James 1:22—Not a hearer only

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. James 1:22, NASB

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  NIV

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!  Message Bible

Nothing shouts HYPOCRITE so loudly to the outside world as Christians who take great efforts to hear and speak the Word yet do nothing to let it play itself out in their attitudes and behaviors.

In the early days of the Church James observed this tendency in his fellow believers; over time, not much has changed. The penchant for hearing the Word while neglecting to let it influence and direct day to day choices is still a huge challenge for most of us.

James is not condemning his fellow Christians; he is merely refusing to condone or endorse hypocrisy. He is bringing correction to the Church of his time, and this clarion call rings down through the centuries, bringing correction to generations of believers all the way to our time.

In your attempt to solve the hypocrisy issue, don’t be like the woman with a Jesus sticker on her car who decided that she could relieve the inconsistency between her faith and her speeding—by removing the sticker!

Go ahead—hear the Word. But as you hear it, interact with it and let it influence how you think, behave, and respond. Don’t ditch it to protect yourself from being a hypocrite! It’s the Word itself that will make you the real, genuine article—you’ve just got to let it work within you.

Nor be like some teens I knew in a Christian school who resented the lesson in Bible class on how to listen to and obey their consciences. The accountability factor made them angry; they didn’t want to be answerable for their choices.

Let the Word correct you. Just like you correct your children when they do things that could harm them, so it is with God’s Word. Of course it isn’t fun or exhilarating to yield to its correction; but it will save your soul and may save your job, your relationships, your sanity, or even your life.

The most uncomfortable phrase in this verse is “who delude themselves”. Not only do “hearers only” appear phony to the outside world, but they end up deceiving themselves. Jesus is the Truth; the Word of God is truth; and the state of delusion equates to a big old lie—something the devil is the father of (see John 8:44). When you hear the Word but neglect to let it correct or change you, you end up being deluded—living a lie and opening yourself up to the father of lies.

If you catch yourself falling into this pattern—all hearing, no doing—recognize it as a snare of the devil. Repent and cry out to God. He will gladly forgive and deliver you, and He will set your feet back on solid ground. Just resolve from here on out to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.

He will help you!

Dorothy