each week, bringing sacrifices, etc. So, God said, "I would rather you shut and board up the Temple than put on this religious show. I love a contrite heart that is surrendered to me more than all the things you're doing!"

When I was in a high school chemistry class (a few years ago), we did an experiment distinguishing organic and inorganic growth. We took a mineral and for weeks plunged it day after day into a liquid that stuck to it and formed a crust on it. After several weeks, that mineral was many times its original size and had a very different color and shape. Then, one class period, we put the mineral into a dissolve solution – and all the coating came off. It was inorganic growth. And that can happen to you and me in our church attendance. We can go to church and, on the outside, we can look like real Christians. We can dress like a Christian, sing and pray like a Christian, play the same games as a Christian – but we may not have a real relationship to God at all.
How can we know what is real in our walks with God from what is not? Is there evidence that will cut through all the activity and reveal my heart? James says that one of the surest signs of genuine faith is surely not that we can talk big about it! In fact, the evidence comes when we are able to control our tongues.
It's evident that one of the main points about fake religion is that a person talks his religion well. Jesus often made this point about the false religious leaders of his days. They could speak with deep religious sounding tones and make everyone else feel very unspiritual. But, Jesus declared, on the outside they were "white-washed walls." They gave the external appearance of faith when, on the inside, they were self-centered and proud.
James tells us here that our tongues will reveal what is inside. James compares our tongues to wild powering rearing horses that take off on a dangerous ride if the reins are not kept taut. It bolts out like an unbridled horse and cannot be brought back in. So, in God's view, anyone who says he is a Christian but has a tongue out of control is fooling himself. In fact, James says that this kind religion is "worthless", i.e., empty and without substance. It's like a tooth whose inside has been destroyed by a cavity but which has an outside appearance of being fine. When the pressure comes from biting, it collapses. Pressure reveals what is inside. Here is your marker: When pressure comes and you repeatedly tear people down with anger or gossip, spout out profanities or lie to get out of a mess, you have evidence that your faith is not genuine. When you begin to find inner strength to control your tongue, you can know your faith is real
So, the real test of the genuineness of your faith is not the ability to speak, preach or teach but the ability to control your tongue. Big talk about our religion -- about all we know about God and all the religious things we do -- is not necessarily evidence of a relationship to God. You can learn to do that without ever surrendering to God. What comes out of your mouth will eventually and inevitably demonstrate what is on the inside. You may try to cover up what's inside, but in times of pressure, what you are inside will come spewing out – through your mouth. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless (1:26).

Two Evidences of the Real Thing
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 (1:27).
Make note of this: We would badly misunderstand v.27 if we were to think that James is intending to put into one verse all that genuine worship should include. What he is saying is that if our religious activity does not include these two things, then it is nothing. These two are not everything God calls for – but they are both essential parts of any genuine relationship with God. As you should expect, these are two things that the Bible calls for again and again. James has just said that we should both be hearers of the Word and then doers of what it says. In keeping with that, James picks two evidences of faith that pervade the Bible.

