Literacy / James 2:14-26

Well, if you have your Bibles, turn to the passage that talks about the importance of literacy, if you would. That is what we are talking about together today. If you are wondering where to turn, you are having the exact same issue I had all week!

We have been talking about gospel transformation as a church. PJ did a great job reminding us of what we rolled out some months ago: if we are going to have any influence on what is happening in our community and our region, there needs to be some heart work done in us first. Gospel transformation starts personally. Then it begins to move communally, affecting us as a body, and ultimately spills out into the city.

As we talked about gospel transformation, we said we need to pick some focal points. Let’s shoot a couple of lasers here instead of taking a buckshot approach. What are the critical issues in our city that we need to address to see if the gospel can reshape the narrative? Shay blew our minds last week with the issue of orphan care. If you missed that message, I highly recommend listening to it—with some tissues handy, because there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. He turned himself inside out and taught that message with incredible passion.

This week, we are talking about the second issue we chose: the issue of literacy. The importance of literacy is fascinating because, as I look at my Bible, I am not exactly sure which passage even in the Hebrew text talks directly about literacy. So what I want to do is sneak up behind it—and in some ways, sneak up behind you. The issue of literacy is intimately connected to a broader question: What does it mean for us to be the people of God involved with what God is doing among people?

Bearers of the Divine Image

If you read through the book of Genesis—and I know PJ is always teasing me because every message I teach seems to start in Genesis, but last time I checked, that is the beginning!—God does something fascinating in chapter one. As the primary means of creating a reflection of His glory, He makes mankind in His image.

Genesis 1:28 (NASB)

God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’

God challenges us to fill the earth and subdue it—not merely to fill it with our presence, but with the reflection of His presence through us as His image bearers. A wild animal is majestic, but it does not bear the image of God. Half Dome is mind-blowing, but it does not bear the image of God. Your pet is snuggly, but it does not bear the image of God. You do.

We are called by God to reflect His glory everywhere. Yet as you read through Genesis, by chapter 11 people are still huddled together, making s’mores and singing Kumbaya, failing to fill the earth as God instructed. So God confuses their languages and disperses them abroad. His purpose was for the people of God to reflect His image even in dark places and among pagan nations. Even when God had to take His people into captivity in Egypt or Babylon, He placed them there so they might reflect His image regardless of their circumstances.

Genesis 11:1-9 (NASB)

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn [them] thoroughly.’ And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top [will reach] into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The LORD said, ’Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. ‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

This idea of being image bearers reshapes how we understand the incarnation. The incarnation is “God with us,” which is wonderful to celebrate at Christmas with the manger scene, but the reality is much bigger. While human beings reflect a portion of the image of God, Jesus is called the exact representation of His nature. All the radiance and fullness of God dwell in Him. The incarnation is the perfect picture of God showing Himself in the world.

When we look at the life of Jesus, it redefines what it means to live as an image bearer. As followers of Jesus, we are called not just to know what He knew, but to live like He lived. Jesus connected two dimensions that are often difficult for us to hold together: the vertical and the horizontal.

Jesus modeled a perfect vertical relationship of oneness with the Father, but it never stopped there. That vertical relationship overflowed horizontally into how He treated the people around Him. Throughout the Gospels, we read that Jesus was moved with compassion. Compassion is different from empathy. Empathy says, “I feel sorry for you.” Compassion says, “I am moved to respond.” Jesus lived out this vertical connection horizontally, confronting the religious leaders who claimed a vertical relationship with God while ignoring the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the oppressed.

Think of the Good Samaritan. A man gets beaten on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. A priest walks by, but instead of helping, he passes by on the other side. A Levite does the exact same thing. Then a Samaritan—the outsider, the person religious folks wouldn’t even name—demonstrates genuine compassion. He bandages the man and cares for him. Jesus praised him because his horizontal action authenticated a true heart for God.

Paul captures this heart in Philippians when he writes about Christ’s humility.

Philippians 2:3-8 (NASB)

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not [merely] look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Paul tells us to do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility to count others more significant than ourselves. Jesus did not cling to His divine privileges; He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and dying on a cross. His vertical devotion to the Father was demonstrated horizontally in selfless love for the world.

The Church in Shoe Leather

What is the church? The church is people, not a building. We have been beating that drum for fifteen years. We are not called merely to be religious churchgoers; we are called to be disciples who take up our cross, follow Jesus, and say, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” If Jesus modeled vertical submission to the Father expressed through horizontal action in the world, then the church must live the exact same way.

When the church functions in health, there is nothing like it. Men and women submit to God and declare, “My life is not about me. My career, my money, and my free time are not about me. My life belongs to Him.” We discover that when we try to save our life, we lose it; but when we lose our life for His sake, we find it.

If I were to follow you around for a week and observe what you spend your time on, what you give your money to, what makes you panic, and what makes you celebrate—what would I see? For many of us, it would be a mixed bag of busyness and self-focus. I know my own heart; on a bad day, I am tempted to close the blinds, turn on “Do Not Disturb,” and binge-watch Netflix.

