Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:26-27
Background
This book is widely considered to have been written by Jesus half-brother – James.
James became a pillar in the faith after Jesus resurrection. He was pragmatic. He was unapologetic. And he was focused on action. Some might say he was cut from the same cloth as the disciples.
James made the case that faith without good deeds was dead and worthless (James 2:17). Simply, a life of faith would produce fruit. And early in his letter he made the case that caring for orphans and widows was a central responsibility of the church.
Reflections
James simplified pure religion into 3 buckets:
- Looking after orphans
- Looking after widows
- Maintaining a righteous life
I’ll address #3 in another blog entry.
James isn’t the first reference to God’s affinity for the orphan or widow. God’s heart is revealed for orphans and widows in both Psalms and Deuteronomy.
Let’s do some math.
There are currently over 15.1 million double orphans in the world (children who have lost both parents)[1]. Within the US there are approximately 438K children within the foster care system with an estimated 118K waiting to be adopted[2].
There is an estimated 258M[3] widows globally with 11M[4] widows estimated in the US.
Barna group identifies a “practicing Christian” as a person that attends a religious service at least once a month and says their faith is very important in their life. An estimated 31% of US adults fit into this classification according to a recent study[5], meaning there are about 78M practicing adult Christians[6].
Active engagement by the US Christian community alone could mathematically provide massive healing for the world double orphan crisis and the US foster care system needs.
Additional activation of Christians outside of the US would further alleviate the global need for both the orphans and widows.
Pure religion. A faith that James would call alive. And bearing fruit.
Is this easy? No. Could this be uncomfortable? Yes. Would more active engagement in addressing these needs illustrate a Christian faith to nonbelievers that extended much deeper than an exclusive evangelistic or outreach formula? Likely. Would a more aggressive approach here be viewed favorably by the Lord? Absolutely.
Why not?
Lord, help us not to lose focus here. There are so many programs and focuses that dilute our attention. Many of which do not rise to the level of importance of alleviating pain for orphans and widows. Help us and the church to become fixated on practicing “pure religion”. Please soften our hearts so that we can extend love to the hurting in a greater way. Our hearts need to be changed. Amen.
What if the church body banded together across denominations to eradicate pain and loneliness in the orphan and widow communities?
What if the world began seeing and recognizing a church laser-focused on erasing hurt and pain versus one more centrally focused at times on their preferred political positions?
[1] UNICEF estimates.
[2] The 2017 AFCARS Report from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
[3] June 23rd, 2017 Reuters article. Factbox: Global number of widows rises as war and disease takes a toll.
[4] October 31st, 2017 CNBC article. Widows with wealth: Managing money after losing a spouse.
[5] September 15, 2016 Barna. The State of the Church 2016
[6] US Census Bureau 2018 population total estimate of 325M at 77% over 18 at 31% practicing Christian rate.
What if... 