Functional Faith + your Testimony | James 2:14-26
Do you know any hypocrites? There are hypocrites everywhere. Hypocrisy is the gap between public persona and private belief and character. It is a failure to practice what you preach and say you believe. Studies have shown that when most people think of Christians, they see them as being hypocrites. A study of non-Christians and their perspectives on Christians found that 87% said that “Christians were judgmental,” 85% said, “Hypocritical,” and 78% said, “Out of Touch.” The same study found that hypocrisy is the second biggest reason why people leave Christianity. In his book Unchristian, David Kinnaman found that “84% of non-Christians say they know a Christian personally, yet only 15% say the lifestyles of those believers are noticeably different in a good way.” The hypocrite is not the Christian who struggles against sin, fights against temptation, and keeps doing what is right even when they don’t feel like it. That’s a hero. A hypocrite is a person who uses public virtue to cover up private rot. They are living a double life. The reality is that many in the church call themselves Christians, who are not really Christians. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than putting your head in an oven makes you a biscuit. I’m praying that church members will get saved today.
James is also concerned about people who are “hearers” of the Word but not “doers” of the Word. They look the part but have no part with Christ. James is the half-brother of Jesus, the pastor of the first mega-church, and is the blue-collar scholar. He doesn’t mince words or look for applause lines; he tells it like it is. He has told us that real functional faith is slow to anger, takes care of the helpless, and is not sinfully prejudiced. James is going to address now one of the biggest and most practical questions: How do I know that I am truly saved? James teaches us that there is a difference between fake faith and real faith. James teaches us that fake faith is dead and demonic, and that real faith is dynamic.