Spiritual Dysmorphia

None of us have an accurate view of who we are spiritually. Many of us are enamored with our greatness as we  show off our shelves full of participation trophies. Others of us sit in the dark and musty room of misery, overtaken by what a wretch we are. Reality reveals that most of us swing on the wrecking ball that bounces between both extremes, each one only holding onto half of the Gospel.

In James’ letter to the infant persecuted churches we are told:

1:23 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. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 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.

We all “look at ourselves” through a myriad of mirrors in our lives – friends, faith, social media – perpetually deciding what we think we “look like” based on them. And, here’s the kicker, we will behave based upon what who we’ve decided we are and what we’ve decided we “look like.”

James invites us away from the house of mirrors and to the True Mirror of the Gospel. He invites us to stare deeply (his word for “look” involves a deep almost archaeological inspection) into The Word, The Law. He is not saying to go back to the Old Testament and see all the rules we’ve failed to live up to. He’s telling us to look at the Perfect Law that his half-brother Jesus perfected…perfected by telling us it’s all about Love; perfected in how he completed it perfectly in his life and imputed his record into our souls. We are being invited to see he we absolutely fall 100% short of the perfect law, causing us to fall 100% onto his mercy. AND THEN to see the Liberation of this Law because we have been transformed and reborn back into His Image, set free to love because we have been and are forever loved.

This recounts the glorious phase from Jack Miller:

  • We are More Sinful than we Dare Face;
  • And More Loved than we Dare Hope.