August 10, 2025: Faith That Shows Up: Just Do It. James 1:19-27
Faith That Shows Up: Just Do It. James 1: 19-27 Rev. Dr. Rhonda Abbott Blevins August 3, 2025
You must understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for human anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
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Let’s play a little game. I’ll say the name of a company, and let’s see if you can tell me its slogan. Ready?
· Kentucky Fried Chicken: “Finger Lickin’ Good”
· Subway: “Eat Fresh”
· Allstate: “You’re In Good Hands”
· McDonald’s: “I’m Lovin’ It”
· State Farm: “Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There”
· M&Ms: “Melts in Your Mouth, Not In Your Hands”
· Wheaties: “Breakfast of Champions”
· American Express: “Don’t Leave Home Without It”
· Maybelline: “Maybe She’s Born With It, Maybe It’s Maybelline”
· Nike: “Just Do It”
“Just Do It.” A little history about that slogan: in 1988, Nike found itself in an epic battle with Reebok for the market share of athletic wear, especially athletic footwear. Reebok was winning the day, with both market share and revenue, coming in at $600 million over Nike’s earnings that year.
Enter: Dan Wieden, the man who came up with Nike’s famous slogan, “Just Do It,” now considered one of the most well-known corporate taglines in the world. Not only did the “Just Do It” marketing campaign find a forever home in our brains, but it worked. By 1989, Nike edged out Reebok in both market share and revenue in the U.S. I’d say that was a successful marketing campaign!
The very first "Just Do It" commercial didn’t feature the most famous athletes of the day . . . it wasn’t Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson or Joe Montana or Wayne Gretzky . . . it wasn’t Jackie Joyner-Kersee or Flo-Jo or Mike Tyson or Steffi Graf. Nope. Instead, Nike chose to feature an unknown 80-year-old runner named Walt Stack. I have that first “Just Do It” commercial to play for you . . . (The commercial shows Walt Stack jogging across the Golden Gate Bridge as he talks about how he runs 17 miles every day. The commercial’s last line is Stack saying: “People ask me how I keep my teeth from chattering on cold days. I just leave them in my locker.”)
The “Just Do It” campaign immediately resonated with consumers because instead of just promoting a product, it focused on pushing through barriers. It focused on our shared common humanity. Walt Stack became an unlikely hero for his dedication, his determination, and his discipline.
Slogans stick because they cut through the noise. In a world of endless chatter, James gives us the ultimate spiritual slogan: when it comes to faith . . . “Just Do It.”
The entire sentiment of James’ letter to his fellow Christians can be summed up in James 1:22 which we read together earlier: But be doers of the word and not merely hearers. It’s a clarion call toward an action-based faith.
In this short pericope, James delineates three important characteristics of a faith that doesn’t just show up at church on Sundays, but faith as our “M.O”—faith as a way of life.
Words Matter
The first thing we should consider as we gauge whether we are living a life of faithfulness, is what comes out of our mouths or onto our social media. Words matter.
Just like Walt Stack had the discipline to run 17 miles a day, James calls us to develop the discipline of listening. Listen again to James’ words: “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.” In our age of instant responses and hot takes, this feels almost revolutionary.
If you’re like me, more than once when engaging on social media, I’ve typed out a reactionary comment to some ridiculous social media post, and it took everything in me not to hit the “send” button. Can you relate? In those situations, I feel like I’m in one of those old school cartoons in which the character has a little angel on one shoulder, and a little devil on the other. Here’s a rule of thumb I’m trying to practice: Before hitting send, ask: Does this heal or does this hurt?
Think about someone you know who epitomizes James’ admonition to “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” Can you think of someone who lives that way 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year? That’s a person demonstrating wisdom and what James calls “meekness.”
Now, I had a therapist once tell me that you can only see characteristics in another person that you have as well. That wisdom you’ve noticed in another, that ability to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger” is within you.
Is it possible those muscles have atrophied? Yes, of course. But with discipline, every day, to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,” we can build those neural pathways, so that we can be more and more like that person we admire . . . more and more like the people of faith James encourages us to be. And one day down the line, maybe someone will think of you as that person who is “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” I’m working on that. Won’t you join me?
James circles back around to remind us how much words matter in verse 26: “If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.”
Notice the connection James makes between the heart and the tongue. Our speech reveals our heart’s true condition. Now I invite you to think of someone you know who, outwardly professes to be an exemplary Christian, but you . . . you know better because you hear how they talk about other people, or you see how easily angered they are, or how negative their outlook on life.
Again, let me remind you of that therapist’s observation: you can only see characteristics in another person that you have as well. Whoops!
Time for an internal audit: on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being complete failure and 10 being utter perfection, how did you do this week by way of being “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger?” Seriously, pick a number. Got it? Remember it.
Friends, each of us, no matter how pious we think we are or conversely, how far we’ve fallen from grace, each of us has the capacity to use our words to hurt, each of us has the capacity to use our words to heal. Every day, maybe every hour, we have a choice. Your words are either weapons or medicine—choose wisely.
