Part 6 “Real Deal Religion”
James 1:26-27
Intro – welcome back to our series in the book of James… …please open your Bibles to chapter 1…
-if you’ve been with us for any of the messages you’ll have noticed by now how honest and direct James is…he has a way, rather the Holy Spirit has a way through the scriptures, of getting right to the heart of a matter…not beating around the bush…not trying to be politically correct and trying to please everyone…
-that’s one of the things I love most about the book of James…real life, practical, down to earth, direct teaching about what a life of faith in Jesus Christ can actually look like in our everyday world…
So are you ready for this? Today we’re going to learn about true religion vs. false religion…about real deal religion vs. some phony counterfeit…let’s look at 1:26-27…
James is continuing the main thought of chapter 1 in which he is contrasting truth vs. deception…and today he does so in the matter of real religion vs. false religion…the Lord, through James, doesn’t want any self-proclaimed Christian to think they’re the real deal, when in actual practice, they are not…
So, strap on your seat belt and follow with me as I read the last two hard-hitting verses of James 1…
Prayer…read…
Do you consider yourself religious? If so, you’d better play close attention to what James has to say…
Let’s talk about religion for a moment…religion can be a good thing or a bad thing…depending on how what it is, what it teaches and what it produces…
I False Religion
If you’ve heard me preach for any length of time, you know how down I am on religion…especially the bad kind, the false kind, the kind that focuses on outward behavior, that tries to look spiritual, that tries to keep all the rules…but inwardly there is no reality, no real love for Jesus…no heart change…no evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit…
Even Jesus came down hard on the kind of religion that was modeled by the Pharisees of His day, a false religion that could be defined as:
conforming to an outward set of behaviors without an inward heart reality…seeking to be right with God by law-keeping and moral behavior…
In Mt 23 He called this kind of religion hypocrisy and denounced it in no uncertain terms…7 times He said to those religious leaders, “Woe to you…”
By saying woe to these people He was pronouncing judgment upon them, condemning them…very strong words…He called them snakes, a brood of vipers…He said, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?” v.33.
Jesus was so hard on these kind of religious people because they led so many others astray with their false version of religion…rather than it bringing people closer to God and giving them life it drew people away from God and brought them death…
Even in today’s world, the most difficult people to reach are those who consider themselves religious…in the definition already mentioned…outward behavior…going through religious motions, but having no heart reality…
…people who see themselves as morally superior to others because of their “good life” which they think puts them in an upright standing with God…
Just in case there are any people listening to this message who consider themselves religious, who are currently being deceived by false religion and think they’re OK for the reasons I have just mentioned, let me briefly show you a most helpful chart put together by Tim Keller which contrasts false religion with the gospel…
Contrast Between Religion and the Gospel (Tim Keller)
RELIGION
GOSPEL
I obey therefore I’m accepted.
I’m accepted therefore I obey.
Motivation based on fear and insecurity.
Motivation based on grateful joy.
I obey God in order to get things from Him.
I obey God because He deserves it.
When things go wrong, I’m angry at God, because I believe that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.
When things go wrong, I struggle, but I know God, as my loving heavenly Father, is in firm control of my life.
My identity is based on making others see me as a good person at all times.
My identity is based on who God sees me to be in Christ: as someone growing to be more like Jesus.
Prayer is so God will listen to what I need and fix my circumstances.
Prayer is to be in fellowship with God through praise and worship, sharing my life with Him.
When I feel like I’m living up to God’s standards, I feel confident and proud. When I don’t live up to what I think God wants me to be, I feel like a failure.
Nothing I do makes God love me more, and nothing will make Him love me less. I live for Him out of humility and gratitude.
My identity and worth are based on what I do for God, and how I measure up against others.
My identity and worth are based on God’s grace and love for me because of the grace of Jesus. Others need that same grace from Him and from me.
Since I look to my performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols – talents, moral record, personal discipline, social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them, so they are my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, regardless of what I say I believe about God.
I have many good things in my life – family, work, etc., but none of these good things are ultimate things to me. I don’t absolutely have to have them, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despair they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.
Ok, that’s the bad sense of religion…false religion…if there’s any part of that still alive in you, then your only hope is to recognize it and repent of it…ask God to forgive you and set you free…
…and that freedom comes through the true gospel of Jesus Christ…when we believe and embrace the Biblical gospel…full of grace and truth…that’s the only way it comes…
…we have to see the superior gift of the gospel if we’re going to let go of the damaging counterfeit of false religion…
-perhaps that’s what some of you need to do today…
True Religion
-now we get to true religion…which acc. to James, is the kind that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless. And he gives us three evidences of true religion:
II True Religion – Three Evidences
1. controlled speech v.26
-that displays a changed heart…
The first evidence of true religion according to James is how we use our tongue, the words we say and the ones we don’t say…
James says that keeping a tight rein on our tongue is an evidence of true religion…of the real deal…
James reflects what Jesus teaches about the tongue, about what comes out of our mouths…that what we speak is a reflection of what is in our heart…
Mt. 12:34 For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
Don’t be deceived here friends. The way you speak about your spouse, tells the truth about what is in your heart…
-the way you speak about your family…tells about what’s in your heart…the way you speak about your friends…about your church, church leaders, about your job, your boss, about others… all of it tells the truth about what is in your heart…it is a reliable indicator of whether or not your religion is real…
-our tongue is one of the tests of true religion…
And James is going to have a lot more to say about the tongue in ch. 3, but let me just say this today:
-in this day of texts, emails, twitter, blogs, facebook, instagram, snapchat…followers of Jesus need to be careful…we live in a culture that says if you have a thought, or you’ve taken a picture, share it with the rest of the world, even if it is inappropriate, or negative or puts someone down…
-social media has the power of tremendous good and tremendous harm…
-we think we can get away with some hurtful comment through the internet, hiding behind the impersonal curtain of virtual reality rather than having the courage to speak to someone face to face…
If you’re a friend of God, don’t buy into that kind of behavior…that’s so far below what true religion should look like in our day and age…
…and the truth is, you won’t want to do that if your heart is being controlled and filled by the Holy Spirit …if it’s been changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ…
-now we all know that none of us are perfect when it comes to the use of our tongue…in ch. 3 James is going to point out that “We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.” James 3:2
Who among us doesn’t say hurtful things on occasion…but that doesn’t have to control us…for the true child of God, whose religion is the real deal, there will be a check in our spirits before opening our mouth…that we need to listen to…there will be a recognition of how our words have hurt someone and a humble willingness to make things right with that person…God will give you the love and grace to seek forgiveness for those things…that’s true religion in action…
-controlled speech that displays a changed heart is one of the evidences of true religion…
Another evidence of true religion is:
2. sacrificial care v.27
-for the vulnerable and needy…
-James specifically mentions orphans and widows…and he says another evidence of true religion is looking after them in their distress…
-the word used here literally means to “seek out someone, visit them, in order to care for them.”
