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Are We Forgetting What We Look Like?

Writer's picture: Brian DoyleBrian Doyle

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 1:23-24


Social Media is not a cancer, nor is it a cure. Yet, I think, it is a great big magnifying glass which points out (whether we like it or not) our biggest insecurities and vanities. Think about it, for a minute. With social media, we attempt to portray to the world only what we want them to see. There are so many camera filters, we don't see anyone's blemishes, wrinkles or marks, we scrub (almost entirely) the negative from our lives, or we highlight only the bad parts, we blow trumpets for our "Random" acts of kindness, and we shout our opinions from the virtual rooftops, and get offended when any pushback of any sort arise. All of this is for the sake of getting attention, and we get what we want, but it's not fulfilling like we expect.


Many believers are not immune to this narcissism produced by our over imbibing of social media. We self-righteously proclaim our moral superiority, and even accurately preach and teach the word of God, but when the screen is off, where is the proverbial pudding of proof? Are we caring for the sick and needy when no one is watching? Are we welcoming strangers, or seeking out the lost, not for new converts to our particular church gathering, but for the sake of their eternity in Christ's Kingdom? Don't get me wrong, I know this is still happening, and people are doing so, but I do know that many of us (I have been guilty, so I am putting myself forward) are hearers, even speakers of the word, but doing is uncomfortable. Being a follower of Christ isn't about being a good or moral person, it's about being obedient in love to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit in the authority of Jesus. Judgement will not be based on how many verses we quote, selfies we took with a homeless person or at a soup kitchen, or how many likes we got on the songs we posted; it will be based on "I knew you" or "I never knew you" from the lips of the judge who perceives the heart. It's time we gazed in to the word of God, and stopped forgetting what we look like.


James 1:19-27 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.


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. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.


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.


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