The Algorithm of the Heart
Have you ever doom scrolled? It is when you open a social media app with the intention of briefly looking over the randomness that will appear, but end up spending an hour or hours on the app. There have been times when I have done that, and while perusing social media, I have also wondered why I see the things that I see. It amazes me that when I have just had a conversation about the latest Retro J’s coming out, an ad will appear showing those shoes. Or a movie or TV show that I was talking about suddenly finds its way onto my screen.
And in some rare cases, people will have things appear on their timeline that they have to apologize for, and then follow it up by saying that they never look at things like that. Well, my friends, one thing is for sure: what shows up is often connected to what has been fed in. Algorithms pay attention to what you look at too long, what you engage with often, what you talk about, and what you search for. Their aim is to keep your attention and to sell you on products in order to make more money. I am not here to lecture you on how algorithms work, but I do want you to consider how what you put into your heart will eventually “pop up.” See what I did there?
That image became even sharper for me after a Bible class discussion. A sister in class, who is herself a teacher and the daughter of Bro. and Sis. Ballard, a retired preacher of more than fifty years and a retired education worker, expanded the point in a helpful way. She said that the Christian is like an algorithm. What we put in matters. I told her I would give her credit, and she deserves it, because that observation helps put James 1 into language people can feel.
The New Testament epistle of James is believed to have been written by James, the brother of Jesus. In this letter he is writing to Christians who are facing trials and pressures. He gives sound wisdom in a way that often feels a lot like Proverbs. In the pericope of James 1:19-27, we see James dealing with a silent killer in the life of the believer.
The danger here is not first what is outside of us, but what is happening within us. We tend to keep our guard up against the world out there while ignoring the condition of the inner man or woman. But James turns his attention inward. He tells believers to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, because the anger of man does not produce the righteousness God desires. He tells them to put away filthiness and wickedness and to receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save their souls.
That is a powerful image. The Word of God is not something to admire from a distance. It must be received. It must be welcomed. It must be allowed to take root in us. But the true weight of this passage is not simply that we hear the Word. It is that we do not deceive ourselves into thinking that hearing is enough.
That is the silent killer.
James explains that if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he deceives himself. That means a person can sit under preaching, attend Bible class, nod in agreement, and still be spiritually sick. We can fool ourselves into thinking that nothing is wrong with us just because we were present when the Word was spoken. But hearing without obedience is not faithfulness. It is self-deception.
The Word of God is like a mirror. It shows us clearly who we actually are. It does not merely affirm who we think we are. It reveals us truthfully. And if we look into that mirror, see the blemishes of the soul, and then walk away without responding to what God has shown us, James says we deceive ourselves.
This is where the algorithm illustration helps. Not perfectly, but helpfully.
We live very closely to what we repeatedly observe and engage with. What we continually take in begins to shape what comes back out. Our fickle faithfulness to God is often not random. When we continually entertain idols, divided loyalties, and halfhearted devotion, spiritual compromise will pop up. When we feed ourselves profane language, corrupt images, and unholy patterns, we should not be surprised when profane things pop up in our speech and lives. When we sacrifice for comfort, image, career, and status, but not for God, we should not be surprised when a lack of desire for worship pops up.
What is showing up in us did not get there by accident.
James presses us beyond religious performance. He will not let us settle for spiritual content without spiritual transformation. Pure religion is not just hearing sermons, quoting verses, or appearing moral in public. Pure religion shows up in bridled speech, compassion toward the vulnerable, and a life unstained by the world.
That means what is in us will eventually be seen. If anger is being fed, anger will surface. If apathy is being fed, apathy will surface. If pride is being fed, pride will surface. But if the implanted Word is being received with humility and obeyed with sincerity, then righteousness, mercy, compassion, and holiness will begin to surface too.
The silent killer is not merely bad behavior out in the open. It is the quiet self-deception of a believer who hears the Word without allowing the Word to reshape the life. It is the apathy that listens but never responds. It is the false comfort of thinking that exposure to truth is the same thing as obedience to truth.
James calls us to more.
He calls us to receive the Word humbly, to obey it honestly, and to let it expose what needs to change. Because eventually, what has been planted in the heart will “pop-up” up in the life.
And that, my friends, is the real algorithm.
Be LED… Be the 💡… Be a Light Emitting Disciple…
