MAN IN THE MIRROR
James 1:22-25
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Our eleven-year-old, Henry, has entered one of life’s phases. He has started to ask advice for hair products, facial cleansers, and workout routines. This development is a deviation from the forced showers and haircuts that we are used to experiencing. However, at some point in each of our adolescences, the visage in the mirror fails to meet the benchmark set by young teens across the world. I think we can all relate to those “precious” years of puberty when we looked in the mirror and did not like what we saw. We did not meet the standard set by the latest idol or heartthrob gracing the magazine covers. Therefore, like Henry, we immediately set to work remedying the ruin that hormones, genetics, and hygiene so unfairly wrecked upon our reflection.
Our Wednesday Bible study is in the midst of Exodus, specifically the ten commandments. God’s law being presented to the Israelites following their deliverance, so essential to their relationship with the Lord, poses challenges in an era defined by Grace through Jesus Christ. The law presents a confusing piece of our spiritual development; we seemingly have to walk a precarious ridge between Godly obedience, yet not leaning too much on our own works for salvation. To this, God delivers a helpful metaphor through James in describing the law as a mirror.
Just as God’s will is revealed in the law (especially the moral law), so is our own spiritual condition. Our very imperfect image against the “perfect law” exposes our need for grace and demands a reaction. A toddler who looks in the mirror, seeing the mud on his face, laughs carelessly, and moves along. A teenager believes in the higher power of popularity, however falsely, and seeks to please the opinions of others by pursuing perfection in their image. Of course, we never obtain that perfection, and over emphasizing its pursuit is misguided. Ultimately, we each long to find someone who overlooks our bad haircut, ignores this week’s breakout, and does not care that our outfit is outdated. If we find that person, how blessed we are! And if that person bought us a shirt that “looks good on you”, how disrespectful it would be to keep it forever on a hanger.
Christ died for us in our awkward phase, the mirror’s reflection stained in sin. Yet we are given something to help clean up our look. John Calvin wrote, “It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.” The law is a gift, a diagnostic tool, given by God, so that our faith journey is not without compass. We are given the knowledge of how to please the one who accepted us despite our horridness. We can embrace obedience, knowing that doing so is pleasing the one who loves us most. We will experience the joy of the Spirit, as those old “guilty-pleasure” outfits are thrown away, replaced with the robes of obedience that never fall out of style.
In Christ,
Thomas Goodrich