Closing the Gap

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22

When I was first teaching the Bible I remember telling my Pastor that it was very convicting work. What I taught others not to do on Thursdays, I caught myself doing on Friday. There was a gap between what I was learning and teaching and what I was doing.

A teacher of God’s Word cannot hold someone else to a standard she is not willing to keep. Guilty.

Thank God for the process of sanctification! It’s in God’s grace that He does not reveal all of our sin to us at one time. (Can you imagine that?) As we learn His Word, we see more and more of our sinful thoughts and actions and what we still need to apply. Over time, the gap should narrow.

This verse from James (1:22 at top) is important for every Christian to apply to our lives. We can know scripture, even have a lot of it memorized, but if we do not “do what it says,” we deceive ourselves with that knowledge. Unless, the Lord shows us the gap and, by the power of His Spirit, we begin to do what it says, willingly and cheerfully, we may have a false sense of security in our knowledge.

It is often heartbreaking when we hear solid doctrinal teaching of the scripture but later learn that the teacher did not live a life faithfully keeping God’s Word. Obviously, this is an issue the Lord knew we would face. We have many verses that point out the fallacies of false teachers – so we would see them and not allow them to continue to teach (2 Peter 2:1).

This disconnect between knowing and doing God’s Word has led to a great divide. In our culture, Christianity is becoming more and more scorned by people who have no knowledge or understanding of God’s goodness, His rescue of His people by sending His Son, His grace to us in everyday living, or His provision for His creation. They hate Him because their perception is that He is limiting their freedom (and therefore, their fun).

The truth is that God’s laws bring the benefit of true freedom. God has given us only what is good for us. The kind of good that allows us to sleep well at night without guilt, and face others without fear of having been “found out” for something we were hiding.

By applying God’s law our level of self-respect increases as God says He will bring honor to the righteous (Proverbs 21:21, 22:4).

We are also free to confess and repent those things we should not do, but, in weakness we do them anyway, and know that God does not just forgive us but cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

When the gap between what we know from God’s Law and what we do with it in our lives, narrows, the grace of God is poured out and Deuteronomy 28:2 promises that “blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

James is teaching what will bring blessing. Will we work to close the gap between what we hear and what we do from the Word of God?