Faith That Works: Doers

None of us can deny the reality of our physical appearance.  When I look in a mirror I know for a FACT that I have brown hair, blue eyes, my nose is kind of crooked, and my pupils are different sizes.  If I walked away and completely forgot those FACTS and said/believed/”lived like” I had black hair, green eyes, and perfectly normal pupils I’d be crazy.  Similarly, none of us who are believers in Christ can deny the reality of the attitudes, actions, and words that God expects in our lives.  If we “say” we are a Christian and don’t live our lives according to His standard of right and wrong we are like someone who looks into a mirror and forgets what we look like. 

READ:  James 1:19-27

As a Christian what in the world are we supposed to be DOING?  The command in verse 22 is that we must be a doer of the word.  We have to ask, “what is the ‘word’ we are to be doing?”  In verse 23-24 James negatively says that those who hear and don’t do the WORD are like a person who looks in a mirror and immediately forgets what they look like.  In verse 25 James positively affirms that those who look into the PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY and persevere are those who are doers.  Therefore, the “word” we are to be doing are the perfect standards of right and wrong that God has revealed to us in the law (cf James 2:8, 10).

Does God expect us to live perfectly according to the law?  God is more than a perfectionist, He IS perfect.  And God expects us to be perfect as well (cf James 2:8-13)!  In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said, “you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (cf 1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 2:5-6, 4:12).  In His Word (perfect law, law of liberty), God has established and revealed to us a perfect godly “moral reflection” that He wants us to look at (hear), compare ourselves to, and remember (do).  There is no getting around the fact that God expects all of us to live according to each and everyone one of His standards.  Being a doer of the word is simply allowing God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to “groom” our attitudes, actions, and words into conformity with His good, acceptable, and perfect will.

What are some characteristics of someone who is a doer of the word?

1.  Being a doer of the word begins with being a good HEARER (vs 19, 22) – Jesus often told his listeners, “he who has ears, let him hear” (cf. Matthew 13:1-23). The type of hearing that Jesus is calling for is an attentiveness and readiness to respond with obedience and action to what is heard.  Before we hear from any other source (friends, parents, teacher, etc), we must first be attentive and ready listeners and allow God to express His will and desire for our lives through His written word and the Holy Spirit.

2.  Being a doer of the word requires understanding and being attentive to GOD’S STANDARDS (vs 25) – We are called to do more than just good or even better things, we are called to do the right and BEST (perfect) things.  God’s written word has given us many standards that we can be clear and confident that we should be doing.  The issues where God’s standard in His written word are not so clear, we must be sensitive to the “word” that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit (cf Romans 8:1-11).  The key is knowing that God has a standard, genuinely wanting to discerning/discovering it (hear), and doing it!

3.  Being a doer of the word involves caring for the HELPLESS and the VULNERABLE (vs 26-27) – We can be confident that we have heard God’s voice and are doing the right and best thing when we are lead to care and be compassionate toward those who are in need.  The most pure acts of worship we can express to God are when we meet the most helpless and hopeless in the midst of their poverty and serve and share Christ with them.

God has created each and every one of us to live according to His standards of right and wrong.  Every time our attitudes, actions, or words agrees with God’s standard of right and wrong we will experience a blessing.