Man (or Woman) in the Mirror

Pastor Dave Monreal, Lead Pastor

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

James 1:22-24

Mirrors are a pretty cool invention. I don’t know how long they have been around but based on the passage in James I can say with confidence it has been at least 2,000 years. I’m sure as long as there have been shiny metal objects there have been mirrors in one form or another. What’s the purpose of a mirror? I know when I was a kid it was to reflect light into my brother’s eyes to annoy him. But for most people a mirror is to look at our reflection to comb our hair, put on makeup, or check to see if that their clothes look neat. It would be silly to take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror and then immediately forget what you look like! It defeats the purpose of the mirror to not remember what it was you were looking at in the first place!

James says this is exactly what many people do with God’s word. We can listen to a sermon, attend Sunday School class, listen to preachers on the radio, and even have our daily quiet time and forget everything we hear. It is possible to go to Bible college or even seminary and not actually apply the things you have learned. The first time I ever visited Pennsylvania was in 1992 when a friend invited me to the Creation Music Festival. I had never been to anything like that, and I was excited to go. What’s more, the friend who invited me said his friend was getting the tickets and camping permits so all I had to do was pay my gas to come out and split the cost of food!

His friend had come down to Georgia to visit the year before and I had been very impressed with his Bible knowledge and theological precision. We had several in depth conversations and, as much as you could call any 21-year-old a theologian, this guy was a theologian. On the second or third day of the Creation Festival I had a chance to have a one-on-one conversation with this friend and I profusely thanked him for getting all the tickets and camping permits for everyone! I was so impressed with his generosity! He turned to me and said, “No problem!” Then he proceeded to tell me HOW he got all the tickets. He told me that the week before the Creation Music Festival they deliver all the extra wristbands and camping permits and store them in a shed on the property. He said for the last several years he has broken into the shed and stole the tickets and camping permits and gives them out to his friends!

My senior year of college I was “runner up” for preacher of the year. A very gifted young man received the award. I was stunned to hear a month later that he was possibly going to be expelled and not allowed to graduate. Apparently for several years he had been stealing library books and claiming them as his own and a cache of library books were found in a hidden storage area of his apartment! Young or old, there is a cautionary tale here for all of us. It is possible to know the Scriptures and even for them to flow off our tongues and our heart be far from the Lord. We need to hear and believe God’s word then we must respond to it in faith. Is there a sin to confess? Is there a behavior to begin? Is there a promise to hold? Is there an attitude to adjust? If we come to God’s word but it does not change us, we have deceived ourselves and are only hearers of the word and not doers.