“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:22-27
People are hurting! Families are starving! Children are crying! Men and women are fighting! Churches are closing! Ministers are quitting! Teenagers are lost! Widows are suffering! Orphans are alone! Single parents are flailing! Divorcees are depressed! The homeless are ignored! And the list goes on and on of people who are in need and the reality is that the body of Christ is failing in its call to be Christ’s hands extended to a hurting and dying world! And this should not be but until something changes in the hearts and minds of Christians it will continue! Jesus came to give us life to the full, abundant, and overflowing so that we could in turn give it to others. Anything short of fulfilling our call to be His disciples in the earth is nothing more than lip service and dead works religion.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:13 – 20 Jesus said, “"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
As the body of Christ we have to get the point where we accept our righteousness in God through Jesus Christ and grow up out of our religious mindsets and begin to do what He has called us to do in actions if we are going to see change take place in the world. This is what James means when he says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” During this transition in our lives we are discovering that most of the people who call themselves Christians do not back up their profession of faith with action. It is the most disturbing thing I have ever personally witnessed because it is completely against what we are called to do by God. This is something other people have shared with me in the past but it hasn’t been until I experienced it for myself that I have felt the sting and effect of its venomous bite! What I have learned is that this is a real problem, its effects are painful and long lasting, and it is a very common problem in the church today. But what I have also learned is that it is curable and the wounds people have experienced from it can be healed but we will have to walk in love one for another in order for it to happen.
Throughout the Bible God speaks about our responsibility to care for one another, strangers, widows, the poor, orphans, etc.. Jesus amplified this in the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. It is time for the body of Christ to mature out of childish mindsets and actions so that we can fulfill God’s call to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world! 1 John 3:16-20 says, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
I am calling the body of Christ into action today and praying that the body will listen and respond! Life is not a dress rehearsal! We get one opportunity on this earth to answer the call to be the disciples of Jesus Christ and to do the work He has called us to do in this world! It is time we take a stand against foolishness, false doctrine, selfishness, infighting, denominational divisions, gossip, lies, and every other tactic the devil uses to deceive us and it is time we exercise our rightful authority over all the power of the enemy! (Luke 10:19) It is time we look on each other with love in our hearts and ask what we can do to meet the needs of our fellow man. It is time to lay aside foolish arguments and judgments and start living the Word of God in our daily lives! Let’s make a commitment today to turn lip service into life service and make an impact in this world with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!
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