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We live in a world where many people claim to be Christian. When filling out forms, we check "Christian" as our religion. Yet how many of us are genuinely living out that faith? You may have heard people say, "I believe in God," but then they stay home on Sundays, have no church community, don't pray, and don't read their Bible. Still, they insist they believe in God.
Even more troubling are those who actively participate in church—they join the choir, serve as ushers, even become leaders and ministers—yet their lives outside the church show nothing of Christianity. This is what bothers me most, because they know the church system. They can sing the songs, say the right words, and behave correctly within the building. But the moment they leave, their life contradicts everything they claim to believe.
Not all religion is real religion. Not all Christians are truly Christian. James addresses this sobering truth directly: some religion is worthless. When weighed on a scale, it carries no weight at all.
James was the half-brother of Jesus and one of the three closest people to Him. When we hear from James, his words carry authority and authenticity. That is why we must take seriously his teaching on who is an authentic Christian and what authentic faith looks like.
Genuine faith is not just about hearing. Many people attend classes, listen to lectures, and receive all the information—but when tested, they cannot produce anything. They heard, yes, but hearing alone changes nothing.
Many of you know you should pay your tithe. You have heard it preached in church. But knowledge and hearing are not the same as doing. Genuine Christianity is about taking action. Not just hearing, not just knowing, not just talking—but doing. Actions that transform your life.
From James 1:19–21, the first mark of true Christianity is that a true Christian listens with a humble heart.
"Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
True Christianity begins with a posture of humility. Have you noticed that the closer you are to God, the more humble you become? When I observe people who walk closely with the Lord, I see humility written all over them.
A genuine believer is eager to listen—not just to preachers or people, but to God's Word. They are eager to learn. In today's world, even in church, we have reversed this. People are very quick to speak, very slow to listen, and very quick to anger. But James tells us this attitude does not produce God's righteousness.
When you are quick to listen and slow to speak, it reflects your humility. To listen quickly is to recognize that you don't have all the answers. Many people think they know everything. Husbands and wives, parents and children—we all struggle with this. It takes humility to listen. You must make up your mind to be humble and simply let that person speak.
When we speak too quickly, it often means we want to be heard more than we want to understand. That comes from a heart of pride. But James calls us to listen well, to be quick to hear and slow to speak.
If you are not a good listener, you cannot excel academically, professionally, or spiritually. I had a friend in polytechnic who would sit in class with complete focus. When the lecture ended, he could reproduce everything the lecturer said. You need to learn how to listen. Some of us talk too much and produce voluminous nonsense—many words but nothing of substance.
We cannot truly receive God's truth if our mouth and mind are constantly running. You sit here thinking about bills, wondering where you'll go next, planning your afternoon. Your mind is running—and you're not listening. Most of the time, we think we are listening when we are not.
Just listen. Listen to what God has to say. There is no way you can become a better person, especially spiritually, without a listening ear. Listening to God and to others positions us to be transformed by His truth. It is when you listen that the Word can transform you.
Many people have been in church for years, yet their lives have not been transformed. Why? Because they are not listening. The Word of God cannot transform what does not receive it.
Listening prevents rash decisions and rash anger. Notice how James connects listening, speaking, and anger together. When you slow down to listen, you give yourself time for reflection. If you take just a second or two to pause before speaking, you might realize you don't need to say it at all. Or you might say it in a better way.
When you are quick to speak, you don't give yourself time to reflect. Your speech is not led by the Holy Spirit because you have not given Him time to work. Instead, you are just reacting.
When you have a listening ear, people around you will feel valued. A young student once told me, "Pastor, one thing I like about you is that you listen." She didn't know the struggle in my heart to listen, but because I listened, she felt valued. A listening ear builds relationships and trust.
Quick speech can dismiss, dominate, or wound others. By listening, believers reflect Christ's love and show that they are children of God.
James 1:20 says:
"Be slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
When you are quick to anger, it clouds your judgment. Your thinking becomes distorted. You react to situations instead of reflecting on them.
Do you realize that God knows what you need, yet He still asks you to ask Him? Why? Because He wants to listen. He wants to hear from you. He wants you to be like your Father.
Anger centers on yourself. When you are quick to anger, the focus is on you—not on God, not on your neighbor, not on your wife, not on your children. Instead of seeking God's will, you seek to defend yourself. You become so focused on protecting yourself that the other person cannot even finish speaking before you are ready to respond. That is selfishness, and self-centered anger cannot produce God's righteousness.
