Living in the Spirit
August 31, 2018
Scripture Reading: James 1:17-27
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. –James 1:22-27
The book of John tells us that Jesus is the Word (John 1:1) I think James is picking up on that idea when he instructs us to be doers of the word—model our lives after Jesus. He practiced what he preached, and he did not cherry pick the words he read and applied.
I am thankful the book of Mark includes the story of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7 24-30) it described an encounter Between Jesus and a foreign woman that went against the ideas of Jesus’ culture. Jews did not interact with gentiles. Yet when this woman brought her daughter to Jesus to be healed his first reaction was to turn her away, but she challenged him on following his culture rather than his heart and the heart won.
In our diverse world, we encounter different ways of being all the time that may be uncomfortable for us at first because it is not of our culture or what some call our worldview. What we must discern is how our interaction with others appears through Jesus’ worldview and adapt our worldview accordingly.