If I were to mention the word “religion,”
what would be your reaction? For a lot of Christians, especially those who call
themselves Evangelicals, it really has a bad connotation. One of the common
aphorisms heard among us is that “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.”
What do we mean by saying this? My
understanding is that it’s referring to the fact that performing the outward “trappings”
of religion, such as observing the holy days, giving money to the church and to
those in need, praying in public, etc., don't mean anything by themselves.
You have to have a personal relationship with the Lord, and the only way to
initiate this relationship is by placing your faith in Christ. This paradigm assumes
that there’s absolutely nothing we can do to get into favor with
him except by believing in Jesus (which also assumes repentance).
Therefore, we don’t like to call what we have a "religion."
And that’s understandable. We are
saved
by grace through faith in Christ plus nothing. There’s no outward
ceremony like baptism that can make you right with God, nor does the Bible teach
that any ceremony or work or ritual is necessary to receive salvation.
But does that mean that there’s no place for outward ceremony or ritual
in the Christian life? Of course not. What is baptism? Isn't it a ceremony/ritual that we
perform publicly at the beginning of a person’s walk with Christ? And giving to
the poor is considered a given among followers of Jesus. In the Ephesian
passage I cited in the last paragraph, if you keep reading, you’ll see that Paul tells
us that we’re saved by grace through faith for good works.
And then there’s the fact that James
in today’s passage talks about both bad
religion and good religion. In case
you’re wondering, the word “religion” in the NIV and other translations is a
perfectly good one. The word is threskos,
and the Online Interlinear Bible renders
it literally as “ritual.” So what James is talking about in these verses is
outward rituals or good works or public acts done in the name of our Savior.
This isn’t in opposition to our
inward relationship with Christ, but there’s a distinction to be made here.
So what’s bad religion, according to James? Well, as best as I can tell, bad
religion is performing the right rituals and ceremonies without making an
inward change. The picture in verse 26 is that of a man who’s a church-goer, a
tither, a leader in the church maybe, but he doesn’t keep a “tight rein” on his
tongue. In other words, he has no self-discipline. There’s no real change in
his personal conduct. If you think that going through the outward motions makes
up for a lack of change in how you treat the individual people around you, then
you’re literally fooling yourself. All the public works you’re performing are
just a waste of time. You might as well stayed home and slept in on Sunday
morning if all you’re doing is putting on a public show.
So what’s good religion? Just to avoid confusion, let’s review some basics. The
biblical pattern is that we place our faith in Christ (submitting our lives to
him), then he begins to work on us from the inside-out.
He begins to change
the way we see things and the way we think. That’ll eventually work itself out
into personal righteousness, one of the main aspects of which is how we treat
other people.
In a way, James is working backwards
here. He says that two types of works are acceptable before God: helping those
in need and keeping yourself from being “polluted by the world.” That’s
personal righteousness. As we’ll see in the next chapter, if you don’t see
personal righteousness in your life, a change in the way you talk and act, then
something’s really wrong. It’s possible or even probable that there was never a
real encounter with the living Christ to being with.
Now that we’ve got the theologically
thorny questions out of the way, let’s get to the main point that James is
making: You need to demonstrate your faith in Christ by keeping yourself
from being polluted by the evil world
system around you, and by reaching out to practically help those in need. Don’t
let the world squeeze you into its mold. Let your thoughts and words and
actions be guided by Scripture, not by what’s popular. And when you see someone
in front of you who’s in need, step forward to help them in practical ways.
You want God’s smile? That’s how to
do it.
Father God, I desperately need your
empowering grace to change me from the inside-out. You loved me first, so I need
to show love to you and then to others. Please.
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