"If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless."
False perception is an epidemic in the church. It lives in the heart of man and manifests itself through masks we wear publicly, thriving within the crucible of religion. It is deceiving because others get a false sense that we are more righteous than we truly are, while we convince ourselves internally that marginal application of Scripture is acceptable behavior.
James does not shy away from the obvious that many in the church "think" they are religious. Religion is actually a popular concept these days. People worship and idolize anything and everything because gray is the most fashionable color of secular religion. In contrast, black and white is reserved for the "judgmental" sect of Evangelical Christians who fully submit to the authority of inerrant Scripture, and obey its teaching without apology.
Yet black and white is exactly James' intent, as he pleads for the church to cast out any gray within our hearts. For gray theology compels us to run off at the mouth and speak without thinking or measuring the impact of our words first. Or in greater view, gray justifies our behavior and waters down absolute truth to relative truth, confusing the character of God as only love without realizing the equally integral other half of His character called law (Scripture) that holds us accountable. Black and white forces us to practice what we preach, yet culture tempts us to abandon our faith and tolerate/justify sin (gray).
I pray we live unashamed of our gray theology intolerance because freedom is only found in the black and white of God's Word that gives freedom. But that intolerance must begin in the mirror, for we cannot remove the speck in others without removing the log in our own eyes. Change begins in our hearts first and foremost. May we embrace that enthusiastically with Biblical wisdom and discernment.
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