In the first century world of James’ day, when a husband or father was taken from his wife or children, there were no government-run programs to provide for them…
…if there was no family to take them in and care for them, they were alone and destitute…
-so that’s where the church stepped in…the first century followers of Jesus were the ones who opened their hearts and homes and wallets and took care of those who were genuinely needy…
-this is true religion, the kind our Heavenly Father accepts as pure and faultless…
-we’ve got a lot of seniors in our church, some of whom are widowed, alone, lonely, discouraged, feeling neglected and unimportant…
-this is a massive ministry opportunity right here in our own church to practice true religion…
-and many of our people are practicing true religion right here in our church…we’ve got folks who go out of their way to be friends with our seniors…to care for them…visit them…because they understand this is what it means to be a real follower of Jesus Christ…and we’re so thankful for you…
eg Jason and Christa Eisbrenner…remember them? are doing something remarkable…they are in the process of adopting a 2 year old girl who has been in foster care up till now…
-this little girl is distantly related to Christa…her birth mom has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and is unable to care for her…Jason writes: After prayer and talking it over with the girls, we decided to start the process. We met Madeleine once last June and again in December. The process has been very long and emotionally exhausting. Our motivation for doing this stems from a desire to see her raised in a loving Christian home and we have felt that that is something we could provide for her.
They picked her up in Calgary yesterday…and sometime in the near future, we will get a chance to meet Madelaine and welcome her into our church family and pray for the whole family…
This is practicing true religion according to God’s word…
But don’t limit yourself to orphans and widows…we have to consider the question, who are the vulnerable people today…right here in our city and community, that need our care and help?
To answer that question, we need to ask this question: “who, according to Jesus, are “the least of these”? the needy ones that Jesus would spend time with?”
And when you answer that question biblically, you see that Jesus considered “the least of these” to be:
Mt. 25: hungry and thirsty, homeless stranger, poor, sick, prisoner…
-in the gospels, we see the kind of people that Jesus spent time with and was often criticized for it: (criticized by who? the religious people!)
-prostitutes, tax-collectors, (culturally despised sinners), religious leaders that disagreed with him, children, disabled, demonized, foreigners (immigrants, refugees, ethnic minorities)…
What about sexual minorities? Despite how you feel about these things, would Jesus spend time today with someone who is gay, transgender? The Jesus I know certainly would. He would offer them kindness and care and speak directly to their need in truth and love…just like He did with the woman at the well in Jn. 4 who was a multiple divorcee and currently living common law…and just like He did with the woman caught in adultery in Jn. 8…
Maybe this gives you some ideas, stirs a vision in you…perhaps God is putting a needy person or group of people on your radar…
-as we actively reach out with sacrificial care for the vulnerable and needy, we are practicing true religion according to James…
The final evidence of true religion is
3. Clear Separation v.27
-from the ways of the world…
-true religion is when we choose not to let the evil of this world pollute us…stain us or blemish our hearts, minds, character…in other words, pursuing holiness in a very unholy world is a mark of true religion…
James is not talking about perfection here…as if we can be perfectly holy in this life-time…
-nor is he talking about isolation…that we hide from the world so we don’t get touched by it…that’s not even Biblical…we’re called to be “salt and light” within this dark and evil world…
When Jesus prayed for His disciples in Jn. 17, this is what He said: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:15-17
Someone in our church emailed me this powerful insight: “North American Christianity has done a wonderful job at telling people about eternal salvation, but has fallen short in separating “self” and the “world” from the Holy Spirit and heavenly living. We’ve been tricked into thinking we can do both, to some varying degree.”
True religion is two things: 1. a refusal to be sucked into the sewer of this evil, polluted world…
2. a choice to love God instead of the things of this world…to be God’s friend and not a friend of the world…
And when we have been polluted by sin…when our white robes of righteousness that we have been given by Christ do get a sin stain on them…then true religion means calling out to God in confession and repentance and receiving His forgiveness and cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ…
Autobiography in Five Short Chapters (Portia Nelson)
Chapter 1
I walk down the street, there is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost, I am hopeless. It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter 2
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I am in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter 3
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it there. I still fall in. It’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
Chapter 4
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
Chapter 5
I walk down another street.
It’s time for some of us to get on another street…
Conclusion
-there you have it folks, real deal religion…as defined by James…but do you have it folks?
I would like to invite you to ask Jesus to show you where false religion is alive and well in your life…confess it, repent of it…and receive the exchange the Holy Spirit wants to give you…the exchange of false religion with the real deal…
-want you to declare to God your desire to embrace and practice true religion…
Prayer…