Pure Religion

In James's epistle he describes something that a lot of Christians today say doesn't exist -- "pure and undefiled religion before God." (James 1:27) A lot of Christians are offended at the use of the term "religion" in Christian usage. "It's not a religion; it's a relationship." It appears that James disagrees.

Pure and undefiled religion to God, according to James, is a two-pronged thing. First, it is visiting orphans and widows. And I suspect we're already failing to practice God's version of religion, pure and undefiled. The first component of God's pure religion is taking care of the needy, the vulnerable. That's not an SJW thing; it's a God thing.

It is, I think, at least partly an SJW thing that they focus so much on taking care of the needy that they miss entirely part two: keep oneself unstained from the world. The word is ἄσπιλος -- áspilos. It means "not" ("á") "defiled, spotted, stained" ("spilóō"). Jude used the positive version (no "á") in his epistle when he urged us to save people "with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." (Jude 1:23) Now, clearly we're not supposed to be defiled by the world. On the other hand, can that really happen? I mean isn't it we who defile ourselves? In which case it would be our choice of accepting the world's values with which to defile ourselves. And, indeed, James had just made the case that our problem with sin is our own doing (James 1:13-15). However, in this case, the word used here is "from," not "by." We are to keep ourselves unstained from the world. So there is a very real sense in this text that there is "muck" -- dirt that can rub off and stain -- in the world and we're not supposed to get that on us. It's reminiscent of Paul's, "Do not be conformed to this world." (Rom 12:2)

Now, clearly it doesn't mean that we're supposed to be out of this world. Obviously you can't care for widows and orphans without being here. You can't care for the needy and the lowly without being among the needy and the lowly. So it's not a separation that is in view here. It is being in the world but not of it. It is maintaining a biblical (read "Christian") worldview while living in a worldly worldview. It is seeking to save the lost while remaining unstained from their sin (Jude 1:23). It is seeking to restore sinning believers while watching out for our own sin (Gal 6:1). It is being among the people God has created without absorbing their views that pollute them.

We are often unaware of it, but this is a major problem for believers. It has been said that conservatives are merely the shadow of liberals waling into their graves, following a little behind. You might recognize this if you look at where liberals and conservatives were 50 years ago, then compare them to where they are today. Modern conservatives look much more liberal today than their conservative predecessors did 50 years ago. So it is with God's people. What our predecessors absolutely banned we embrace and celebrate. We do it unknowingly. It has just rubbed off on us. We've failed to heed James and become stained from the world. Feminists complain that it is morally wrong to say that a man should be the head of the house (1 Cor 11:3) or a wife should submit to her husband (Eph 5:22-24) or that a woman shouldn't teach or exercise authority over men in church (1 Tim 2:12-14) and instead of straining all that through "the implanted Word" (James 1:21) we strain it out. The world tells us to "follow your dream," to "just be yourself," that "loving yourself is the greatest love" and we buy it. Scripture says that we are our own worst enemy when it comes to sin (James 1:13-15), but let's go with whatever we want. That's much better. Pyschology assures us that corporal punishment is harmful to children while the Bible clearly teaches that it is a valuable tool in the arsenal of any good parent (e.g., Psa 89:32; Prov 13:24; Prov 23:13-14; Prov 29:15; Heb 12:5-11). So we discard the Bible and go with psychology.

According to James, there is such a thing as good religion -- religion that is pleasing to God. It absolutely includes caring for widows and orphans, people in need. We don't seem to do that well. And it clearly includes keeping ourselves unstained from the world. Apparently we're not doing that very well, either. Is it possible that this is the reason that so many Christians object to religion? We're not doing it very well.