Suppose you give a friend a cookbook. It’s full of wonderful recipes and contains everything necessary to guide someone through the steps of preparing a number of delightful dishes. You check back with your friend six months later and ask how he likes the cookbook. He says, “Oh, I love it!” You respond, “Great! What are some of the meals you have enjoyed?” He says, “I haven’t enjoyed any.” You reply, “But, I thought you said you said you loved the cookbook?” He says, “Yes, I love it very much! I have marked all through it. I have underlined some of my favorite places. I’ve highlighted certain sections and even earmarked a few pages I especially enjoyed. I even got it signed on the inside cover by a renowned chef.” Perplexed you ask, “But, while you have marked throughout the book these several months, you mean to say that you have never actually prepared any meal? You’ve never actually done what it says?!” And your friend replies, “No, but you see, I just love reading it!”
I suppose that imaginary scenario seems rather unlikely, but many Christians treat the Bible much the way our friend treated his cookbook. Some Christians say, “Oh, the Bible blesses me so much! I’ve underlined some of my favorite verses. I’ve written in the margins and highlighted different sections with different colored pens.” Some many even boast of having had a particular evangelist sign the inside cover.
Given what James teaches in the verses above, we may imagine his responding rather tersely to such Christians: “Look, I’m glad you love the word of God. There’s nothing wrong with underlining and highlighting. But be sure you are not only a hearer, but a doer of the word. Do what it says!” Here’s how he puts it in James 1:22-25:
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 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;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 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.
So let’s talk about how to “Do” the Word. First:
Correctly Respond to it
Everyone responds to the word in some way or other. James is telling us to respond to the word correctly. An incorrect response would be merely to hear the word and do nothing with it. But James says, “be doers of the word, and not hears only, deceiving yourselves.”
That word “deceiving” is a term that means to make a miscalculation. A person who reasons that he has done his duty merely by being present in a worship service, listening the wonderful music, and enjoying the minister’s message is, according to James, making a miscalculation. He is deceiving himself.
The New Living Translation has, “Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
Imagine a medical patient receiving instructions for how to beat a debilitating disease. The doctor says, “You know, what you have may prove fatal, but there is hope. Here is what you need to do: take this medicine, follow this regimen, and you will be well.” If the patient reasons that has done enough merely by listening to the doctor’s instructions, yet never follows them, then that patient has made a serious miscalculation!
Christians must “receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save their souls (James 1:21).” Christians must both hear and do what the Bible says. In fact, all persons must hear and do what the Bibles says, Christians and non-Christians alike.
Herod was not a believer. Interestingly, he enjoyed hearing John the Baptist’s preaching. The Bible says Herod “heard him gladly (Mark 6:20),” but he didn’t do what John preached. He remained an unbeliever. Ironically, he would eventually order the beheading of John the Baptist—the very one whose message he had enjoyed hearing! John had preached a message of repentance and Herod never repented. To use James’ words: Herod was merely a hearer, but not a doer of the word.
There are many persons, no doubt, who believe they are going to heaven merely because they have heard biblical teaching. They have attended worship, they have heard the gospel. Perhaps they have even enjoyed themselves in the process. But it is not enough merely to hear the gospel; one must correctly respond to the gospel. One must confess his sin, repent, and believe that Jesus Christ is the only Savior through whom forgiveness comes (Luke 5:31-32; John 3:36; John 14:6; Acts 3:19; Acts 20:21; 1 Timothy 2:5).
If anyone would be certain of his salvation, he must not only hear what the word teaches, he must do what it says. He must correctly respond to it. There is something else here that James teaches about the word:
Carefully Reflect on it
James provides a very useful illustration to picture a man who merely hears the word without doing what it says: “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.”
When James wrote this letter over two thousand years ago, there were no glass mirrors like those we enjoy today. Mirrors in the time of the New Testament were a polished metal of some kind, polished silver, copper or tin. They were, however, a sufficient means by which to see one’s image.
As I grow older, I find that looking in the mirror sometimes makes me wince. A mirror is honest with us. It’s not like taking a picture of yourself where you can edit the picture and choose from a number of filters that soften the edges, add hair, or smooth out the lines. A mirror is honest. You can’t “Photoshop” that reflection!
