Skylar's Blog & Podcast

James 2:17

I don't know how many of you have seen the movie Billy Madison. I would not recommend it, but in it is an interesting debate. Billy (Adam Sandler) is taking a bath, and while taking the bath he begins a fight between shampoo and conditioner. He goes back and forth explaining in a way only Adam Sandler can pull off the pros of each product. I have a question, this one is for guys mostly (because I know most girls use both): do you use shampoo and conditioner or just shampoo? I was a shampoo only guy for quite a while. That was until I made two discoveries: first, how conditioner acts with shampoo and actually makes the hair softer and more awesome, and second, the invention of the two-in-one shampoo plus conditioner. With these two combined I converted to using conditioner as well as shampoo. I have found that it is actually better to use both. If I were to ever go back to using just one I would find my hair in a worse state than when I used both. These two were meant for one another! You need both.

Look at the verse I gave you at the beginning of this blog; can you see any way that shampoo and conditioner can tie in with this verse...I only ask because I think they go together quite nicely. In chapter two of the book of James, James (the writer...just pointing out the obvious) begins talking about faith and works. If someone were to examine these two things on the surface they would not look like they go together at all. Faith is all about trusting something you cannot see. It is very abstract. While works is very concrete, and it, in a sense, puts the trust in what you do. However, James says they cannot have a healthy existence without the other. According to James, they need each other. How so? Read 2:15-16. What is James point? His point is this: it is silly to believe it is good to help the needy, and when you encounter a person in need you wish them a good day and move on. It's like believing food will help you to continue surviving yet you refuse to eat. If you are in a relationship with God, great! However, if you are in a relationship with God, and you do not attempt to take on the lifestyle He has called you to then James says your faith, your relationship with God, is dead. This is what James is getting at. It is not ok to say you're a Christian, and to not act accordingly. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, my challenge for you is this: does it show? In Billy Madison, Adam Sandler argues which is better: shampoo or conditioner? I would say: neither. They need each other. The longer I have used shampoo and conditioner the healthier my hair has become. If you will begin today acting on your faith and doing what God has challenged you to do, then your relationship with Him will act in the same way.