LIVING FAITH IN THE REAL WORLD

                So much of people’s lives these days is lived in a virtual reality. I saw a commercial the other day for Xfinity that stated, by use of a catchy tune, that life is better when you’re watching a screen. Virtual reality seems to have taken the place of reality. People fill their lives with virtual friends on Facebook, but rarely sit down and hold a face to face conversation with someone. The new Pokémon Go has people walking around town glued to their smart phone looking for virtual pokemons. I saw an ad for a device, which looks like a pair of glasses, that you attach your cell phone to so that you can enter any virtual world that we want to. I am not anti-technology, but it seems like technology is separating us into our own individual worlds, instead of really drawing us together.

                In contrast to this virtual reality craze, we just went on a vacation to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We stood in awe at the foot of Mount Rushmore. We took a ride on a steam train through the canyons of the Black Hills, tracing the route that was used to supply the miners and settlements that once dotted the landscape. We watched several hundred buffalo walk past our car, within about 50 yards of us. We stood on the edge of a field and watched prairie dogs pop up and down in their holes. We drove through the Bad Lands (in the rain) and marveled at the amazing landscape. We could have experienced all of these things on the internet from the comfort of our home, but it would not have been the same.

                Living in a virtual world is easier and has fewer risks, at least on the surface. Living in the real world takes effort and comes with real risks. Living in a virtual world offers us immediate rewards, but often dulls our senses. Living in the real world challenges us to discover things for ourselves. Although living in the real world comes at a cost of time, money and effort, it enlivens us and sharpens our senses. If we had taken a virtual trip to the Black Hills, we would have never met a young man from Jamaica who spent his summer waiting on tables in Keystone, excited about the opportunity to experience America first hand.

                When it comes to being a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, we need to guard against settling for a virtual faith. A virtual faith is very individualistic and self-centered. It is more about getting something from God, rather than giving to God. It is more about isolating myself from that scary world out there, then engaging the world around me in meaningful ways. It is easier and more comfortable to live a virtual faith. It is harder and more uncomfortable to live a real faith in a real world. But the real rewards of our faith can only be found in the real world.

                James challenges us to not settle for a virtual faith. Instead he calls us to get out in the real world and live it out. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25