Actions Matter
Words matter. Actions matter too.
The second characteristic James mentions in this passage—the second of three characteristics of a faith that’s a way of life is that faith is demonstrated by action.
Listen again to verse 22: “But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”
James uses a brilliant illustration here—he compares hearing without doing to looking in a mirror and immediately forgetting what you saw. Like not being about to pick yourself out of a lineup.
Self-knowledge is in short supply in our culture these days, but apparently we’re not alone. This mirror illustration hints that a lack of self-knowledge was also an epidemic among the First Century Christians to whom he was writing.
The opposite of self-knowledge is self-deception. We deceive ourselves if we profess faith in Christ, but that faith does not manifest in our actions. To use the old cliché: “Actions speak louder than words.”
A favorite quote of mine is from an unknown source: “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” The bottom line is this: God isn’t impressed by our theology if our neighbors aren’t blessed by our love.
Words matter. Actions matter too. You know what they call Christian knowledge without faithful action? Spiritual pride. We’ll see James circling back to this idea in chapter 2 when he tells us that “faith without works is dead.” Faith that doesn’t show up in our actions is just religious cosplay.
Time for the second internal audit question: on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being complete failure and 10 being utter perfection, how did you do this week by way of being “doers of the word” and not hearers only? Pick a number. Got it? Add it to the previous internal audit number. I know, I know—math in a sermon. But spiritual growth requires honest accounting.
Integrity Matters
Words matter. Actions matter. Integrity matters too.
The third characteristic James mentions in this passage—the third of three characteristics of a faith that’s a way of life is a faith demonstrated by integrity.
Hear verse 27 again: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” In other words: real religion gets its hands dirty serving the forgotten.
Apparently, James was all too familiar with a form of religion that was more about ritual and faux piety than religion that leads to an integrated faith—a faith that can both offer prayers and sing praises to God and that rolls up its sleeves to serve the marginalized.
Now, whenever you read about “widows and orphans” in scripture . . . that’s what we would call “marginalized” today. Widows and orphans, in First Century Palestine, could not hold property—they had little to no agency. These were the people forgotten by society, largely ignored by the laws of the land.
So the admonition that a religion worth its holy water is going to tend to the widows and orphans, translate that to those we consider “marginalized” today. Those who have little agency. Those forgotten by society and ignored by the laws of the land. Who comes to mind for you today when I name “the marginalized?”
For me, I think of refugees and immigrants and undocumented workers. I think of trans folks and others in the LGBTQIA+ community. I think of those suffering from mental illness who have little recourse but to sleep on the street. I think of the children in Gaza, left to starve and forgotten by the world. Those are some of the people I think of. What about you?
Here’s the deal: if our faith doesn’t make us uncomfortable with injustice, we need to check our faith.
James says that religion that doesn’t tend to the marginalized is worthless, and that we, if we claim to be people of faith, we must tend to the marginalized if we are to lead integrated lives.
Words matter. Actions matter. Integrity matters too.
Time for the third and final internal audit question: on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being complete failure and 10 being utter perfection, how did you do this week by way of living an integrated life, demonstrated by caring for the marginalized? Pick a number. Got it? Now add it to the previous combo number of your first two internal audit questions.
Out of 30 possible points . . . 30 representing a perfect faith . . . how did you do? If you’re like me, you’ve got room for growth. But isn’t that exciting? To remember that we never fully “arrive” in this life of faith? That there’s always room to grow? Remember this however: perfectionism is the enemy of progress. A 15 out of 30 beats a zero every time.
Words matter. Actions matter. Integrity matters.
Think back to Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. Why was it so successful? I think it landed in the imagination of the American public because it cut through excuses, and it called for action. You don’t have to be Michael Jordan or Flo-Jo. You don’t have to be some “young thing” even. Nike showed us that you can be an 80-year-old obscure jogger like Walt Stack—what matters is showing up and doing the work.
James is issuing the same challenge to our faith: Stop making excuses. Stop overthinking. Stop waiting for perfect conditions. Just do it.
Your faith should be so loud in action that you barely need to speak it. Listen more than you speak. Let your words heal rather than harm. Care for those who can’t care for themselves. Live with integrity in every area of life.
That’s not legalism—that’s love in action. That’s faith that shows up when it matters most.
Walt Stack didn’t become famous for talking about running—he became famous for actually running, every single day. Walt Slack didn’t need perfect conditions to run—just consistent commitment. James calls us to that same kind of faithful consistency in our spiritual lives.
So this week, don’t just hear this message—BE this message. Pick your lane:
Words matter: Heal with your speech.
Actions matter: Love with your life.
Integrity matters: Serve the forgotten.
Nike made millions with “Just Do It.” Our faith offers something far better—eternal purpose. So what are you waiting for? Just. Do. It.