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DISCUSS TOGETHER All of the material in this guide is provided for fostering healthy discussion in your group. Read through the prompts together and discuss the bolded questions out loud.

Has an advertisement ever motivated you to buy or download something? What does an advertisement need to do to get you interested in what it’s selling you?

We live in a world where we’re absolutely surrounded by advertisements. We see them before videos we watch, before movies we see, on breaks on tv, in the sidebar of news articles, in between pages of a newspaper, and on billboards on the side of the road. Every single one of them is tailored to do one thing: try to get you to buy, download, or view their product. It’s trying to move you to action.

In his letter, James also tries to convince the dispersed Jews to take action: they are to take in God’s Word and then act on it. Out loud, read his argument from James 1:19-27:

19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does. 26 If anyone thinks he is religious without controlling his tongue, his religion is useless and he deceives himself. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

There is a lot of instruction in these verses that may seem simple on paper, but is difficult to act out. What is something that James wrote here that seems like it would be the easiest to do?

Which will be the toughest? Why do you think so?

What are the benefits of being slow to speak? Is it difficult for you to be slow to speak?

Has being quick to speak ever gotten you in trouble? Explain.

Many people will agree that it's way too easy to let our mouths get us into trouble. James will address this later in much longer form, because that truth hasn't changed in thousands of years. The tongue is a

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rudder that steers the whole ship, so taming it is as difficult as it is beneficial. Fortunately, we don’t have to tame it all on our own, because we have the Word to help us. James likens it to a mirror.

How is the Word like a mirror? What sorts of things does it point out to us?

When is a time the Lord revealed something about you in His Word?

Daniel Doriani said of this, "As a mirror shows physical flaws, so the word is a mirror for the soul. It shows moral and spiritual flaws so that we can remedy them. But to profit from Scripture as a mirror, we must remember what we see and act accordingly, as James says: ‘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.’”

The Word is a mirror that shows us the things about us that need to change, but it is more than just the glass hanging in your bathroom. It is alive.

Out loud, read Hebrews 4:12-14. 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

What does it mean that God's Word is "living and active”?

How is it different from other books that tell “good messages"?

How does this relate to its work as a “mirror”?

God’s Word has been alive and creating new things since the beginning of time. He made the universe through His Word, and He makes us new the same way. When He makes us new, He gives us brand new hearts that yearn for the things of God—and makes us want to follow Him where He leads us.

James wrote about the difference between “pure and undefiled religion” and its opposite. What is the difference, according to this passage?

Out loud, read Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

How do these words parallel what James is saying in this passage?

How have you seen the difference between pure and fake religion, especially within Christianity?

On your own, take a few moments to answer the following questions about yourself:

Read Psalm 46:10. How often each week do you make space to be still and receive the Word of Truth? Do your actions line up with the faith that you profess? Where do you struggle with this the most?

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Extra material:

Daniel Doriani on Scripture being a mirror:

First, Scripture is like a mirror to our souls. Just as we gaze in a physical mirror to inspect and perhaps improve our physical appearance, so we should gaze into the spiritual mirror to inspect and improve our spiritual appearance.

Second, like a mirror, Scripture discloses our sin, our need for repentance, and the promise of grace. It reveals our need for amendment. Therefore, we should remember what we see long enough to mend what is amiss. We can beautify our souls by dispatching our sins and vices. But it is folly to see our flaws, then forget them at once.

Humans gaze at themselves all too carelessly. We peer into the mirror momentarily each morning. Occasionally, we even investigate the image. Is our hair turning gray? Receding? Are wrinkles developing? Is it time for a new haircut or skin care regimen? But time rushes on. We organize our hair and shave our face or apply our makeup as the standards of grooming for our gender require. Then we leave, quickly forgetting our appearance, since it has little effect on the day’s tasks or decisions.

This disinterest is sensible, but it can cause embarrassment if there is a sartorial flaw that should be remedied. It is rather awkward when someone points out a button that is undone on our shirt. We think, “I knew that button was undone. I was going to fix it in the car.”

and on “pure and undefiled religion” being caring for orphans and widows and keeping ourselves unstained from the world:

Care for orphans and widows is essential to true religion for several reasons. Above all, kindness to them is pure kindness. It is mercy for the sake of mercy, because those who help widows and orphans cannot expect to receive anything tangible in return. Widows and orphans are likely to be poor for a long time.

Further, kindness to the needy is God-like. We sustain aliens, widows, and orphans because he sustains aliens, widows, and orphans (Ps. 146:9). Moses says the Lord “shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt” (Deut. 10:17–19).

God does not love the poor more because of their poverty, nor does he love the poor more than the rich. But the rich have the resources to take care of most physical needs. The godly poor cry to God, for they have no other hope, and he hears them.

We should care for orphans because the gospel teaches that we once were and still are poor. The gospel of Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” That is, blessed are those who know their spiritual poverty. They know that apart from God’s grace, they are estranged from God and more desolate than orphans. By faith in Jesus, we are adopted into God’s family. We should care for widows and orphans, thereby living out the gospel principle of adoption of the needy.

Third, true religion is unstained by the world. James advocates separation in the world, not from the world. From one perspective, the world is simply God’s creation. But the world is also a system of thought, a system of values. Those values so often contradict God’s that James can

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say: “Friendship with the world is hatred toward God. Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4; cf. Eph. 2:2; Col. 2:8; Titus 2:12; 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 2:14–15).

James expects his people to remain pure while staying in this world. We do not stay pure by abandoning society. We do not gain purity by giving away our radio and television, though we should avoid entertainments that promote and glorify sin. The heirs of true religion neither flee the world nor let it corrupt them. Physically, we dwell in the world, but morally, we keep our distance. We test all things and hold fast to what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). Thus true religion remains undefiled.

Warren Wiersbe on how to apply Scripture’s mirror to our lives:

This is the main purpose for owning a mirror, to be able to see yourself and make yourself look as clean and neat as possible. As we look into the mirror of God’s Word, we see ourselves as we really are. James mentions several mistakes people make as they look into God’s mirror

First, they merely glance at themselves. They do not carefully study themselves as they read the Word. Many sincere believers read a chapter of the Bible each day, but it is only a religious exercise and they fail to profit from it personally. Their conscience would bother them if they did not have their daily reading, when actually their conscience should bother them because they read the Word carelessly. A cursory reading of the Bible will never reveal our deepest needs. It is the difference between a candid photo and an X ray.

The second mistake is that they forget what they see. If they were looking deeply enough into their hearts, what they would see would be unforgettable! We tend to smile at the “extremes” of people back in the days of the great revivals, but perhaps we could use some of that conviction. John Wesley wrote about a preaching service: “One before me dropped as dead, and presently a second, and a third. Five others sunk down in half an hour, most of whom were in violent agonies” (Wesley’s Journal for June 22, 1739). Before we consign these people to some psychological limbo, remember how saints in the Bible responded to the true knowledge of their own hearts. Isaiah cried, “Woe is me! for I am undone!” (Isa. 6:5) Peter cried, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8) Job was the most righteous man on earth in his day, yet he confessed, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).

Mistake number three is: they fail to obey what the Word tells them to do. They think that hearing is the same as doing, and it is not. We Christians enjoy substituting reading for doing, or even talking for doing. We hold endless committee meetings and conferences about topics like evangelism and church growth, and think we have made progress. While there is certainly nothing wrong with conferences and committee meetings, they are sinful if they are a substitute for service.

If we are to use God’s mirror profitably, then we must gaze into it carefully and with serious intent (James 1:25). No quick glances will do. We must examine our own hearts and lives in the light of God’s Word. This requires time, attention, and sincere devotion. Five minutes with God each day will never accomplish a deep spiritual examination.

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Craig Blomberg and Mariam Kamell on “human anger does not accomplish God's righteousness”:

James goes on to explain why we should be so wary of anger. It is important to remember that this is not Paul writing, so that when James talks about the “righteousness of God”, he may mean something quite different than Paul’s characteristic subjective genitive (“the righteousness produced by God”; cf. Ro 1:17; 3:5, 21, 22, 25, 26; 10:3; 2 Co 5:21; Php 3:9). Here the genitive “of God” seems objective, because James is insisting that human wrath does not create the righteousness that can be offered or directed to God, the righteousness that we are called to live out on earth and that he demands from his followers.

The verb used in this short verse is “work out” or “produce”, a vivid expression for the activity that should lead to proper righteousness in our lives. If one accepts a later date for the epistle within the lifetime of James, he could have written this verse in opposition to the Zealot movement. In this situation, the righteousness of God, now understood as employing a subjective genitive, would refer to his saving activity and rule, which cannot be ushered in by violence or anger. This would then be “James’s response to those who sought to bring in God’s kingdom on earth” through violence. On either reading of the genitive, Moo cautions that James does not forbid every kind of anger, including righteous anger, because wisdom sayings were “notorious for the use of apparently absolute assertions in order to make a general, ‘proverbial’ point.” But Johnson adds that “human anger is not a legitimate instrument for effecting those right relationships God desires for creatures,” a conclusion that meshes well with the use of “righteousness” in 3:18.