How Genuine Are You? - James 1:19-27

“You may be the only Bible some people ever read.” I have no idea who I am quoting or how many times I have heard this statement. I have studied the bible some and I have studied people a lot and feel secure in stating that this is indeed truism. We all have heard statements like—“I am as good as any of those hypocrites in that church.” Now, that may be true. If so, the messages that we are spreading are far from scriptural. You are the only one that can answer the inquirer made in the lesson topic for today. Take a moment to think about your answer. Just how genuine are you? I am trying to practice what I preach, and so I have just now stopped and asked myself “How genuine am I?” The answer scares me; but I must be honest with myself and admit that if I say I am without sin, then I am not truthful.

If you are the father or mother of one or more children, answer the question with great trepidations and that means for you to be caught up in a state of nervous apprehension. Have you set the right example? More important, have you in reality lived the example? The audience changes but the results are just as important if you are a minister, deacon, teacher, or just simply claim to be a Christian. Someone is reading the actions of your life and gaining a picture of how you look through your un-written or unpublished book of life.

There was a two inch snow on the ground one Christmas morning and the farmer {you} and your six-year-old son are both at the barn feeding the animals—but there is only one set of foot-prints in the new fallen snow; do you have any problem determining how your son reached the barn? Can you truthfully say, “I am really proud that my steps marked his way? It is sad for us to have to admit it but some of you may not be “proud that he is walking in your steps” There is only one solution. You will not change his mind about where he should be stepping so you will simply need to redirect your path way.

The last seven pastors that have ministered to me have had a doctorate degree from a Southern Baptist Seminary. The first ten pastors had little or no education past the high school level and one or two may have had les than the 12th grade diploma. I have chosen the three that have had the most influence on my life. Brother John Engle, my pastor at Judson Memorial Missionary Baptist Church, Des Arc, North side, married my wife and me. Brother Earnest Anderson, Elpaso, Arkansas, and pastor at Griffithville led me to the Lord and baptized me. Brother Walter Baker, pastor at Griffithville led me to become a deacon and conducted the ordination service. None of the three were Piled High in D’s—but they lived lives that set them apart and made me want to be like them. I believed them to be GENUINE. Are you? Am I? Only God knows for sure. We must “by faith” accept God’s promises as truth. I know that I am justified—saved, but must daily pray that sanctification is in progress.

Admittedly I do not remember a single sermon that either of these men preached. However, I remember distinctly the life they lived. Genuine knowledge of the Bible can never be measured by passing a test; by filling in the blanks correctly; instead it is measured one step at a time as you walk life’s pathway. Are you walking the high road? Are your shoes muddy and in need of a spiritual shine? Just HOW GENUINE ARE YOU? And, oh Lord, I need to know—what do others see in me? Am I a stumbling block or possibly a stepping stone? The penalty for failure in this matter is very severe. “It is better for us that we have a mill-stone tied about our necks and be cast into the sea than for us to mislead one of His little ones.”

Dr. Terry Ellis writes for Lifeway an arm of Southern Baptist literature. He was profound when he stated, “God’s word is unique among all literature in that it is the very breath of God Himself and seeks to do much more than impart information. Through His Word, God imparts life and helps us grow in Christ. Being a genuine Christian means much more than knowing the contents of the Bile. Genuine Christianity is a life formed by its message.”

The first thing James tells us in today’s lesson is that we should listen a lot louder than we speak. Perk your ears and listen quietly; bridle your tongue and talk only when it is meaningful and needed. When we talk too much and listen seldom or none, we are telling others that we think our ideas are more important than theirs. I believe that you can read the last half of the first chapter of James and understand what he means when he says that “Faith without works is dead.” He says that it is important to listen to what God’s word says to us—but it is much more import to obey the word. What profit is there in knowing what God teaches us to do—if we never attempt to do what He says we should do? Paul is my hero. I know he was a man after God’s heart—equal to or even greater than King David. Even though he was the greatest of all the disciples in proving by his works that he was approved by Christ—he too was led to admit that he did those things that he should not…and that he did not do things that he knew he should do.

Do you hear a hidden question here? I think I do. He is asking us what good is accomplished when we say we have great faith but never prove it by our works. “For by grace through faith we are saved”—yes that is true but if we never do anything to show forth our faith—did we ever experience a saving grace? When you observe your image in a mirror how do you know that it is you that you see? Watch and evaluate what you are doing in daily life. What you see can only be proven by what you do.

Members of this class meet regularly, and study the word of God. James now asks you this question. What good has been done? Has the quality or quantity of your works improved as a result of your growing faith? What has been profited if you have learned to do better but failed to do it? The obvious answer is nothing because the word teaches that anyone that knows to do good and fails to do it; to him it is a sin. We simply accept another of his great promises. He promised us that “if we would ask for forgiveness of our sin—he would forgive us.