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It occurred to me a few moments ago that this passage is a perfect description of the contrast between external oriented, left-brain based religion that is so prevalent and heart oriented, right-brain community bonding spirituality that is the true design of God for His family.
The first verse refers to a system that cheapens the meaning of words. This can be noted because one of the symptoms of meaninglessness is a growing proliferation of words because they are continually losing their power. People who indulge in using words cheaply find that they have to use more and more words to achieve the same results as their credibility wanes. God reveals here that this causes one to deceive his own heart as they are trying to deceive and manipulate others. They continue to really believe that they are religious but because of the lose of meaning in their words they are left with a facade of religion that may sound right but has no substance – is worthless.
In contrast to this deceived condition is presented the evidences of true spirituality. I use the term spirituality in contrast to religion because in my own mind and experience there is a significant difference. Most people who view themselves as religious fit quite nicely into the description above, though most would vehemently deny it.
Spirituality on the other hand, has to do with being aware of your own spirit, being attentive to the things of the spirit, both your own, that of those around you as well as the Spirit of God. Surprisingly for some, this kind of spirituality can be found in many who do not even claim to be Christians but have a much better spirit than most Christians. I believe that many times this is due to the terrible distortions of God that they have been exposed to that has caused them to recoil appropriately in disgust from the lies that purported Christians have presented to them both in treatment and in words. I believe many of these people will be found to be among the saved when the final accounting takes place instead of the professed Christians who looked down on them in disdain.
The description in this verse of what constitutes true or undefiled religion has actually puzzled me most of my life. It seemed so “works” oriented and I could never feel completely comfortable with this text. But the thought suddenly burst into my mind this morning that this visiting referred to in this text is really describing what constitutes the activity needed to create true community which is very close to the foundation of real Christianity. As I spent time yesterday visiting my 90-year old friend we discussed the idea of community and she expressed her frustration that she felt she was not doing her part in this area. I explained that it is true that the church today is not functioning as an interactive community anywhere near the level that God desires and almost nothing like the New Testament church enjoyed. That is why almost no one is willing to facilitate including her in active participation in true community and benefit from her valuable position as a true elder with wisdom to share. In my opinion this lady is a wealth of real heart resources practically going to waste while many people who could be greatly enriched by spending a little time with her are too busy and too consumed spinning empty words to exert the little effort it would take to visit with her. James declares that real spirituality would be found in the person who takes the time to receive and give in bonds of love with this elderly widow. Now it is starting to make much more sense to me.
There are other important elements described here in true spirituality. It reminds us that widows, orphans and other similar situations naturally are accompanied by stress (dis-stress) that could be greatly reduced if believers would act like a healthy community. The other important emphasis for true spirituality pointed out here is the keeping of yourself uncontaminated by the world.
This opens up a very large area of insights which I do not have time right now to explore in writing. I'm sure my mind will be examining this off and on while I am doing other things today. But for now I will simply express that I believe this is indicating the great importance of not being sucked into the world-based style of thinking, relationships and valuing that the world uses to determine what is important. I think this is perfectly described in Romans 12:2 and I love the Phillips translation of this verse (which I don't have access to at the moment) that says, “Don't let the world squeeze you into it's mold.”
