Christian Living

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September 24, 2011 – Listeners or Doers?
But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience). – James 1:25 AMP
James is telling Christians to not be listeners of the Word, but to be doers of the Word. Only in BEING a Christian would our lives be blessed. Paul ran upon the same kind of situation in Athens (Acts Chapter 17), when the people there just wanted to keep hearing more from him and not asking him what they should do.
Christians today are much the same way. We have become a group of listeners. We listen to preaching on Sunday morning and maybe a televangelist a couple of times a week. We listen to news stories about non-Christian groups marching in cities promoting their message to the masses. We even listen to foul-mouthed co-workers telling perverse jokes. But in all this listening, we don’t do anything.
James says that those who obey God’s instructions for their life will surely be blessed. The problem is that we must first get past the listening phase, which is where many Christians get stuck. We’re all good at listening. I can listen to Podcasts from my favorite evangelist all day long, but if I don’t put what I hear into action it’s like putting on a three piece suit to go sit in my living room: there’s really no point in it at all.
I cannot tell you the number of times I have been to church and told Marlo how great the sermon was and then two hours later not be able to tell you what it was about. Why? It was because, in the words of James, I was a heedless listener. I listened but I didn’t apply anything. I have to admit that there have also been times when I just didn’t understand the message I heard. Still to this day I read daily devotions by one particular minister and sometimes leave scratching my head. That doesn’t keep me from still being a doer of the Word; it means that I simply didn’t understand that particular message. That’s okay, because God uses the same message to reach different people in different ways. What’s revelation to one person may not be revelation to another.
The fact that Christians have become lazy listeners instead of diligent doers is one reason why our society has run rampant in immorality. Even though our country considers itself predominantly Christian by statistical standards, television is no longer good, wholesome entertainment for families. Homosexuality is no longer viewed as immoral but as an alternative lifestyle. People commit heinous crimes and then claim they have a mental disorder rather than accept the consequences for their actions. Why do these things happen? It is partly because Christians, instead of being a people of action with a purpose, have become a bunch of couch potatoes watching and waiting to see what will happen next.
My high school chemistry teacher had a sign on her desk that read: “Why doesn’t somebody do something? Then I realized I was somebody.” Christians should have come to the place where they ask that question frequently, but few have come to the place where they realize that they are somebody. They are always waiting for someone else to take action.
God wants us all to realize we are somebody: we are His children and it’s high time we started acting like it! He wants us to listen to Him. But most of all He wants us to DO. We all need to become doers of the Word. Do whatever it takes to make your stand on God’s side. Turn off the television. If it’s illegal or immoral, whether it is at work, at the mall, at home, or even at church, have no part of it. Above all, don’t let anyone out there try to convince you that Christianity is a religion invented by a bunch of right wing radicals. Christianity is a way of life. It defines us. And when we all stop listening to all the junk in the world and start doing what God says, they will all know how blessed we really are.

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