In my last post, I introduced the existing risk of over-evaluating oneself and presented two reasons why this peril is often substantiated, namely, the tendency to measure ourselves by ourselves and the frequent use of invalid positive tests. It follows that a more exact evaluation can be reached by comparing ourselves to Jesus, or by means of valid positive tests, such as: If I obey Jesus’ commands I am a true spiritual Christian. Or: If I love my neighbor as myself, I am a true spiritual Christian. But another sure ground of evaluation has been presented to us by the apostle James. Listen to what he says:
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 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 observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:21…24).
Here James declares that the person who doesn’t practice what he has heard from the word sets his feet on self-deception. His words are absolutely intransigent: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Here James doesn’t say that a person who hears the word and doesn’t act accordingly might eventually deceive himself. He says, and says emphatically, that this person has already put his feet on the broad way of self-deception. Now everyone will agree that self-deception is doomed to misguide us when the time comes to evaluate ourselves. Hence, the serious Christian focuses on being a doer of the word, for in doing so, he stays away from self-deception and grants himself a chance to evaluate his spirituality accurately.
James’ spiritual insight
Happily, James doesn’t stop there. He goes on explaining why the passive hearer deceived himself:
For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23-24).
James could not have been any clearer. He attests that the idler sees himself as in a mirror but when he goes away he immediately forgets what kind of man he is. Obviously, this creates a problem when the time comes to evaluate oneself, for how can a person evaluate someone when he doesn’t know what kind of man that person is. Under such circumstances the catastrophe is nearly assured. But in contrast, the Christian who practices what he has heard from the word can truly know what kind of man he is. Hence, the hope of a valid self-evaluation comes to life because God is revealing to that person his true spiritual entity. Using the wording of James we can say: He sees himself as in a mirror and remembers what kind of man he is.
What we are and what we say
We also have the apostle Paul saying something of great import. Here are his words:
For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.” (2 Corinthians 12:6)
Here the apostle to the Gentiles had testified of one of his greatest spiritual experiences, but he now insists that no one should evaluate him merely on the basis of this glorious experience. Remember! The risk is to think of oneself more highly than one ought to think (Rom. 12:3). Therefore, Paul didn’t want the Corinthians to think of him more highly than they ought to think. Hence, he told them that their evaluation should be based on two indicators and two indicators only, namely, what they saw him to be and what they heard from him. In other words, he didn’t want them to evaluate him on the basis of little fragments of spirituality but rather on the global perception of who he was, i.e., on the whole spectrum of his behavior and manners. Secondly, he asserted that the words he spoke were highly revealing. Here again he was not only referring to the verbal expression of the revelations he had received, but to the whole gamut of words coming out of his mouth, for as we all know, any Christian can appear spiritual in his best utterances, but what about criticism, slanders, lies, exaggerations, hypocrisy or insincerity in speech, or perhaps defamation and gossip? So the apostle was telling the Corinthians that his speech bore witness to who he was. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34).
Conclusion
To sum it up, we can say that our responsibility is to think truthfully about ourselves, i.e., to accept the facts as they are without manipulating them for our own convenience. Happily, it can be said with absolute confidence that God will always assist the person who desires to see the true image of himself, for only then are we going to strive for improvement. And above all things, it is the very sight of who God is that can expose a person and make him see his true self. Isaiah and Job exemplify the principle beautifully. After having received a revelation of who God is, Isaiah exclaimed:
Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” (Elijah 6:5)
And Job cried out:
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5,6)
Let us draw near to God and He will draw near to us (James 4:8), and the closer we get, the more truthfully we are going to see ourselves. This is as certain as the sun rising in the east.
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