Unchecked anger overflows into actual harm. If you pick up a phone and talk to a friend for three hours, what will come up? Gossip. Backbiting. Lies. Self-praise. The more we speak, the more nonsense comes out. James calls us to be slow to speak and quick to listen.
Let me make a statement: Let anger be your last resort. If anger is truly your last option, I can assure you that you will not be angry. Think about it—someone offends you, your child disappoints you—but you process it. You give the benefit of the doubt. You tell yourself, "If they knew better, they would do better." You consider whether this might be a trick of the devil, a setup. Once you have processed all of these things, anger becomes the last resort. And if it is truly the last resort, there is a possibility you will not be angry at all.
If you need another reason: Anger grieves the Spirit. Ephesians 4:26–27 says:
"Be angry and do not sin. Give no opportunity to the devil."
When you are quick to anger, you give opportunity to the devil. Anger opens the door to bitterness, resentment, and division. A heart filled with anger cannot be filled with the Spirit at the same time. The moment you switch into anger mode, you switch away from the Spirit's presence.
James 1:21 continues:
"Put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls."
The word "filthiness" comes from a Greek term meaning moral uncleanliness, impurity, and dirtiness. This is not just about outward appearance. It is about inward corruption. Some people's hearts are corrupt. Out of the abundance of the heart, a person speaks. In church, one day I said to God, "Just for one day, let us see each other's hearts." Some of us would switch seats very quickly.
James says: Put it away. Put away immoral and unethical behavior. Put away things that contradict God's character. Put away impure thoughts. Put away speech that does not align with God.
When you come home from the gym, covered in sweat, do you go straight to an important meeting in your gym clothes? No! You refresh yourself first. Similarly, purify your heart when you wake up in the morning. Pray and ask God to cleanse you.
But notice: James did not say, "God will help you put it away." He said, "You have to put it away." The difference between you and an unbeliever is that you have the power to stop it. James 1:12 says:
"As many as received him, to them he gave power to become."
Power to become who you want to be. No one can make you who you want to be. It is your responsibility. But the good news is that you have received power to do it.
To change your situation and put away filthiness, there is an enabler: the Word of God. The Word is sharper than a two-edged sword. It has the capability and ability to change us. But if you do not allow it to change you, it will not change you. The Word is not an enforcer. It cannot force you. But the Word you embrace—that Word can change you.
Actively repent of your sinful habits and nature. Lay aside attitudes that hinder obedience. This may not be what you want to hear, but it is what God wants you to hear. Most of the time we come to church to hear what we want to hear. Sometimes God wants to tell you what He wants you to hear—not what you want to hear.
Prepare your heart like good soil that can grow God's Word. Ask yourself: Do I come to God's Word ready to hear? Some people's thoughts are already formed. No matter who preaches, they will not listen. Even if Jesus showed up and showed you the nails in His palms and said, "Go and pay your tithe," something in you would resist. Your mind is made up. You have concluded about certain issues of life that no matter what Word you hear, you will not change.
God will not force you. The Holy Spirit will not force you. You have to embrace the Word to be transformed.
Imagine a hardened surface rejecting water, just as a clay pot receives it. When you reject the Word of God, nothing can penetrate. Your heart must be soft enough to receive it. Some of us are like that hardened surface—something in us is rejecting God's Word. It is not absorbing it. It is not making it part of our lives. Until the Word makes impact in your life, it cannot transform you.
James 1:22 says:
"But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
The second mark of a true Christian is that they live a life of obedience. A lot of people are deceiving themselves. Let us be honest with ourselves. We need God's help.
It pains me when I see people who are gifted, whom God has blessed and packaged, but they lack character. Because of that lack, they miss everything.
It is not enough to hear the Word. Be a doer. Look for opportunities to practice what you hear. A bishop I heard recently told a story: when he became born again, he was in church and the man of God said, "You have the power to raise the dead." Jesus had said, "Whatever I did, you can do better." For three days he thought about it: I have the power to raise the dead. He went out looking for dead people to raise. Later, as he was ministering, God used him to raise ten dead bodies. Why? Because somebody told him he had the power, and he believed it and acted on it.
Jesus said, "You will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." We need to start practicing the Word. We need to stop just hearing and not doing. In fact, James says that by doing so, we deceive ourselves. If we were deceiving others, that would be one thing. But we are deceiving ourselves. You know the truth. You refuse to apply it. That is self-deception.
James gives an illustration:
"You are like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and at once forgets what he was like."
Imagine looking in the mirror and seeing yourself covered with ketchup. You see it clearly. But then you go to a meeting with that ketchup still on your shirt. Who are you deceiving? Yourself. The dirt has not left. It is still there. That is how we live as Christians. We hear God's Word. It reveals something to us. But then we ignore it and go about as if nothing happened.
