Seth Bartal's ADVENTURE

Think Twice Before Becoming a Teacher

Not many of your should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.  –James 3:1

There is a tendency sometimes for people to want to share their knowledge with those who are younger or who aren’t as knowledgeable.  While this is a worthy endeavor, James warns teachers here that they have a great load of responsibility placed on their shoulders when they take upon themselves the spiritual well being of another.  When one is teaching Biblical truths, he or she has a high responsibility to make sure that those truths are taught in an accurate way and that he is truthful in his representation of Scripture.  The fact is, there are a lot of teachers of the Bible who arrogantly teach things inaccurately.  Those who teach will be held to a high level of accountability when the final judgment comes.  If you want to teach, that is a noble desire.  Make sure, however, that in your teaching and in your life, you are truly representing God’s Word.

Is It Enough to Believe?

You believe that God is one; you do well.  Even the demons believe – and shudder!  –James 2:19

The Democratic Party made an interesting decision this past week to take the word “God” out of its Party Platform.  The result was a firestorm of people claiming that the Dems don’t believe in God, and it led to one reporter sharing the statistic that 87% of Americans believe that God exists.  Now my point here isn’t to say whether it was right or wrong to make such an adjustment to the Party Platform (which was later reversed, anyway).  My point is that a lot of people believe that God exists, but that doesn’t make the United States a “Christian” nation.  Belief that God exists isn’t enough because even the demons believe.  It’s an interesting statement that James makes.  Typically our lack of belief in God is due to His invisible qualities and the fact that we can’t see Him.  However, other members of the spiritual world who can see Him and who do believe that He exists are no better off than people here on earth who believe that He exists.  Belief isn’t enough – it’s simply the starting point.  The demons will not be spending eternity in God’s presence because they refuse to submit to God’s authority, so where belief is the start, submission is the end.  Faith (belief) without works (submission) is death.  The ironic thing about the demons is that they understand God’s power, which is why they shudder.  However, that recognition of power still does not motivate them to alter their patterns of behavior.  Believing in God is not the end of salvation – it’s the beginning.  The Bible teaches that true belief in what Christ did on the cross leads a person to a lifestyle of submission to God.  If you believe, then the logical question is, are you submitting?

Two Peas in a Pod

But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’  Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  –James 2:18

One of my all-time least favorite phrases is, “good Christian.”  I think it irritates me because there really is no such thing as a “good Christian.”  That’s the whole point of Gospel: we can’t be good.  If we could be good then Jesus wouldn’t have had to die on the cross.  It’s not good people who go to heaven and bad people who go to hell.  It’s forgiven people who go to heaven – those who have placed their faith in Jesus’ death.  And yet James challenges us with the notion that faith isn’t enough because true faith will result in works (hence the phrase “good Christian”).  I think the secret lies behind what the psychologists call “cognitive dissonance,” or the idea that when our beliefs and our actions don’t match up then it creates stress within ourselves and results in either changed beliefs or changed actions.  James is pointing out in this verse that faith cannot exist without works because once a person has received the life-changing work of Christ in his, he cannot not behave differently.  The life lived in submission to God and to the Holy Spirit will change and will be different because one of the Holy Spirit’s responsibilities is to convict our hearts so as to bring our actions into conformity with God’s will.  They are two peas in a pod: faith and works.  They dwell together in the life of the Christian.  A person who claims to have faith but whose life doesn’t reflect a change over time and more Godly living doesn’t have faith after all.

Don’t Give Me Judgment… I Need Mercy

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.  –James 2:13

I’ll never forget an experience that I had during my first year of working in the church.  Every Tuesday at noon we held a “Pastor’s Prayer” time where people would come and pray with the pastors for requests that were shared by the church family.  One dear, old saint named Mary joined us whenever she could, and it was such a privilege to pray with her.  Her husband and she had been missionaries in Colombia, and then as a widow in her eighties, she served as an encouragement to many.  During one particular Tuesday prayer time, Mary began praying this verse from James – that she didn’t want God’s judgment but that she needed His mercy.  Perhaps one of the saintliest women I’ve ever known, it was hard to believe that Mary, too, needed God’s mercy.  And yet her praying and the movement of the Spirit led her to tears as she realized her utter dependence on the Lord’s mercy.  It’s true for all of us – we all need mercy… which is why we need to extend mercy to others.  The one who refuses to extend mercy to another has failed to accept the mercy that God has offered to him or her.  Is there anyone in your life to whom you need to extend mercy?  Don’t delay, but give it generously just as our heavenly Father has so generously given it to us.

Welcome to the Deep End

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.  –James 2:8

It’s seems that, once a person has been a follower of Christ for any significant amount of time, there’s a phrase that begins popping up in his or her vernacular: “I want to go deep.”  But what is “deep,” exactly?  It’s easy to understand with swimming pools, but I’m not sure it’s easy to understand with faith.  For some it means studying the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament.  To them it means having the Bible taught to them in a systematic way from the pulpit in a verse-by-verse format through books of the Bible.  It means understanding the mores of the times and knowing details down to the minutiae of Scripture.  Sometimes, however, it also means a greater desire to gain knowledge than to live out knowledge – to apply it.  If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you probably see how much I believe in strong, Biblical application.  From my perspective, God’s Truth is of little value to us if we are not going to apply it.  And sadly, there is a temptation to buy into the belief that we’re “going deep” simply because we’re filling our heads with knowledge.  Such a notion is a farce.  You are only as deep as your application takes you.  That’s why James made the comment in this verse that when you fulfill the royal law according to Scripture (loving your neighbor as yourself) then you are doing well.  Don’t buy into the lie that it’s enough to know a lot about the Bible.  Satan would love to have a group of top-heavy Christians who go around like walking candy apples and who never allow information to lead to transformation.  When your information begins leading to transformation, then you have finally arrived in the real deep end.

You Never Know - Most Popular Post from August 2012

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.  –James 2:1

After my freshman year in college I took a job at Texas Roadhouse as a server.  Though it had its fun moments, the job was also incredibly frustrating.  As a server you learn the challenging lesson of doing the best for people regardless of what they will give you in return.  I’ll never forget one particular Saturday when I had made only a couple of dollars during the lunch “rush.”  I wasn’t going to be working that evening due to a bachelor party for my brother, and I was frustrated that I had only had one or two tables.  Adding to my frustration was a new table with a husband and wife as well as several kids.  My fellow servers and I got pretty good at recognizing which families were good tippers and which weren’t, and I was certain that this final table of my shift would require a lot of work with very little payback.  Though it was tempting to give them only perfunctory service, the Lord had been challenging me that summer with giving the best service possible to everyone.  Little did I know that this family would end up leaving me the largest tip I had ever received.  In fact, their bill was less than the tip that they left.  I’m not sure why they were so generous, but I know it was a blessing to me as it ended up being the very same amount of money that I paid to take my two brothers out for dinner.  Before you judge someone based on his or her appearance, remember that you never know what’s happening on the inside.  You may be surprised with what you find.

Beyond Me

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  –James 1:27

My Grandma was a young widow – she was in her 50’s when my Grandpa died.  Though she never remarried and lived alone, my Grandma was very involved in her church, and there were several families who took very good care of her.  I never appreciated it at the time, but as I get older, I can see just how valuable it was in her life to have those people who invested in her and made sure that her needs were being met and that her bills were being paid.  Eventually we moved my Grandma so that she was in the same town as we were, but before that, those other people played a vital role in her life.  The truth is, widows and orphans are people who can’t always fend for themselves; they need people within the church who are willing to help care for them.  A large part of putting faith into action is seeing the needs of people like my Grandma and doing what we can to care for others.  Is there a way you can reach out to widows and orphans in your community?

Losing Palmolive

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.  –James 1:26

There’s a scene in the movie, “A Christmas Story,” where the little boy, Ralphie, uses a bad word and is forced to have his mouth washed out with soap.  His mother demands to know where he learned the word, so rather than implicating his father (who apparently used profanity as a form of art), he blames a friend for his colorful language.  When it really comes down to it, though, the truth is that our language doesn't come from anyone else... it originates in our hearts.  Whether it’s a profane word or simply gossip, all of that comes from deep within us.  James made a stunning point when he went so far as to say that those who can’t bridle their tongues really deceive themselves as it comes to their faith.  Since our ultimate trust of God and love for Him comes from within, our real commitment to Him is revealed when we speak.  James wasn’t necessarily talking about bad language as much as the totality of what comes out of a person’s mouth.  Is it encouraging?  Is it condemning?  Is it meant to build up, or does it tear down?  The content of our speech reveals a lot about us.  What does yours say?

On Freedom

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.  –James 1:25

It’s not often that we think of laws as providing freedom; most of the time we think of them being restrictive.  When I drive down the highway, I want to be able to drive as fast as I desire.  The speed limit restricts me rather than setting me free.  While that sounds pretty good, the idea is really deceptive.  The truth of the matter is that, if there were no speed limit, people would drive at incredibly unsafe speeds and not only threaten their own safety but mine as well.  Suddenly I’m not so free anymore.  Sometimes we get confused and think that laws restrict freedom when, in reality, they give freedom.  When we look at God’s Word as restrictive rules rather than laws of liberty we really miss out on the point.  As the Creator of the world and the natural laws by which the world operates, it makes sense that He would have the greatest understanding on how to live with maximum freedom.  His laws aren’t to make us miserable or to deprive us of anything good; they are there so we can experience life as He created it to be experienced.  The next time you’re tempted to ignore one of God’s laws, consider why He might have put the law into place; perhaps there’s more to it than you have realized.

The Joys of Painting

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  –James 1:22

I’m exhausted.  I spent the last 3 nights of my life painting at our new house.  First it was the ceilings; then it was the walls.  As tiring as painting is, there’s a joy that comes with it though, isn’t there?  When you finally get to roll on that last coat, it’s amazing to see the change that takes place as your house is transformed.   Can you imagine buying a bunch of paint and setting the cans in the rooms but never actually applying it on the walls?  The value of paint doesn’t come in owning it but in applying it.  The same is true with God’s Word and our lives.  We can have all the knowledge in the world, but if we haven’t applied that knowledge, then we’re deceiving ourselves about its value.  God’s Word is meant to be applied, so we need to read it and study it with a goal of putting it into practice in the form of life application.  Don’t be deceived into believing that knowledge it is enough; it’s not!  Just like with paint, the value comes in the application, and there is satisfaction in the aftermath.