Uncomfortably good...

The apostle James is an uncomfortably straight talker, but he’s exactly what our easily distracted souls need. His letter is deceptively simple, packed with pithy, hard-hitting proverbs, that challenge the day-to-day indolence of our sinful hearts.

As an example, James 1:26-27 covers the full gamut of our spirituality in just a couple of phrases. Firstly, James calls us to ‘bridle’ our tongues (v.26), like we might do a rebellious horse. Preachers and leaders say a lot of carefully chosen words in the pulpit. It is outside of the pulpit where we need to watch!

An outburst of anger at the end of an exhausting day, words of manipulation to exert our ‘authority’ over a willing deacon, and especially careless chat about church members over Sunday lunch (that our children overhear) are a reminder of how poisonous our tongues can be.

James doesn’t just call us to guard our speech, he also urges us towards love and good deeds, especially to those who cannot repay us. ‘Pure and undefiled’ religion means ‘visiting orphans and widows in their affliction’ (v.27). Widows and orphans were the most vulnerable in ancient society. They are still around of course, as are special-needs adults and children, and going the extra mile to facilitate their welcome and worship on a Sunday, is ‘true religion’.

We need to watch that we don’t spend so much time reading apologetics and church history books, that we forget to take our autistic and Downs Syndrome brothers and sisters out for a pizza! True religion isn’t naming the five points of Calvinism. It is letting the marginalised know that they are precious to Christ.

But James will not stop at our speech and good works. He wants to purify our inner thought world, from where all our words and actions spring. Religion that is ‘pure and undefiled’ includes ‘keeping oneself unstained from the world’ (v.27). The phrase is intentionally general, but surely includes taking control of sexual desires so they don’t lead to pornography, material desires so they don’t give way to overspending (even if we have the money), and ensuring that a plethora of idols, from sports teams to summer wardrobes, don’t take the place of Christ in our affections. How easy it is for a ‘good’ thing to turn into a ‘God’ thing.

James is uncomfortably good for us, as when he makes us realise that we prefer chewing over a theological debate than subduing our sinful instincts, or demonstrating practical, sacrificial love. Of course, we need to keep doctrinally aware, without using that quest as a form of escapism from real needs right in front of our noses.

By all means sharpen your understanding of the Trinity, or millennialism. But make sure you don’t do that before taming your tongue, loving the marginalised, and controlling your inner thought world. True religion is what our lives and ministries need, and what our family, churches and communities need to see in us. And if we get that right, it will add to the power of all our theological musings from a pulpit, or a study. As Paul said to Timothy: ‘Watch your life and doctrine closely’!