The devil is in the details.
I often look back on prior years to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. This is particularly important when I think about my spiritual life. Was I a “doer of the word” or merely a “hearer only, deceiving [myself]” (James 1:22)? It’s never enough to say that my heart was in the right place. There must be follow through. For example, if I say I’m going to be more present for my congregation, as a pastor, but I do less than I have done in the past, doesn’t my proclamation become vapid? Indeed.
Making plans is the easy part. Execution is what’s difficult. We must measure success by our fruit, not merely our good intentions.
I see this all the time in my secular job. People come up with phenomenally creative ideas and strategies; but few of them are ever realized because great ideas require even greater follow through.
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.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 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.
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.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. 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.
- James 1:22-27
As a leader (we all lead in some aspect of our lives), I have found one specific type of conversation among the most difficult to have with a subordinate. What do you say to a person who constantly fails but responds with, “But I tried really hard”? I mean, how valuable are so-called “good intentions” if they never result in anything good? Are mere good intentions really enough? The stark answer is “no”. Now, I know that’s probably not a popular stance on this topic, but I believe it’s Biblically founded (Please do not confuse my point here with the likes of 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 – the context there is quite specific and doesn’t apply to this blog.).
Jesus, Himself, despised blowhards who talked a big game but never bore any good fruit to His glory.
For [the Scribes and the Pharisees] preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
- Matthew 23:3b-4
Jesus called these types of lofty intellectuals “hypocrites” because, while they put on a good show, they didn’t practice what they preached. In other words, Jesus had a real distaste for people who talked righteously without ever bearing righteous fruit. The devil is in the details.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
- 1 John 4:19-21
I had a long-time follower from Africa tell me that he perceived my God-given ministry (ala 1 Corinthians 12:4-6) as concentrating on “practical Christianity”. I agree with him. It seems my messages over the last decade and a half have been highly focused on the topic of this blog.
There must be consistency between what someone intends to do and what they ultimately do. The Bible clearly states that anyone who is saved will bear good fruit (Matthew 13:23). James drives this point home, especially in Chapter 2 of the epistle after his name.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
- James 2:14-18
It’s a brand-new year, my friend. 2024 is behind us and there’s nothing we can do except embrace whatever we learned from it. If we’re going to make New Year’s resolutions, may one of them be that we are better “doers of the word” (James 1:22).
I’ll leave you with one question to ponder...
Would you rather make fewer resolutions with greater success or lots of resolutions with lesser success?
I’ll share my own thoughts on this. Instead of making broad, sweeping proclamations about personal excellence, I desire to set realistic goals that align with Holy Scripture. Jesus said, “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’” (Matthew 5:37a). This is a perfect place to start. In essence, Jesus was saying that your word should mean something. You shouldn’t need to make oaths or even New Year’s resolutions, per se, to commit to being a “doer of the word”. A corollary is ‘don’t bite off more than you can chew’.
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
- James 5:12
Jesus, while teaching His disciples about salvation, used a builder’s example worth noting here.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
- Luke 14:28-30
My encouragement for 2025 is that you be a doer, not a windbag. Windbags are a dime a dozen these days, they’re boring, and their fruit is worthless. Strive to be someone whose promises are worth something. Always remember that God is listening. Pray to Him for guidance and success, so that you may bring glory to His good name.
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
- Matthew 5:13-16
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