So I look into the mirror and see things that need correction, like where I need to cut back on the food or exercise more. It’s not the mirror that needs correction, it’s what I see in the mirror that needs to be fixed.
When we read the Bible, we may not immediately like what we see. The problem, however, is not the Bible. The problem is what we learn about ourselves when we read the Bible. Truth calls for change and change is often difficult. At the same time, if we will allow the Bible to address our behavior and then respond correctly after careful reflection—not just hearing but doing what it says—we absolutely will be the better for it.
Describing the Bible as “the perfect law of liberty,” James writes: “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.” So blessing comes when we are “not a forgetful hearer” but a doer of what we read. We continue to read and remember the word.
Continually Read & Remember it
The word “looks” is in the active voice and conveys the idea of continual action, looking intently, endeavoring to get a good, thorough look. It is “to stoop down and look into.” It’s the same word used in John’s Gospel where John writes about his visiting the empty tomb of Jesus and stooping down and looking into the tomb (John 20:5).
So James says that if we “look into the perfect law of liberty (the word which sets us free),” and we don’t forget what we read, but actually do what it says, then we will be blessed in what we do.
How easy it is to be a “forgetful hearer!” You can hear the word in worship or in Bible study and then walk out of the classroom or out of the sanctuary, immediately forgetting what you’ve heard. Too often conversation centers upon sports, the weather, or what we’re going to eat next.
Unless we are disciplined to remember what we have read—by reflecting upon it and then putting it into action—we will be a “forgetful hearer.” For example, if you read recently where Jesus says, “Love your enemies” don’t forget it when someone hurts you this week. You read where Paul says, “Forgive as you’ve been forgiven,” remember that when your daughter breaks your heart. You read in the Bible where it says, “God loves a cheerful giver,” remember that the next time you write out a check.
Of course we are more likely to remember biblical teaching when we spend time reading the Bible.
Here’s a practical question: Do you believe everything you see on television? Or on the internet? Or in the newspaper? My guess is that you would answer in the negative.
On the other hand, what if I asked, “Do you believe everything you read in the Bible?” Most evangelicals answer in the positive: “Yes! I absolutely believe everything I read in the Bible.”
If so, let me ask you to answer this follow-up question: “Do you spend more time reading things you don’t believe, or reading things you do believe?”
It’s a fair question, isn’t it? I mean, many of us really believe the Bible to be absolutely trustworthy in all that it teaches. We believe the Bible to be inerrant, totally free from error and incapable of ever being disproven. Yet, how much time do we actually spend reading from this powerful book, especially given the time we a lot to reading or hearing from other books or screens?
Reading the Bible is one of the main ways are able to grow and have a meaningful relationship with God, the ultimate author of the Bible. Think of it: the Bible is the only book whose author is with us every time we read it!
We grow in our Christian walk by letting God speak to us. That means we allow him to correct us as well as encourage us. Just as a marriage thrives when each spouse has the freedom to communicate everything—the good, the bad, and the ugly—so does our relationship with God thrive when we allow Him to share everything with us. If we only read certain parts of the Bible and skip over difficult passages, we are like a controlling spouse who “shuts down” the one he loves when hearing the truth becomes too painful. Our relationship with God matures and deepens, however, when we allow God to address us in our sin.
Allow the Bible to speak to you. Allow the Bible to call you out on your behavior. Then correct that errant behavior by doing what the Bible says. If you do this, James promises we will be blessed in return.
We’ve noted before how James often echoes the teachings of his half-brother Jesus. Jesus talks about being a “doer” of the word and not merely a “hearer.” Listen to the way He concludes the famous, “Sermon on the Mount.”
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27).
Don’t be a forgetful hearer of the word. Do what it says!
What About You?
- Are there places in the Bible you’d rather not read because they address behaviors you are unwilling to change?
- Why do you think James refers to the Bible as “the perfect law of liberty?”
- What can you do this week to keep from becoming a “forgetful hearer” of the word?
Wordpress Comments: