HEARING A MESSAGE VS LIVING A MESSAGE

One of the more peculiar issues with Christianity today is that we’ve become a bit of culture of talkers rather than doers and demonstrators. We tend to major on theory and conversation, rather than actually doing the gospel. James exhorts us to not just be hearers of the Word but rather to be DOERS of the Word. 

James was actually addressing a Greek-minded culture in a time when people would gather in the amphitheater to listen to a lecture that entertained and tickled the ears. However, these same people would go out from that lecture unchanged and with no practical strategy to apply what they learned. Does that sound familiar? In fact, the original Greek concept behind “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22) could be described as “auditing a course in University but getting no diploma or credit for it.” Wow!

The reality is if you want to DO the Word, then the Word must “become flesh” in you. You should take a sermon that you want to live out and listen to it 4 to 7 times. Repeat and meditate on the scriptures you want to live, until they become flesh, and the Word begins to demonstrate through you.