Evidence #1: Walking with those in Distress -- Look after orphans and widows in their distress.
The first thing to notice is that orphans and widows were two of the three groups who fell outside of most support systems in Bible times. Do you remember the bookmarks we passed out last year that gave 40 different passages discussing people God wants us to care for? Book after book in the Bible calls us to care for widows, orphans and immigrants. Interestingly, James does not mention the third group, i.e., the immigrant populations that people often feel do not belong in their city. Why? It may be because the Christians he was writing to had themselves been scattered into different towns and the residents in those cities viewed the Christians as being those not welcome in their country. The Christians were the aliens!!
So, James' point is that one mark of genuine faith in Jesus is that we watch out for and care for those in our neighborhood who can't readily take care of themselves and for whom the current support systems are insufficient. The key to this is the phrase James uses, i.e., "in their distress." James is telling us to identify who the people are in our own community who are in distress – who don't know where to turn and don't feel they really belong anywhere – and we are to walk with them. Who might those people be here in the San Gabriel Valley? Think about it. Those returning home after being incarcerated? Those who have been trapped in addictions and, because of that, are avoided by their families and former friends? Forster children? Those relationally dysfunctional or developmentally disabled in some way?
Notice that what the Bible calls us to do is to "visit" or "look after" those in distress. This was a word of relationship. It's not just calling us to visit people in distress once in a while but to offer them a place of belonging. It calls us not only to do things for them – like offer meals once in a while – but also to invite them into the family of God. God's people are to walk with people who are in distress.
All this is based on the character and ways of God himself. Repeatedly, the Bible tells us, "God is a Father to the fatherless and a defender of the defenseless (Psalm 68:5)." Here's the point: If people find themselves trapped or alone in in trouble anywhere or anyplace turn to God for help, he welcomes and loves them. And we who are his followers are to do what God does. We are to "glorify" God, i.e., reflect his ways to our world through treating people as God treats people.
Churches throughout history and around the world have often done this well. Most of the great hospitals in our country were started by Christian denominations. Orphanages were almost entirely the province of the church. Soup kitchens and rescue missions were always faith-based. But things seemed to have changed over the last half of the 20th C. As more and more people have looked to the government to solve social problems, the church sometimes backed off, or in some cases been pushed out. The results have not been entirely positive. The government can certainly provide resources but it cannot show the love of Christ. It can provide care for our bodies but not a place of belonging that nourishes our souls.
So, genuine faith in Jesus will always manifest istelf by us having a heart for those who are hurting. We want people to know that God loves them – and that God's people welcome them. And, James indicates that this can only happen genuinely when we walk with people. Genuine faith in Jesus takes us out where the pressure is, where people are struggling, touching people where people hurt – and it invites people to come to Jesus and to belong to a caring local church family. When those in distress come into town, they should know that no matter how anyone else regards them, God's people will walk with them.
So, check your heart and how it thinks about hurting people. Faith that God views as genuine cannot exist within us apart from us caring about those who are in distress. Listen to how the Apostle John made the same point: If anyone has material possessions and sees others in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speeches but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:17-18).

Evidence #2: Staying Unstained by the World -- Keep from being polluted by the world.
It's fascinating that James puts this statement about pure living alongside looking after orphans and widows as evidence of pure religion. But, these two evidences go together. Ee tend to focus either on the first half of v. 27 or the second. But each part is essential to genuine faith. Consider this: There have many religious groups in which people have taught that to be in contact with people in distress would pollute religious people. But, Jesus went right into those places where there were tax collectors, lepers, Samaritans and people trapped in prostitution. People said, "Jesus is a fraud because he spends time with such people!" But, he kept doing it: He listened to their hearts' cries. He called them away from sin. He offered them forgiveness and called them to a new life of following him!" He didn't live the way they lived. To the contrary, he called them to a new and better way of life. But, he cared for those in distress by spending time with them and he led them to faith.
So, if the Jesus we read about in the Bible is your Lord, then you dare not avoid people simply because you think they are messed up. It is not contact with people of the world that pollutes us – but engaging in their way of life that stains us. We need to be out there in the world with people in their need if we will help call people out of destructive ways of life, pray for them, and offer them hope.
Our calling is to live according to God's ways in this world and thereby show people a different way of living. We are to live for God while still maintaining relationship with people in the world. You see, when James tells us not to be polluted by the world", he is not talking" about the people of the world -- but the evil of the world. James is saying that those of us who have been made right with God through faith in the one who died for our sins will distance ourselves from the sins that forced Jesus to go to the cross.
I'll put it simply as I can: If you are a genuine follower of Jesus, you dare never become comfortable with things like immorality in your way of life or in your entertainment, vulgarity and profanity in your conversations, or dishonesty and lying in your career. You will experience those things in the people in the world you interact with but you are not to make them parts of your lives. Things that displease God should not be what entertains us or brings us our joy. In other words, I'm quite sure that the effect of following James' challenge will be that you will change your television and movie choices, you will be more careful about which websites you visit, and you will change your reading habits. I'm not calling for a legalistic set of rules but if you are following the challenge to fill your mind with Scripture, you will not want to fill your lives with trash. You will love the people of the world as God loves. You will love to walk with people in distress. But, while you do, you will love obeying God because your deepest desire is to please him.

Let's boil it down: A genuine life of following Jesus is not characterized simply by talking about what we know or all the religious things we do. No, it is more about being able to control our tongues and using them to tell people about Christ. And, on the positive side, genuine faith is a beautiful blend of having 1) on one side, caring hearts and active lives that walk with and support those in distress – and 2) on the other, lives that follow God's ways rather than the worlds. How real is your faith? It begins when you confess your sins and ask God to forgive you on the basis of what Jesus did when he died in your place on the cross. You must ask Jesus to be your savior. But then, you will surely ask, as we all do, "How do I know this faith is real? Look at your life carefully in the light of God's Word:
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 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

May that be said of us – to God's glory alone.

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor