Freedom For Today

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

What is the difference between saying you have faith and actually having a genuine faith? Let’s pause and think about what “faith” is for a minute: according to Hebrews 11, faith is the manifestation of hope. We know our hope is in the reality of Jesus as the living God who loves and saves us. So our faith is a tangible demonstration of possessing such a hope, and perhaps is even the vehicle through which we can connect emotionally with hope.

So if we have this incredible, supernatural hope that is manifested internally and externally via faith, why on earth would we waste our time living anything else? Faith isn’t meant to live in your head. Just like a really great idea, faith is only good when it births something real. A good idea that just stays inside your head is totally worthless. You have to carry that idea to fruition before it begins to actually benefit the world.

More than that, to be honest my heart is breaking today reading these verses. Here James is saying that if you see a brother or sister in need and you essentially say, “I’ll pray for you…” but give them nothing, what good is your faith? But much of the American church has so insulated itself that we do not even cross paths with those who are in need. When was the last time you actually had a relationship with a person who had no food or clothing? (They would be hungry and naked, so you’d probably notice.) When the church lives apart from the poor, it is no longer a church.

It’s one of the things I love about following Jesus. People who may not be held up as “great” by an American or earthly standard can (and often do) absolutely rock it with faith. Do you know who lives with the poor? The poor. And in my little corner of the world, I have never seen faith more lived out than among those who get the streets and have been down-and-out. They get it. They know how to live like Jesus without even realizing it. And the only way I can ever hope to make it spiritually is to spend as much time with these Jesus-mentors as I possibly can.

Take a moment to read James 2:8-13 before reading the devotional below. 

I sense a twinge of sarcasm in James’ tone as he leads this section of his letter. Kind of a backhanded compliment: “Yes, great job, love your neighbor, great command…” BUT. Don’t be so sure of yourselves just yet. Are you really loving your neighbor if you treat some people better than others? Aren’t you really thinking of yourself as better than others when you start comparing sins with other sins?

God is one God. His values don’t fluctuate. All of his laws carry equal weight. And James is giving a little reminder here that anyone who wants to stick with the old law system (and judge other people) better not forget all the sins they have committed. We are all equally guilty, let’s not forget that. And if you want to depend on your own actions, you better hope that your level of mercy to others is the kind of mercy you want to receive from God.

You are not better or worse than anyone else. This is a word for American Christians today, as we are often known for being judgmental instead of loving. We condemn groups of people who are already marginalized and treat some sins as worse than others. Our standards are off, and it’s not because of all we are tolerating. My standards must begin with a solid look in the mirror and plea for mercy in the morning. Jesus, help us all. You are our only hope.

Take a moment to read James 2:1-8 before reading the devotional below.

Funny how we tend to act differently around different people. At a conference I attended in Chicago, Joyce Meyer challenged us on favoritism when she said that if a poor-looking person asked us for a ride home we might complain or say no, but everyone would probably be more than willing to give her a ride home! As we are seeing on the political scene right now, when Christians cozy up to money and power we lose what it means to be followers of Jesus.

Do you have relationships with materially poor people? If you don’t, you don’t know what you are missing. Those with nothing to lose are some of the most honest, caring and humble people I have ever met. I chose to live and serve in an inner city specifically so that I would spend time with people different than I was used to. The front row of our church makes me so proud every single Sunday because of these verses in James. Sometimes they are a little too rowdy and I’m pretty sure Jesus absolutely loves it.

Imagine if we wandered the streets looking for people who had nothing and we handed them a set of keys to a brand new mansion (where nothing ever breaks!). God is so generous, and he is also incredibly unimpressed by earthly wealth and status. If you are chasing money, power, status, fame, or the next best thing then you are running farther and farther from God’s kingdom. The best inheritance goes to the ones who will appreciate it most.

“If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

These are some of the best and worst verses in the Bible. It’s one of those rubber-meets-the-road moments when you are forced to look at whether or not your actions line up with your beliefs. There are a whole lot of us that say one thing and do another (hint: all of us…), so we need to really examine who we are claiming to be. If I’m advertising myself as a person of deep faith in Jesus, I better be able to watch my mouth. If I don’t I am just kidding myself. Whatever I’m calling “religion” is completely worthless. What comes out of your mouth is the measure of your inner spiritual life.

If you want to actually follow God, he gives a pretty clear instruction: take care of marginalized people and be different than the world around you. In our current political and social climate, caring for people in distress is actually a dividing issue in the church. No matter how you vote, as a Christian you are called to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. And being different means that you don’t try to cozy up to power or money or anything else our culture values.

Following Jesus isn’t about who you are when everyone is watching. It is about who you are behind closed doors, with your most intimate relationships and even when you are all by yourself. Yes, there is grace for you when you sin and lose control of your tongue or turn a blind eye to someone in need. But lack of cultivation in these areas will dry out your inner spiritual life, and pretty soon it’s all just for show. If you want to know God in the deepest parts of your soul, control your tongue. If you want to truly be a representative of Jesus, care for those hurting around you. The ones that have no one else. That is where Jesus is.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”

Memory is a powerful thing. Imagine what life would be like if as soon as you stepped away from looking in the mirror you completely forgot what you looked like. How would that impact your sense of identity? What images would you use to think about yourself? Whether you like looking in the mirror or not, you still know what you look like and this gives you a sense of who you are. You know you look, think and act differently than others because you are a unique you.

When we read the Bible and then promptly act in ways that are completely the opposite of what it says, we lose our sense of ourselves. We lose the identity that grounds us in God, which is our most free self. You completely forget who you are when you do not apply the word of God to your life. If you want to be truly free, you have to stare long and hard in that Bible-mirror and take in all that you see. Only then can you make changes, just like if you notice your bedhead you can fix your hair properly.

God’s promises and his laws reveal things about who we are and the ways sin is harming us. If you want to know who you are and who you can become, read the Bible. Engage with God as you relate to him in his living and active words. Imagine if your mirror were also a hair stylist. You could look in there in the morning, recognize some hairs that need to be put back in place, and then ask the mirror to fix it for you. All you would need to do is be willing to look carefully, ask for help and then hold still. The Holy Spirit operates in the words of the Bible to transform us when we invite that process. So take a good, long, hard look today and ask God to show you the places where you are not free. Let him untangle your hair one strand at a time.