James 1:27 says this: 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.

So all we have to do to have “pure and undefiled” religion before God is to visit orphans and widows? Is that what James is saying? Well, let’s put this in the context of his complete thought. Just a few verses up, he asks us to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. He asks us to be doers of the Word and not just hearers. Then he says something that can be puzzling… He says in verse 23-25 that a person that only hears is like a man that studies at his natural face in a mirror and then walks away and immediately forgets what he looks like…. so… ok, I dont get it…right?

James is saying that a hearer is much like a person aboard the Axiom from the movie Wall-E… you know, the overweight atrophied individuals in floating chairs. A hearer is taking in calories, information, stimulus with no action. A hearer is not fit to actually attest to any real ministry output…they deceive themselves if they think they can only rest on their knowledge. Remember when the Axiom passengers finally tried to walk? They stumbled and wobbled… they thought they could plant a “pizza tree”.

As we take in our calories through hearing, let’s be doers. The example for the culture of that time was to help the MOST destitute… widows and orphans. Honestly, that probably hasn’t changed very little in our culture. Our retirement homes are filled with lonely people and the foster homes are DESPERATELY needed. Let’s get off our Axiom chairs!!

Soli Deo Gloria

Jesse Horne