James 1 - The Mirror Doesn't Lie!

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21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Today we start reading the letter of James. James is the half-brother of Jesus, and leader of the early church in Jerusalem. This letter is very unique in large part due to the fact that it was probably written between 45-49 A.D. This earlier than the four gospels and rest of the New Testament letters. This is why when people get so upset when James says, "Faith without works is dead" they don't realize that he is looking at this phrase different than the apostle did in his letters. He did not know Paul, nor was he acquainted with Paul's emphasis that we are, "Saved by grace through faith based on the word of God". Note though the gospels never intimate that we are saved by works. or anything other than Jesus, they too use different language than Paul in relationship to what it means to "follow Jesus". 

While James says in chapter 2, "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.", he is teaching that genuine, saving faith inevitably produces good works as its evidence. It is not "faith plus works" but "works come from faith". We might call this "faith in action". Luther was not a huge fan of James either and much preferred the apostle Paul's teaching on being "justified by faith not works".

James uses the term "word" several times in the verses above. The Greek word he uses is "logos", which is used all throughout the New Testament. It refers to the "word about Jesus" and the "word of God". The word represents the "good news", the "gospel". The word also represents Jesus' teaching and the implications of applying the word in one's own life. For James the "word" is not just intellectual belief. but a radical response to the gospel and its ethical demands. One might surmise that the Jews of the "dispersion", the twelve tribes he writing too, had a good deal of "head knowledge"about the word but they weren't applying it to their everyday lives. We will see this theme throughout his letter. 

We know that the "word" he is talking about is the gospel because in verse 21 he says, "Humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." This idea of the "word being planted in you" is reminiscent of Jesus' "Parable of the Sower and the Seed."

James gives an analogy to someone listening to the word but not doing what it says when he writes, "He is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and when he goes away forgets what he looks like." I always wondered what he meant by this so I did a little research on it. There are lots of deep lessons that could be taken from this analogy. I will try to summarize a few I found from Google AI

1. A mirror shows you as you actually are, not as you wish to be. The analogy warns against treating truth like entertainment or a brief moment of inspiration rather than an honest diagnostic tool.

2. Forgetting what you look like represents losing touch with your true self and values. Walking away unchanged creates a gap between who you think you are when you hear good advice and how you actually live once you step back into daily life.

This reminds me of the motto, "The mirror doesn't lie." We may think we look like something or someone, but we may be way off. In the same way we might say about a picture, "That doesn't really look like me does it?" One of the hard things for me to is to watch myself preaching on Sunday, which is taped through live stream and on YouTube and Facebook. I wonder, "Is that what I really look like?"

To stretch the analogy further, the bible will never lie to you about who you are, or where you are in comparison to God's standards. Since the word is also the Good News about Jesus, when we see what we look like in comparison to the perfect Word of God, but we realize we need a Savior. The Word is the truth about us. It doesn't lie when we look clearly at it and don't walk away. Fortunately the truth about God is He saw we needed a Savior from what we look like in the mirror of His word.  

So James is saying to these early Christians, just because the Word of God brought you salvation in Christ, doesn't mean it still doesn't reflect exactly who you are. We all need to look at the "man or woman in the mirror" on a regular basis so we don't forget where we have been and where we are going with Jesus' help. 

On the contrary, the one who looks at the word does what it says, is like one who looks at the perfect law of freedom. They blessed in all they do. God's Word is unchanging and will always produce fruit for those who look into the mirror and see themselves for who they really are. This is why Jesus said, "I did not come to abolish the law, but the fulfill it."

This is why we imitate Jesus because we know that He will always lead us in the way of the word and give us the power to do it.  Importantly he says to his disciples in John, 

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." - John 8:31-32

This is why I am glad that you are reading the Daily Bread Blog. Just like we look into the mirror every day to make sure our hair looks good, we need to look into the mirror of God's word, so we will see exactly what we look like in His eyes. 

Remember, "The mirror doesn't lie!"

Jesus, you are the way, the truth, and the life. You are the Word made flesh. As we look into the mirror of the word we are reminded of how much we need you to save us from our sin. As we keep our eyes on you help us to look more like you do! Amen.