Everyday Faith: The Practice of Allegiance Doers, Not Hearers James 1:19-27 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger… 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves… 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… 27 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. Allegiance isn't just a private thought; it implies a way of life, a code of conduct. James' major principle is in verse 22: Allegiance to Jesus means we are doers of what He says, not just hearers. My Notes & Reflections: Redefining “Religion” James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Like “faith,” the word "religion" meant something different in the first century. Modern View: We think of religion as a private system of beliefs (Christianity, Islam, etc.). First-Century View: The word “religion” (from Latin religio) meant a "binding obligation" or “civic duty.” It was the set of public rituals and practices citizens were expected to participate in to prove their allegiance to their city's gods, and therefore to Caesar. James makes a masterful bait-and-switch. He redefines what the binding civic duty of a citizen of God's Kingdom looks like. James 1:27 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. “You want to know what public duties prove your allegiance to our King? It has nothing to do with sacrifices, incense, or temple ceremonies. The defining public ritual of the Kingdom of God is radical mercy for the powerless.” In Caesar's kingdom, your religion was honoring the emperor. In Jesus' kingdom, your religion is caring for the widow and the orphan. My Notes & Reflections: What Are We Known For? This idea was revolutionary. The Roman world was built on utilitarianism—it celebrated the strong and saw the weak (orphans, widows, the sick) as disposable burdens. By running towards the vulnerable, the early church demonstrated allegiance to a completely different kind of King and Kingdom. The Legacy of the Early Church: They risked their lives to nurse the sick during plagues when others fled. They rescued abandoned infants from trash heaps, pioneering adoption. They created organized systems of support for widows, giving them honor and a role in the community. They established the world's first hospitals and orphanages. This relentless, self-giving care for the vulnerable was their defining public characteristic. It's what they were known for. The Hard Question for Us: If James walked into our church today, what would he say we are known for? “One of my fears for the modern church - is that we have become so proficient in many things the Lord never asked us to do…to the neglect of the few things He explicitly commanded us to do.” My Notes & Reflections: Awakening Our Kingdom Imagination This isn't about guilt; it's an invitation to recover our revolutionary legacy by asking three questions: 1. Where does my own story and suffering connect with the suffering I see in the world? God often uses our own experiences of pain to make our hearts tender toward others. That resonance is not an accident. Where does your heart ache with His? 2. What has God already placed in my hand that the kingdom needs? Your unique gifts, resources, time, and life experiences are the tools your King has given you. How can your ordinary life become a strategic outpost for the kingdom? 3. What is the next, smallest, most obvious step I could take? Allegiance is a journey of a thousand small, faithful steps. You don't need a whole plan. Just ask the King to show you the next single act of “pure religion,” and then do it. The Source of Our Allegiance Where does the power and desire to live this way come from? It doesn't come from trying harder; it comes from the Gospel. The Gospel is the story of God running towards us when we were vulnerable—spiritually orphaned and cut off from our life source. In Jesus, God “visited us in our affliction.” He entered our broken world and carried our affliction to the cross. “We love the vulnerable because He first loved us when we were vulnerable… Our allegiance to King Jesus is demonstrated by treating people the way our King has treated us.” This is not a duty to earn God's favor. It is the family resemblance of those who have been overwhelmed by God's grace.