Self-Decption
"Know this, my beloved brothers: let ever person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is
able to save your souls.
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For it 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." - James 1:19-25
Have you ever gone out in public with a stain on your shirt without knowing it? I have had the experience of realizing - too late - that I had put on a nice garment with a not-so-nice testimony to what I had for lunch the last time I wore it. It's embarrassing, at times, to realize what you didn't realize. You then find yourselves apologizing, making light of it, telling the story behind it, trying to get people to understand that you didn't wear a dirty shirt on purpose - you just didn't see the stain. Well, James uses the analogy of a mirror in this passage. He says, "the person who is a hearer of the word (the Bible) and not a doer is like a person who looks at themselves in the mirror, sees the stain on their clothes, and then walks away and ignores the problem." In this case, the person took the time to look themselves over to make sure they were presentable, but when they saw the offending garment, the didn't do anything about it.
The word of God is like a mirror. While the Bible primarily shows us who God is (Creator, Sustainer, Sovereign, Lord, Ruler, Judge, Helper, Savior) and what He is like, as a close second it shows us who we are and what we are like. Through storytelling, examples, and teaching, the Bible has a lot to say about human nature, human problems, human sinfulness; basically, everything that keeps us from having a right relationship with God. So when humans look at scripture, they can make a connection. You can read the true Bible accounts from millennia ago and say, "we are still facing the same issues today." You can read of people, read their words, read their confessions and complaints and say, "I have the same root issues today as they did in that day."
That is no coincidence, for human beings will be human beings regardless of the date on the calendar. Our problems, suffering, and sinfulness are ubiquitous across all generations. So the Bible does speak for today, just as it did for yesterday, because the God who wrote it is the same, and He is also the God who created us to begin with. He knows what and who we are, He knows our hearts and the content of our minds, He knows our need, and He reveals the truth to us in that way.
So, when James says that being a "hearer" of the Bible but not a "doer" is like ignoring our problems after we see them in the mirror, He is essentially saying "seeing the truth and doing nothing about it is the worst kind of self-deception." Seeing our human sinfulness, our human weakness, and seeing the remedy for that is exactly what the Bible gives us. The "law of liberty," though that sounds like a contradiction, is just that - it is the rule, the standard, of freedom from our bondage to sin and self. The Bible tells a big story that sets the stage for Jesus Christ, the son of God, who came to give life and liberty through His substitutionary sacrifice. Though He was perfect, sinless, and kept God's law without fail, He took our sins in his body and paid for them on the Cross. When we see what Jesus did, we see what we deserved. Yet, He died to give us freedom. He did what we could never do.
Looking into God's word, then, and seeing what we need, seeing our problems, seeing the solution, and seeing the Savior without acting on that truth is detrimental to our souls. It does a culture and a person no ultimate good to be familiar with the Bible if we do nothing with it. As I write this on a Friday afternoon, I just got back from a boat ride on Lake Bomoseen here in Vermont. If you are in a boat and look down and see water, that is an indication that there is a major problem. When the lake is in the boat as much as the boat is in the lake, there is an immediate threat to your condition! You can see the water and keep driving as if nothing ever happened, but eventually it will be more than your toes that are wet! The same is true in your vehicle. When you are driving and hear a strange noise, or see a new dash-light, that is an indication that something is wrong. Ignoring the water in the bottom of a boat, or ignoring the squeaking brakes or flashing check-engine light will do you no good. Saying, "yes, I know my boat is leaking" is truth, but truth without action is meaningless; and ignoring truth, even though you know it, is the worst kind of self-deception.
In the same way, seeing what the Bible tells us about God and about us, and doing nothing with that, is detrimental. James says a little later, "You believe that God is one? you do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder!" In other words, knowing truth without acting on that truth is meaningless. Do you know human weakness, brokenness, and sinfulness? Do you see it in scripture but say, "I've got this?” Saying "I've got this!" when you really don't is self-deception. Do you see who God is and who you are? Then follow the "law of liberty" and come to God through the Gospel of Christ. Don't ignore the Word of truth that we have in Scripture. Don't ignore the God of the universe who has revealed Himself in a very special way in the Bible. "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
Grace to you,
Pastor Aaron Frost
August 27, 2021
