“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 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. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 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)
James gives us two tests to see whether we are both doers and hears, or merely “hearers only” of the word. It is important to know, because if we think we are both hearers and doers, while we’re not, we deceive ourselves. Based on the rest of James’ epistle, we could liken “hearers only” to those whose faith is dead, for it is lacking works. Living faith? Good; Dead faith? Bad; Hearers only? Bad; Both hearers and doers? Good. How will we know if we need to make adjustments, i.e., repent, if we cannot judge ourselves rightly? James provides us with two tests in the text—one negative, one positive:
1.) The Negative test: The Man in the Mirror – A hearer, but no doer of the word looks “intently” in the mirror and then forgets. This is not a cursory look. This is not a passing glance. This is an analogy of a teenage girl, who works on her hair for hours, getting it just right, or of a teenage boy, who is just sure he sees some fuzz on his chin, inspecting every square millimeter until he knows for sure. James’ example of a “hearer only” is someone who looks intently at the mirror, and subsequently forgets what he or she saw. If a girl works for hours on her hair, is she going to forget what style she chose? If the boy finds a whisker, is he going to forget later what he saw? No. Not a chance.
But a person, who is only a hearer, walks away from the word forgetting what he heard while he was listening to the word. When temptations arise, there is no remembrance of how to flee or fight; when blessings come, there is no remembrance of who to thank. If one forgets what he heard while he was in the word, he is a hearer and not a doer. It is that simple.
2.) The Positive test: the Law of Liberty—The glorious thing about God’s law is that it sets one free. A law is a yoke—it constrains, but Jesus’ yoke is a light one—it constrains unto liberty, which is freedom from sin. There are only two choices: the light yoke of Jesus, or the heavy yoke of the world, the flesh, and the devil. There is no third option.
The one who is the hearer and the doer of the word is one who looks into the law of God and sees liberty. Who doesn’t want to be free? The doer of the word wants to be free unto Christ, while the hearer only wants to be free from Christ, but freedom from Christ is bondage to sin. “For freedom, Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1a), and “For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.” (2 peter 2:19b) The negative test is that a hearer forgets: the positive test is that the doer acts, and when he acts, his actions are free from bondage to sin.
In Luke 10, in the Martha vs. Mary episode, Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better portion. Martha was busy “doing,” without stopping to “hear.” Mary was busy “hearing,” not yet “doing.” As she was sitting at his feet, Jesus said Mary was doing well. What would he have said if she arose and forgot everything he had just said to her? James tells us what Jesus would have said. It is the same thing Jesus says to us through James, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.”<>
