Imagine a person pulling up a workout video on YouTube, watching an entire 30-minute long workout, but doing so while you’re sitting on your couch eating a bag of potato chips. Then imagine the person getting off the couch and whispering under their breath, “now that was a great workout.” I know, the fictional scene is a bit humorous, but maybe there is some archetypal truth to it. This type of scenario may even happen within the church.
This is not an indictment of our current cultural moment, this is a reality of the human condition. This temptation to be hearers of the word but not doers of the word has always been a struggle. James addressed it in his letter to the churches. He said,
“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 who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
In this short parable, James makes a few noteworthy statements. First, he says that we are deceived if we say we believe something but do nothing with it. He’s claiming that if you say you believe, but don’t act on it, you don’t really believe. If I say I trust the chair will hold me, but I refuse to sit down, I don’t really trust the chair will hold me. The same is true of following Jesus. If we say we are followers of Jesus but aren’t willing to obey what he says, we aren’t really trusting Jesus. We’re lying to ourselves.
Secondly, James notes that it’s believing and doing that brings liberty. Just believing does not bring freedom. Hearing and doing is what brings freedom. We know that Jesus wants us to walk in freedom, but that freedom will only be fully realized as we put his teaching into practice. He won’t force this on us, but he will empower us to walk in obedience.
Finally, we’re told that there is a great blessing given to the person who becomes a doer of the word. I love this because so many imagine God to be the cosmic killjoy. In fact, that’s one of the first lies the Enemy told (Genesis 3). James is showing us that it’s actually the exact opposite – God has given us the commands he’s given, and he calls us to obedience so that we can walk in blessing.
I believe Jesus is reaching out to you today, inviting you to live in his way with his heart, but that means you need to choose to be obedient. We must choose to become doers of the word, not just hearers of the word. What might that look like for you today? What’s one small step of obedience to Jesus you can take? Commit to doing it, and be on the lookout for the blessing that comes as a result.
Pastor Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor