Pure Religion

“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

James 1:26-27

When I was a youth pastor, I was visiting a student who had recently started attending church again. His parents were believers, but they had a “hands off” policy on taking their children to church. If the kids wanted to go it was their choice with no pressure from the parents or consequences if they chose not to go. The boy who started attending had a younger brother who had not been to church in years. Neither of the students gave any indication of having a genuine relationship with the Lord. The older boy was interested in exploring Christianity. His younger brother had not expressed any interest in God for a decade when he was in early elementary school. I was sharing the gospel with both of them when the younger brother declared, “But I am a Christian.”

True, he prayed at Vacation Bible School when he was five, but he never showed any fruit and there were no indications that his profession was sincere. By middle school he started drinking and doing drugs. By the time he was in high school he had gone to rehab seven times including four in-patient. I was stunned. I blurted out, “I don’t think you have what you think you have!” I wasn’t being judgmental. When Jesus comes into a person’s life, he does not leave the person unaffected. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17).  From the moment the person accepts Christ the Bible says that he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and God begins to change him from the inside out. They begin to have new desires, a new direction in life, and a new vocabulary.

This is James’ point. Someone who claims to be a Christian but there is no change in his heart is deceived. Jesus said, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). In other words, what comes out of our mouth is a more accurate indicator of where our heart is that what we might profess on a Sunday morning (or to a youth pastor in the kitchen).

It not only affects one’s speech, it also affects his personal holiness and his care for those who are downtrodden or in need. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” We can give lip service to being a Christian, but the true proof of our genuine faith is found in the life that we live, the words that we say, and the personal choices we make.