Restored By God

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.

- James 1:21 (CSB)

A good friend of mine recently told me he was developing a "Repentance Plan." As a pastor, I should have been excited, but my first instinct was a knot in my stomach.

Doesn't a repentance plan sound soul-crushing? Who wants to spend hours reflecting on all the ways you displease God, cataloging your sinful habits, and then developing a plan to turn away from all the evil in your heart?

To make matters worse, he planned to share all the gory details with his small group. At a minimum, that sounds embarrassing. It also reminded me of when I've gotten stuck in cycles of shame. There are so many ways I fail God.

Or, ironically, if your repentance plan is better than everyone else's? Your sins aren't as bad, your plan to fix them sounds more spiritual, and you strike just the right notes of self-disclosure without oversharing? That's a ticket to the top of the class.

But worst case, he's opening the door to spiritual abuse, or even being blackmailed. It's weird what people will do and say when they know your dirt.

On another level, the very method of creating a plan to repent sounds suspiciously American. We're pragmatists who love self-improvement and performance-based goals. Now that we've optimized our budgets, health, and calendars, why not our spirituality? There's nothing like a plan to give us the illusion of being in control.

After the 'ick' subsided, though, I realized how much I respect my friend's courage. Actually, I'm excited he's inviting the Holy Spirit to develop a Repentance Plan!

Why? Because in his case, he's secure in God's grace, surrounded by friends who love him, and sincere in his desire to please the Lord. He's not going to have his sins be weaponized against him; he's going to experience acceptance, encouragement, and support.

It's easy to play the cynic. But imagine what it would look like if everyone in the world developed a repentance plan in this wholesome, positive way.

Imagine a world with no robbery, no assault, no murder. Imagine politicians who refused to lie, businesses that didn't cheat their employees, and husbands and wives who didn't wound one another. Yes, it would be a herculean struggle, marked by innumerable failures. Still, a universal effort to stop being wicked would still revolutionize our world.

But this raises a critical question: how do we know what is right and wrong? Some open-minded conversations with our friends will reveal that we all recognize some kind of moral law that we ought to obey, even though we don't.

As C.S. Lewis put it so elegantly in Mere Christianity,

Strictly speaking, there are no such things as good and bad impulses. Think once again of a piano. It has not got two kinds of notes on it, the ‘right’ notes and the ‘wrong’ ones. Every single note is right at one time and wrong at another. The Moral Law is not any one instinct or set of instincts: it is something which makes a kind of tune (the tune we call goodness or right conduct) by directing the instincts (11).

None of us can say we play the tune beautifully; we all hit sour notes. But don't you sense what our life melody should sound like?

This is where James gives us invaluable wisdom. He tells us how to find the melody. As he writes, "humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."

What is this "implanted word"? After reviewing multiple academic commentaries, I think James probably has in mind the good news about Jesus: his life, death, and resurrection.

After all, can you think of anyone who has played the tune of life more beautifully than Jesus?

From James' perspective, there are two paths in life. The common path is a proud, arrogant defiance of the moral law; we play a discordant tune. But for Christians, we are to live with a humble gratitude for the love of God, a receptivity to the wisdom of Jesus, and a trusting hope in God's salvation.

And what does it mean that the implanted word will save our souls? James is referring to God restoring the totality of our lives, forever. He's saying, if we walk in this path, we are walking, in the power of the Holy Spirit, toward Jesus. One day, God will bring us home.

Let's return to our thought experiment. It's one thing for everyone to attempt to rid themselves of moral filth. But what if we went further?

What if everyone in the world frequently meditated on the life of Jesus, and sought, by God's grace, to be like him?

The poor would be treated with dignity. Orphans would be adopted. Widows would be cared for. The immigrant would be welcomed and valued. The lonely wouldn’t just be noticed; they would be drawn into families. Generosity would explode. Our communities would be so filled with gratitude, joy, kindness, and goodness that it would feel like a dream.

Can you imagine a world like that?

If you can, you're thinking of heaven.

Now we're understanding the joy of James' letter. He's not asking us to anxiously berate ourselves for every infraction. Rather, in his God-given wisdom, he's inviting us to experience an internal revolution:

• Have you resolved to never participate in what is morally filthy?

• Are you asking God to rid you of the evil that is so prevalent in our society?

• Do you meditate on the life and wisdom of Jesus?

• Do you sense that God is at work in your life, bringing salvation to your soul?

• Does this describe how you and your Christian friends experience life together?

I've experienced first-hand how repentance can be like a lukewarm bathtub filled with guilt and shame. It's a misery that leaves me feeling worse for the experience.

But that's not what James is talking about. He wants us to know the beautiful, life-saving, world-transforming joy of becoming like Christ.

True repentance isn't about perfecting ourselves. Instead, it's about humbly receiving God's word and letting his love transform us from the inside out.

I understand why we're hesitant to talk about moral filth, widespread evil, and humble repentance. So often, it's a judgmental, hypocritical rant.

But James is guiding us to experience freedom and joy. To humbly receive God's love, that we might be like Christ! As we reflect on James 1:21, let's invite God to restore our souls.

----------

Credit: Photo from Kateryna Hliznitsova on Unsplash