Winston Churchill once said: ‘We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.’
In this column, as we’ve looked at Respectable Sins in the Letter of James, he has challenged how we use our mouths too much and our ears and hands too little. He then goes in for the kill in Chapter 3 – that whopping respectable sin – how we misuse our tongues.
In my bimonthly slot in the newspaper, we have been looking at how the apostle James uncovers some rather unpleasant ‘respectable sins’ in us Christians.
Last time we saw that, in order to root out our deep-seated adulterous pride, we need to become enslaved to God’s law of love by listening and receiving the word of truth with meekness, humbling ourselves, remembering and acting on what it says – not just listening but doing…
We thought last time how, in his letter, the apostle James has a lot to say about how we use our mouths and ears, and what that reveals about our hearts.
He challenges us to be much better listeners – slow to speak and quick to listen to each other but, much more importantly, to God.
In my last few articles we are looking at how the apostle James views the ‘respectable’ sins that we allow to take root and grow in us unchecked.
So, on to another of James’ diagnostic tests. I read something recently that hit a nerve: ‘One of the biggest problems with our communication is that we do not listen to understand, we listen to reply.’
We’ve been seeing in the end Word how the letter of James exposes all sorts of respectable sin related to our spiritual adultery against the Lord – our double-mindedness.
These respectable sins have often been linked to our wrong attitude towards how we treat God and others with regards to poverty and riches. This next exposé may reveal how my proud adulterous heart thinks God and others ought to treat me.
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We are daily bombarded by the command to spend our money on ourselves or invest it for our future. I am an absolute mug when it comes to online impulse buys late at night. It’s a relief to my husband that I have no clue or interest in how Bitcoin works.
In our series on ‘Respectable Sins’, James uncovered our terrible favouritism and snobbery last time (James 2: 1-7), shown in the way we treat those we think are beneath us or above us in status.
‘My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favouritism.’ Jesus is not interested in our definition of worthy. He is looking for sinners to save – be they rich or poor. He is looking for recipients of His grace; that includes all of us! Our worth is found – only in Him.
Here in Bodmin we run a free café off the back of the local food bank. Each week a Housing Advisor comes to offer foodbank clients help.
So, the other day a woman came and sat down with the advisor. She was pierced and tattooed to within an inch of her life. Her dreadlocks were phenomenal, and her clothes were eclectic – even for Cornwall.
For a time in the endWord, we are receiving some spiritual heart surgery as we look at the letter of James. He uncovers some of our more insidious, respectable sins and cautions us from fatally wandering from the truth (James 5:19-20)
It seems that we are always facing a choice as we wander through this life: two pathways – the pathway of Obedience: faith and trust which leads to wisdom, or the pathway of Pride: a wilful double-mindedness that leads to folly and destruction.
For a time in the endWord, we are receiving some spiritual heart surgery as we look at the letter of James. He uncovers some of our more insidious, respectable sins and cautions us from fatally wandering from the truth (James 5:19-20).
When it comes to the big ones – ‘sex and drugs and rock ’n roll’ – we Christians often feel pretty good about ourselves compared to the world, and we may assume God feels the same way about us too.
We are spending some time in the endWord having spiritual heart surgery from the letter of James.
Here is a reminder of Dr James’ diagnosis of us: ‘You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God’ (James 4:4).
I’ve been revisiting the letter of James recently. To be honest it’s a bit of a kick in the spiritual teeth. He doesn’t mince his words.
Now, I am prone to be quite a spiritual masochist. I enjoy leaving church feeling like I have been confronted; reprimanded; given extra homework. James’ letter isn’t that.
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