Do-less hearers

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. – James 1.22-24

It is the easiest time in history for us to hear the word of God. For the vast majority of the church Christians either had to go someplace to hear the word of God or someone had to come and teach it. It has been less than 100 years since any kind of device was used to record and spread the spoken word of God. 

But it doesn’t appear that all the access to the word of God is making a whole lot of difference. If anything, in the eyes of many, things just seem to be getting worser and worser. 

Just having great access to hear the word in church and on the telly and online and on podcasts and on our phones is not nearly enough. We can’t just hear it – we have to do something about it. We are called to be doers and not just hearers. 

Being do-less hearers doesn’t make any sense. The illustration here is pretty obvious. Being a hearer and not a doer is like waking up and looking in the mirror. Despite our hair (if we have it) being mussed and that little bit of dirt on our face and that piece of broccoli in our teeth we turn aside, forget about those little problems, and go on our way. 

No one would do that – and no one should do the same with the mirror of God’s word. We can’t just hear the word of God, see our lives in its light, and walk away without doing something about it. If God’s word doesn’t move us to do we are wasting our time. 

And when we are do-less hearers we are only fooling ourselves.