Pure, Genuine Religion

January 12, 2023

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27 NLT

You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. Mark 14:7 NLT

If you asked a congregation on Sunday morning to define pure and genuine religion on an index card, you would likely end up with as many different definitions as cards. Some of those sentences would list prohibitions—things religious people shouldn’t do. Many would list rules of behaviors and rituals they believe should be part of a pure person’s life. But except for anyone familiar with this statement by James, the brother of Jesus, it’s highly unlikely that anyone would describe pure and undefiled religion as caring for the last, lowest, and least in their distress. We tend to think pure religion is all about staying away from anything that might taint us.

These two verses are very informative and helpful in truly loving like Jesus. There is no evidence in any of the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ ministry and teachings that most of the ways we have measured “real religion” over the years impressed Jesus. He didn’t talk about what we should or shouldn’t wear, He didn’t prohibit “going where sinners go,” He didn’t make rules about habits and practices. He did talk—a lot—about caring for and loving people who were outside our comfort zone. He said that was the way we showed our love and devotion to Him. The way we proved our relationship to God was by the way we loved others. He told us to do it the same way He has loved us—He loved us sacrificially, at great cost, when we didn’t deserve it, with no guarantee of return, patiently, giving us chance after chance. What else could we add?

The world around us is in distress—the purity and authenticity of our relationship with God is in how we care for these people. That’s bringing the Kingdom in. What about the second part of it—"refusing to let the world corrupt you”? We may think about that only as active sins—picking up coarse language, immoral sexual behavior, unethical business practices, etc. I believe the corruption of the world that gets into Christians too often is far more sinister. It is growing accustomed to the sadness and lostness of the people around us, and adopting the attitude of the world: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We do more and more for ourselves, for “our church,” “our families,” “our buildings,” and we overlook responsibility for those outside our circle. That’s covert corruption.

Jesus made it plain. When the disciples criticized Mary for pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet to honor Him, He told them they would always have the poor to serve, but she was the only one who recognized they would not always have Him. He told them, “You can help the poor any time you want...” implying they never wanted to. The bottom line for Jesus is clear: “You can welcome the distressed into My Kingdom any time you want. You just have to have the want-to.”

• Jesus, I need the “want-to” to love people outside of my comfort zone to grow. Help me.