22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 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 1:22-25 ESV)
Yesterday we looked at our need to dig deeper into scripture. Today, we need to take that deeper reading and study, learn to apply it to our lives and actually live out the words and messages we find.
Scripture should be a practical, academic and actionable pursuit. It should be something that makes us desire to live out its teaching so that we are not only personally better but also seeking to reach others with its message. In short, as our scripture says today, we must be doers of the Word.
Many, today, are hearers of the word. We have churches filled with hearers. But the 80/20 rule is firmly in place. Often churches struggle with covering the basic needs of one or more Sunday service and child care. Add in the need for people to volunteer to teach Sunday school classes and the workforce can become considerable based upon the size of the church. All without a regularly fixed income source. The church, for the most part, operates on the good will and tithing of its membership. We tend to forget this.
Without a volunteer workforce who are doers of the Word, the church ceases to function. Thus, our need to be more than just hearers extends beyond our basic growth and into the life of the Christianity today. God can do anything with nothing. But He desires to grow the faith through partnership with His children through the church.
