Are You a Self-Deceiving Hearer?

Many in the church acknowledge the necessity and importance of sound preaching of the Word of God, so that they might be nurtured in God's truth. Yet, the importance of good hearing is not so well understood. Even when sound preaching is available, the hearer will end up being deceived because of his own false way of hearing. He who listens to the Word without any intention to apply it in his life is deceiving himself, no matter how much pleasure he derives from his mere hearing of the preaching.

Take heed of what James 1:22 says – "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." The apostle James draws attention to a great danger existing among so-called Christian circles. According to James, there are two sorts of hearers in the church. Though all the worshippers appear to be listening to a sermon, only some of them truly receive and apply it to their lives. The rest, though they appear to have paid attention to what is being preached, do not seem to bring their lives into subjection to the Word preached faithfully.

The first group of hearers, referred to as "doers of the word", is what James desires every churchgoer to be. So he instructs us, "be ye doers of the word". But, what is it to be a doer of the Word? A doer of the Word is one who applies his mind to understand what is being preached, and then makes every effort to meticulously practise what he has heard. Such a man takes God's Word seriously, and yields to its authority and wisdom in humble obedience. Such a man is reverential in his hearing of the Word. He believes that the Word of God is good and most beneficial to him. He receives it with meekness (cf. James 1:21), whether it be a rebuke, or correction, or instruction, or promise.

The second group of hearers are the indifferent hearers. This sort of hearers may listen to what is being expounded from the Scriptures with apparent joy. Nonetheless, soon their joy in the preached Word vanishes as they give heed to other voices brought to them by temptations and trials of the world. Eventually, it becomes their habit to live in total disregard of what they have heard from the Word. If they hear a sermon that rebukes and warns against some unbiblical habits or practises, they will not repent. When they hear such a message, they scoff at it and continue in their unbiblical ways.

The "hearers only" group are also warned that they are deceiving themselves. Surely they would not pay attention to that warning. Instead, they might speak ill of those who warn them. They make themselves appear as eager hearers, but they are superficial hearers. When the hearers refuse to take hold of the truth of God's Word, they live without its wisdom. Knowledge without obedience is futile. Now, if you are just a "hearer" and not a "doer" of the Word, James is here saying that there is something wrong with your thinking: you are "deceiving your own selves"! The Greek compound word translated as "deceiving" gives the idea of someone who is beside his logical self and not reasoning rightly. James' warning is clear: the end-result of one who constantly takes in without ever putting into practice is a deluded person who is setting himself up for making miscalculations in life's decisions!

Oh, it is a terrible folly not to take hold of divine truth. It would inflict severe damage on one's spiritual integrity and effectiveness. It is a dreadful mistake to neglect the truth that has been brought to one's attention. James is not finding fault per se with those who are hearers, but rather with those who are simply hearers and "not doers". He adds a strong word of caution to such, that they are "deceiving [their] own selves". Dear brethren, be not hearers only!

Sunday after Sunday, for many years, most of you have been hearing the preaching of the Word of God. Are you like those who listen to sermons as a matter of religious formality that they customarily practise every week? Or are you like those who are curious to learn the Bible's facts but would not let them rule over their minds and manner of life? Have you been like those who listen to the preaching because of their liking for motivational speeches? Or have you been like those who learn one or two points of Christian doctrine so that they can enter into a discussion / debate with others on those points of doctrine?

Consider the various kinds of self-deceiving hearers, according to the Scriptures, who gather to hear the preaching of the Word.

1. The inconsiderate hearer: James describes such a hearer in James 1:23, 24 – "For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." He is unaffected by the preached Word.
2. The inattentive hearer: He who never intends to be a doer of what he hears will probably have little regard for what he hears. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to be diligent listeners of God's Word – "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip" (Hebrews 2:1).
3. The injudicious hearer: He never makes any judgment upon what he hears, whether it be true or false; all things come alike to him. The apostle John tells us, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).
4. The imperceptive hearer: He hears all his days but is never the wiser. No light comes into him. 2 Timothy 3:7 describes such a one as "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
5. The prejudiced hearer: He hears with dislike, especially those things which relate to practice. He is too prejudiced to be convinced of the sound teachings of the Scriptures. He will only listen to that which pleases his unbiblical lifestyle. It is about such people whom Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:3, that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears".
6. The censorious hearer: He is a critical hearer who comes not as doers of the law, but as a judge. He can also be a malicious hearer who comes on purpose to seek advantage against the preacher. Such hearers are like the Pharisees and Sadducees who listened to the Lord just to seek an opportunity to accuse Him.
7. The raging hearer: He is an exasperated hearer who is full of fury because his sinful actions are condemned by the preaching of the Word. Such were Stephen's hearers at his last sermon.

If you, my dear reader, have been listening to the preaching of the Word to please your fancy, even if you would learn some novel ideas from the message, you would end up deceiving yourself. Are you going to be like the Tyrians, who helped King Solomon to build the temple (being his friends), and yet went on worshipping their idols?