When we become uninvolved and unconcerned with the things of God, we end up unfulfilled and bored. That is not what God intended for you. My aim today is not to guilt you, but to call you up to the life God designed for you.

Turn with me to the book of James. Chronologically, James is the first book written in the New Testament, penned in the mid-to-late 40s A.D., just over a decade after the resurrection of Christ. While the apostle Paul focuses heavily on theology and orthodoxy (right belief), James focuses on orthopraxy (right practice). One scholar noted that James’s preemptive concern was the practice of Christianity—Christianity 101, manifesting salvation in shoe leather.

Who was James? He was the half-brother of Jesus, raised in the same home. Imagine growing up with Jesus as your older brother! Interestingly, John 7 tells us that Jesus’ brothers did not initially believe in Him. But after the resurrection, James came to faith and became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He was a central figure whom Paul visited and who guided the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

Listen to what James writes to the scattered believers.

James 2:14-20 (NASB)

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for [their] body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself. But someone may [well] say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

At first glance, this passage can cause a theological panic. Is James saying we are saved by our works instead of faith alone? Elsewhere, Scripture is crystal clear that salvation is by grace through faith.

Romans 3:28 (NASB)

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Paul is addressing the root of our salvation: vertically, we are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. You cannot earn God’s favor. James, however, is addressing the fruit of our salvation: horizontally, genuine faith is proven by how we live. If you claim to have authentic vertical faith, it must show up in your horizontal relationships. If someone is naked and starving, and you just say, “Go in peace, stay warm and well-fed,” but do nothing practical to meet their need, what good is that?

Just the other day, I met a homeless man downtown named Brian. It was freezing cold outside; he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and I was wearing a warm hoodie. Usually, people ask for spare change or food, but Brian looked at me and said, “Hey man, it’s cold out here. Do you happen to have a hoodie I could have?” I looked down at what I was wearing, thought about the passage in James I was preparing to preach, and realized I couldn’t say, “Be warm and well fed,” while keeping my warm sweatshirt. So I took off my hoodie and handed it to him. That is what faith in action looks like.

James tells us that faith without works is dead—not nonexistent, but inactive, dormant, and useless. True faith cannot remain private. James says, “You believe God is one? Good for you! Even the demons believe that, and they shudder.” Mere intellectual agreement accomplishes nothing.

James 2:24 (NASB)

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

James 2:26 (NASB)

For just as the body without [the] spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James points to Abraham offering Isaac and Rahab sheltering the spies to show that living faith acts. When my good friend Trent Dilfer came to faith in Christ, I knew something real had happened because his lifestyle changed, his language changed, and the way he treated his girlfriend changed. When faith is authenticated by deeds, people take notice.

Moving Upstream in Our City

Our vertical relationship with God must be demonstrated horizontally. When we look at our lives, we have to ask: Are we pouring our energy into the things of God, or are we consumed with ourselves? If we want to authenticate our faith with deeds, we live in a city with no shortage of opportunities.

We could talk about concentrated poverty, slum housing, food deserts, gangs, drugs, and broken families. In health science classes, they often tell the story of a village located along a river where people keep drowning. The villagers pull drowning people out, learn CPR, build docks, buy rescue boats, and construct medical clinics. Finally, someone asks the obvious question: “Why don’t we go upstream and find out why people are falling in, and teach them how to swim?”

If you trace back issues like crime, high school dropout rates, gang activity, and incarceration, they all share an astonishing common denominator: third-grade reading proficiency.

Consider these statistics:

• 90% of low-level readers in third grade will not attend college.
• Third-grade reading levels are one of the strongest predictors of high school graduation.
• High school dropouts are 63 times more likely to be incarcerated.
• 80% of the prison population is functionally illiterate or reads at low levels.

In Fresno Unified School District, there are 74,000 students. Over 16,000 are English language learners, and 86% live in poverty, which often means there are no books in their homes. Tragically, 82% to 83% of third-grade children in Fresno Unified score below reading proficiency.

If your first reaction is, “I’m glad my kids go to school in Clovis,” you have missed the point of the gospel. Look at the disparities across our own zip codes:

• In 93720 (North Fresno), 7% of adults lack a high school diploma, and 7% live in poverty.
• In 93706 (Southwest Fresno), 41% of adults lack a high school diploma, and 43% live in poverty.
• In 93702 (Southeast Fresno), 57% of adults lack a high school diploma, and 50% live in poverty.
• In 93701 (Central Fresno), 54% of adults lack a high school diploma, and 61% live in poverty.

Our city has tremendous needs, and as followers of Jesus, we are called to be part of the answer. We represent Christ by stepping into hard places and bridging the gap. Andy Stanley often says, “Do for one what you wish you could do for many.” When faced with massive societal needs, the temptation is to retreat or move away. Instead, gospel people lean in. We can help change the trajectory of the next generation simply by helping a child learn to read at grade level by the third grade.

Let’s remember the words of James as we respond to God’s call.

James 2:15-17 (NASB)

If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for [their] body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself.

Let’s watch this video together to see how we can put our faith into action.