Forget, Lest You Forget
What is it like to be unaffected?
How sad it must be to go to church, attend a class, interact with your neighbor, and be indifferent to what they say.
What is it like to be unaffected?
To be so confined to yourself that when you look at your natural reflection in the mirror, you see your flaws—you might even acknowledge them—but the moment you look away, you forget them. You carry on with your life. It’s a curiosity, an interest, a fleeting insight, perhaps. But it’s a compartment, a facet of your identity that you create that fits into something you control—a picture you paint that does not influence how you live.
What is it like to be unaffected?
To live in such a way that everything around you exists as an experience in service to you on your checklist—an item on your itinerary, your menu, your agenda.
What happens when every member of society treats everything like a trophy wife? Their job, partner, children, friends, family, affiliations, and even the place they pray?
Everything becomes a trophy wife.
Even God—the god of their imagination—becomes a trophy wife.
What happens when everything is the object of the reflection of their natural face?
What is it like to be unaffected?
To resolve the dissonance of your natural reflection with the comfort of forgetfulness.
To return to what was left behind. To turn away from what lies ahead. To prefer a lie. To lie to yourself.
What happens when you look away?
This week, I discuss Luke 8:19–21.
Show Notes
In Latin, creāre means “to create,” “to produce,” or “to elect.” In Rome’s political sphere, it referred to the act of appointing or electing officials, including Julius Caesar.
Hearers Not Listeners
“For if anyone is a listener of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (James 1:23-24)“Γίνεσθε δὲ ποιηταὶ λόγου καὶ μὴ ἀκροαταὶ μόνον…”
“But be doers of the word and not listeners only…”
(James 1:22)“Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς· Μήτηρ μου καὶ ἀδελφοί μου οὗτοι εἰσιν οἱ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ ἀκούοντες καὶ ποιοῦντες.” (Luke 8:21)
In James 1:22, ποιηταὶ λόγου (“doers of the word”) and ἀκροαταὶ (“listeners") correspond to the participial forms found in Luke 8:21: ἀκούοντες (“hearing”) and ποιοῦντες (“doing”). Notably, ἀκροαταὶ and ἀκούοντες come from different roots. ἀκροαταὶ from the root: ἀκρο- (akro-), meaning at “the edge” or “the extremity,” implying passive reception, or “listening” vs. ἀκούοντες “to hear.”)
Someone who sees their natural face (πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως, “the face of his birth”) in a mirror and then forgets what he saw is the one who hears Scripture and neglects to act. He chooses to forget his appearance in God’s eyes. His knowledge of Scripture (the mirror) is overtaken by willful self-deception. He is a listener, not a doer.
ἀκροατής (“listener to”) occurs only four times in the New Testament, all with the negative connotation of inaction:
- Romans 2:13:
- γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ νόμου δίκαιοι
- “for it is not the listeners of the Law”
- James 1:22:
- καὶ μὴ ἀκροαταὶ μόνον παραλογιζόμενοι
- “and not mere listeners of the Law, who delude themselves”
- James 1:23:
- ὅτι εἴ τις ἀκροατὴς λόγου ἐστὶν καὶ οὐ ποιητής
- “for if anyone is a listener of the word and not a doer"
- James 1:25:
- παραμείνας οὐκ ἀκροατὴς ἐπιλησμονῆς γενόμενος
- “not a forgetful listener, but a doer”
παραλογίζομαι / ر-م-ي (rā-mīm-yāʼ) / ר-מ-ה (resh-mem-he)
To deceive, defraud. To desert, abandon, or betray. To cast, throw, to cast (blame), or shoot (arrows). The Arabic رَمَى (ramā) and the Hebrew רמה (rāmā) carry the same function.
“So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, ‘What is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived (רִמִּיתָנִי, rimmītānī) me?’” (Genesis 29:25)“But whoever earns an offense or a sin and then blames it (يَرْمِ yarmī) on an innocent has taken upon himself a slander and manifest sin.” Surah An-Nisa (4:112)
James 1:24: ἐπιλανθάνομαι (“to forget”)
"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten (ἐπελάθετο) what kind of person he was." (James 1:23-24)
"For God is not unjust so as to forget (ἐπιλαθέσθαι) your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints." (Hebrews 6:10)
"Do not neglect (ἐπιλανθάνεσθε) to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2)
"And do not neglect (ἐπιλανθάνεσθε) doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." (Hebrews 13:16)
"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting (ἐπιλανθανόμενος) what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead." (Philippians 3:13)
- Philippians 3:13 refers to 3:8, which pertains to Paul’s station, family, tribe, religion, religious purity, heritage, personal achievements, religious accomplishments, national pedigree, and personal zeal—in his words—"ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν / ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα" (I consider everything a loss; I consider them dung):
- “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere dung, so that I may gain Christ.”
- "ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου μου, δι’ ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην, καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα, ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω."