We wandered through Texas’ largest independent bookstore, climbed the wide staircase, and joined the crowd waiting for William Gibson. Gibson, the award-winning author who coined the term “cyberspace” and whose books inspired Amazon’s The Peripheral and upcoming Neuromancer, read from his new novel before taking questions.

Someone asked, “Are you religious?” He paused, then answered: “If anyone tells me they’re religious, I tend to look at how they treat other people.” At first, his response sounded evasive. But the longer I sat with it, the more I realized Gibson had redefined the question. True religion isn’t a set of talking points or doctrinal postures; it is love of neighbor. Which, of course, sounds a lot like Jesus.

True religion is scarce in America. When Charlie Kirk was assassinated, his death was immediately coopted for political gain through social media vitriol. When politicians are elected, families are frequently divided by hate for one another. If someone says something we disagree with online, we’re tempted to mute, block, cancel, or troll them. But James, the brother of Jesus says, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless” (1:26).

The world needs more true religion, not less.

Too Many Words

Ghandi once quipped, “The problem with Christianity is the Christians.” This is often apparent in how we speak. Scroll through social media and you’ll find Christians on both sides mocking, demeaning, and cancelling one another. Yet James says, “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (1:19).

The average person uses 16,000 words a day, but only a fraction of those carry real weight. James urges us to use fewer words and to use them carefully, “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent” (Prov. 10:19). More than once, I have been in a small group where someone answered a question for five straight minutes, managing to offend multiple people in the room.

My first two years of marriage I got into arguments with my wife where I would get heated, say something harsh, try to justify myself, and drive her away. I’d yell and scream. It was awful. I used too many words and asked too few questions. What about you? When you’re in conflict with friend, spouse, or online stranger, are you slow to speak and quick to listen? Or do you fire back, self-justify, and invite anger?

Not Enough Listening

Restraining our speech, however, is inadequate. James also calls us to listen—listening not to respond but to understand. I have a friend who always asks me, “How does that make you feel? How are you processing it?” He doesn’t try to fix me with advice or a Bible verse; he listens. And when I answer his questions, I begin to understand myself better.

In his helpful book How to Know a Person David Brooks comments, “Wise people don’t tell you what to do; they help you process your own thoughts and emotions. They enter with you into your process of meaning-making and then help you expand it, push it along” (249). That’s what James does, not to berate us or make us feel small but to love us. After all, he says beloved let every person be quick to hear.

Receiving the Word

But even listening to others isn’t enough. James also tells us to “receive with meekness the implanted word” (1:21). The Word of God is so densely packed with life, it can remake us into a new creature and continually reform us into something more attractive. But there’s a condition: we have to receive the Word. That’s different from hearing the Word.

We can hear without receiving. Ask any parent! To receive a word, our hearts have to be humble. For the gospel seed to grow, we must nurture it with humility. Fruitful Christianity grows in the soil of humility, but contentious Christians harden in hubris.

In Dallas, I’ve noticed Christians flock to sermons, Bible studies, and conferences. We love the thrill of an insight, the feeling of hearing the gospel, the reinforcement of our beliefs. But good feelings and new insights mean nothing unless they change us.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says merely feeling good about a doctrine is like thinking “feeling better” (207) is good enough when we’re sick, when in fact our fever continues to climb. Feeling better doesn’t change anything. We need to do better, not just feel better, which will overturn the critique that Christians are what’s wrong with Christianity, especially if we’re honest about how we have failed.

Religion for Hypocrites

But aren’t all Christians hypocrites? Interestingly, there are people who claim to be Christians but are transitioning away from faith and look very little like Christ. Meanwhile, there are people who are deeply drawn to Christ, who are actually much closer to true Christianity; they just haven’t put it all together yet. Yet, everyone fails to live up to their beliefs. And the truth is—none of us can perceive these inner workings of the soul.

So, with all this invisible transition, it’s really unfair to make a mass critique of Christianity. We don’t actually know who all the true Christians really are. Therefore, the generous thing is to respond to the people in front of us and most importantly deal with our own soul.

With that in view, what would it look like for you to receive the Word implanted? How might it impact your online speech, your community interaction, your private judgments? If we receive the Word, it can save our soul and reshape us into something the world needs more of—a person who is slow to speak and quick to listen.

When Gibson was asked if he was religious, he said he looks at how people treat one another. If the world looked at Jesus, they’d see the truest religion of all—one who treats us with a dignity and love we don’t deserve, by dying in our place. That’s not less religion but more. And it’s exactly what our world needs today.