Scripture Daily

Context No. 2247 of 4322 · James

Context · Reflection

James 1:19-27: in context

19So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 20for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; 24for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. 26If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

James, having urged his readers to be doers of the word and not hearers only, gives a striking definition of what real religion looks like. If anyone thinks he is religious but does not bridle his tongue, he says, his religion is worthless. And then he states plainly what pure religion is: pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. True religion, James says, shows itself in compassion for the vulnerable and in personal holiness, not in mere words or outward show.

James's definition of pure religion cuts through much that passes for religion. He does not define it by religious talk, by outward observances, by the appearance of piety; a person may have all these and yet, if his religion is only words, it is worthless. Real religion, James says, shows itself in two things: caring for the vulnerable, visiting orphans and widows in their affliction, and keeping oneself unstained from the world, personal holiness. Compassion for the needy and purity of life, not religious talk or outward show, are the marks of religion that is pure before God. This searches what our own religion actually consists of. It is possible to have the appearance and language of religion, to attend to its outward forms, to speak its words, while lacking the two things James names as its substance: compassion for the vulnerable and personal holiness. James warns that religion which is only outward and verbal, that does not show itself in caring for the needy and in a life kept pure, is worthless before God. What God looks for is not the appearance of religion but its reality: mercy toward the afflicted and holiness of life. The first mark, caring for the vulnerable, echoes throughout Scripture. Defend the fatherless, Isaiah says; plead for the widow. God's own heart is for the vulnerable, the orphan and widow, the afflicted; and religion that reflects his heart shows itself in compassion and care for exactly these. The second mark, keeping oneself unstained from the world, is personal holiness, refusing to be defiled by the world's corruption, living a pure life before God. Together they mark religion that is real: mercy toward the needy, and holiness of life. This calls us to a religion that is real, not merely outward. James defines pure religion as caring for the vulnerable in their affliction and keeping oneself unstained by the world; and he warns that religion which is only words and outward forms is worthless. This calls us to examine whether our religion shows itself in these two things: compassion for the needy and afflicted, and personal holiness, or whether it is only outward talk and observance. Pure and undefiled religion before God is to care for the vulnerable and to keep oneself pure; and we are called to a religion that is real in exactly these ways, not the empty religion of words and outward show that James calls worthless, but the true religion of mercy and holiness that reflects the heart of God.

Does my religion show itself in the two things James names as its substance, compassion for the vulnerable, the orphan and widow and afflicted, and personal holiness, keeping myself unstained from the world, or is it only outward talk and observance, and can James's definition of pure and undefiled religion move me to a religion that is real in these ways, mercy toward the needy and holiness of life, rather than the empty religion of words and appearance that he calls worthless?

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