In this verse, there are two main descriptions. One: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. Two: to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. The first is a form of outward piety or outward devoutness/godliness/devotion/righteousness. The second is a form of inward piety. If you looked at the church right now, which one of these two would you say is focused on more? Which one gets neglected? If you go into a Christian bookstore (I used to work at one), the percentage of self help books and personal growth books compared to those of helping the poor would be a pretty good score on a school paper, probably pushing 95% and that's no exaggeration. The first one talks of poverty; the second, purity. Both are very important, but the easiest half to focus on is purity. How do I become the best me? What are my weaknesses and what do I need to learn? James 1:27 above was described in our staff training class as a "summation" verse of Christianity. Not that everything you need to know about Christ is in this verse, but it is a very to-the-point simplification of our responsibilities now that Christ has been resurrected.
But wait! What about in Matthew 26:6-11 when Jesus says "While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man know as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. 'Why this waste?' they asked. 'This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.' Aware of this, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." ? Clearly the last sentence indicates that Jesus would rather have our resources sacrificed for him rather than give to the poor since the poverty problem will never subside. Wrong. This is not what Jesus is meaning right there. He is referencing Deuteronomy 15:7-11 which says, "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,' so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be hound guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." This verse is saying that there will be ample opportunity to give to the poor since they are always with you in the land. Now, going back to the first bold sentence in this paragraph, Jesus is describing the same thing. "You will not always have me here with you, but there will always be poor among you to give generously to." Do you see the difference?
Why are these things important to know? Well, buckle up. I feel that there are so many sections of the Bible that I never learned about or were never emphasized as important growing up. Here's the template for church that the church in America has missed. The end of Acts 4 says, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." What you have is not yours. One church fund. Everyone gave and put it in the pool. And get this. There were NO needy persons among them. If non-believers saw this institution as a place where no poor are among them, wouldn't the church be an attractive place to go rather than the judgmental and uncompassionate repellent that so many unintentionally are. I write this blog not to condemn or rebuke the church, but to make you aware that the church is handicapped when it is only an internal being. As my blog last week talked about, the body of Christ is made up of many parts. What if those parts are injured or there's an unknown disease plaguing the body? God never promised us no suffering when we are adopted into his family.
I will leave you with 1 John 3:16. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our lives for our brothers." This is not something to memorize and know with your mind, but love is a verb.
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| Obliterating a table (unrelated to this week's blog) |
interesting blog post Andrew :)
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