Articles

By Faith Reynolds

Louisiana, where I was born, is known for its cemeteries. The crypts are beautifully built, often with stained glass windows, yet inside they are full of dead bodies just like any other casket. I think of the average Christian. Most look good on the outside, religious, but what is to be found on the inside? What does it mean to really give your heart to Jesus?

James 1: 26 “If any man among you seem to be religious…” James in this book, is talking to the cream of the crop Christians. And yet he recognizes that some “among you” may only “seem to be religious.” They look, to everyone around them, like a good Christian. They look the part so well that even James can’t tell who has real Christianity on the inside, and has truly given their heart to Jesus, and who has it only on the outside. Not only that, but the last half of vs. 26 says that they are even deceiving their own hearts. They’ve got themselves fooled into thinking that playing the part of a good Christian makes them one. Finally, vs. 26 says, “this man’s religion is vain.” It’s empty, meaningless, earning no rewards. 

Maybe they knew Christ as their Savior like most ladies reading this article, but were they godly? So often we can get caught up in the logistics of religion, the things people can see that seem to be religious. We are faithful to teach our Sunday school class while skipping our walk with God. We show up to church soulwinning but have never witnessed to our neighbor. We pray great prayers publicly, but barely pray over our food in private.  Doing all the religious stuff, looking like a Christian, and in the meantime neglecting what this passage says is “pure religion” or real Christianity. 

*  Unspoken words

Vs. 26 “And bridleth not his tongue,” God uses the horse term “bridle” I think because sometimes that’s what it may take to hold back those wrong words. Some people can really get our goat. Some days the irritability boils in us. It will take great effort, great strength, great Christianity to bridle our tongue! If we are in the habit of expressing our anger in cruel words, telling people off, belittling others, we have a heart issue. The Christian on the outside is supposed to reflect the Christian on the inside. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matt. 12:34

*  Unselfish acts

Vs. 27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction,” What are good intentions worth if they are not put into action? We feel sympathy for someone, but we take no action. This verse says to “visit,” but now adays we have even more ways to reach out to those hurting: texts, phone calls, dropping off a meal through Door Dash, as well as visits and known prayer. I don’t think the point is how to reach out, but to do it. Do something. Don’t just feel the love inside, demonstrate it. It might be easy to reach out to those in our friend circle, but our Christianity is to extend to those that maybe we are not close to or those than can do nothing for us in return. This is pure religion. 

*  Unspotted self

Vs. 27 “and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” When I was a teenager, I went with my family to a reunion up in Maine. I wore a white shirt. I served myself some food and sat with a bunch of my cousins at a picnic table. One cousin, two people down from me, was eating chili off a paper plate.  Did I mention I was wearing a white shirt? The breeze off the nearby lake picked up the plate of chili and threw it at me…and my white shirt. I was “spotted” the rest of the day. May I ask, are you spotted by the world? Has any of the worldliness so prevalent today splashed on you? David got some sin on him, and he wrote, Ps. 51:7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Purging with hyssop was a cleansing ritual the Jewish people practiced.  David was saying that he was willing to go though all the motions and whatever was necessary to be free of his stains of sin. Prayer and humility before God can do a much better job of cleansing us of the worldly stains than even Shout! Laundry detergent was able to do for my poor white shirt.

This Bible study on real Christianity challenged me to look closely at what I do for God on the outside vs who I am on the inside. I hope you will examine yourself as I have. We are Christians, but are we living out true Christianity? May we not just “seem to be religious”, but give Jesus our whole heart.