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By Prof. Scott Hafemann
Taking on my new role as President of Mission: Chad has given me pause to consider again the way James, the Lord's brother, defined true religion, and what that has to do with our work in Chad. James said that religion that is "pure and undefiled before God" is characterized by visiting orphans and widows in their affliction (James 1:27). This explains why we are praying for and supporting our brothers and sisters in Chad as they rescue the orphans and widows of their land. We are simply extending to others the love and care God has extended to us as his children. The 80 orphans and the many widows that are now being cared for in Chadian families and as the first residents of Village Altonodji are declarations of the fact that God adopted us when we were orphaned from him in our rebellion and sin.
But James also contrasted this pure religion with the "worthless religion" of the person who "does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart" (James 1:28). This is harder to understand. Why contrast helping orphans with not being able to control what one says? I think it is because James knows how crucial it is to declare the Gospel and how easy it is at the same time, especially for teachers and preachers, to "boast of great things," to say we have faith when it is dead (James 3:5; 2:26). James knows how easy it is for all of us to "bless our Lord and Father" and then "curse people who are made in the image of God" (James 3:9). So James reminds us that our declarations of the Gospel must be defined with our redeemed lives, that we prove our professions of godliness by our giving because of what God has given to us in Christ. This is why we not only seek to rescue orphans but also to strengthen the Shalom Evangelical School of Theology, so that the teaching of the Gospel and the embodiment of the Gospel may both be furthered among the "poor in the world" whom God has chosen "to be rich in faith" (James 2:5).
Thank you for your "pure and undefiled religion" in Word and Deed! God is greatly honored by your love for his people in Chad.
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