You come to church and hear a sermon that reveals something about yourself. You think, "Pastor was talking about me today." But that is not enough. What did you do with it? Some people get angry when God speaks to them about an issue. They think, "Why is the pastor talking about me? Why is he using me as an example?" Pride is what makes people behave this way. But the preacher would not address that issue from the altar unless the Holy Spirit prompted it.
Look at yourself in the mirror. See who you are. And then do something about it. Be a doer of the Word.
James contrasts this by saying you should "look intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty and persevere." The law of liberty is the complete gospel placed before us through Jesus Christ—a Lord who frees us from sin and enables us to live in obedience. Not as slaves, but as children of God.
Are you a forgetful hearer or a doer of the Word? The person who looks into the law of liberty and perseveres, being not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, will be blessed in their doings.
Blessing comes to those who are doers of the Word. Blessing does not come merely from knowing the Bible. Blessing comes by living it. Don't just know it. Live it.
Let me be honest: The church today is full of spiritually bloated people. Do you know that being fat does not mean you are healthy? Many people receive the Word—Wednesday, Sunday, Bible apps, prayer groups, everything—yet they have become fat spiritually. Fatness does not equal health.
I went to a gym and saw the owner. I said to the receptionist, "That's not good advertising for this gym." She replied, "I know. That's our owner." Being a member of a gym does not make you healthy if you do not work out in it. Similarly, you can have a little bit of the Word, practice it, and achieve far more than the person who has everything but implements nothing.
Growth requires not just nourishment. It requires movement. Eating the Word without practicing it leads to spiritual bloatedness. When knowledge piles up without love in action, your soul swells. And swelling is not health. In fact, when your soul swells with knowledge, pride comes in. You begin to think you know everything. Before someone finishes a statement, you complete it for them. Before they speak, you have already quoted the scripture.
Until you begin to receive the Word in your heart and not just in your head, it will not benefit you. The Word must affect your heart, not just your head.
The third mark of a true Christian is that they love purely. Every true Christian must practice what we call agape love—pure, selfless, sacrificial love.
James 1:26–27 says:
"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."
Uncontrolled speech exposes us as fake Christians. When you cannot control your speech, you reveal yourself. Words come out that should never come out. Your words reveal the true nature of your heart. A loose tongue can destroy credibility faster than anything else.
One of the clearest marks that you are a Christian is compassion for the vulnerable—orphans, widows, those in affliction. The early Christians would bring their entire salaries to the church so that no one would go hungry. Do you know the word "deacon"? It comes from the practice of distributing to the poor. Deacons were appointed to serve the needy.
What are you doing to show that you are a Christian? Do you close your eyes to those in need? Or do you help them? By showing compassion, you demonstrate that you are a true son or daughter of your Father.
Finally, James says: "Keep oneself unstained from the world."
This is very important. The reason you are in church is to keep yourself unstained from the world. That is the essence of worship, fasting, and prayer—not so that God will bless you (though He will), but so that you receive grace to be unstained from the world.
Christianity is not about God blessing you. Christianity is about receiving grace so that you can be distinct from the world.
Yet the church today has slowly blended into the world. We are supposed to be in the world but not of it. But we have blended in—in music, in dance, in dress, in speech, in character. Everything we have blended in.
Christians come to church wearing clothes they know are inappropriate, trying to cover up. Don't you know before you leave home that what you are wearing was wrong? Is church a place to hide? We have blended in. James says the true mark of a true Christian is that you are distinct from the world.
Please stop hiding behind the church. Stop hiding behind the fact that you can quote John 3:16. Stop hiding behind the fact that you can play piano or beat drums. Stop hiding behind Bible knowledge. Yes, we know you know it—but what have you done with it? Stop hiding behind outward rituals. Stop hiding behind coming to church for years without letting your life show that you are a Christian.
I met someone who said, "I don't have a church, but I'm a believer. I follow prayer programs." But prayer alone will not build you. Your character must be built by the Word of God.
James asks everyone of us: Is your faith real? Is your Christianity real? Do you even know God?
Can people see you on the street, in your workplace, in the way you talk and carry yourself, and call you a Christian? Those called Christian in the early days behaved like Christ. That is why they were called Christian. Do you behave like Christ?
The topic of this message is: When Faith Gets Real. So let me ask you:
These are the marks of a true Christian.
I want to give you an assignment:
May God help us all to be true Christians—not just in word, but in deed.
