Swindoll begins this section of his commentary on James:

“A debilitating disease is crippling the body of Christ—a syndrome so common that it seems to affect every believer with either a mild or an acute case. This insidious condition neutralizes the church’s impact and nullifies her testimony. It can diminish effectiveness and paralyze production. The problem? A rupture between confession and deed, theology and action, hearing and doing. For too many of us Christians, God’s Word fails to make it from the head to the heart. And for many more, His Word gets lodged between the heart and the hands. A. W. Tozer vividly portrays the situation:

So wide is the gulf that separates theory from practice in the church that an inquiring stranger who chances upon both would scarcely dream that there was any relation between them. An intelligent observer of our human scene who heard the Sunday morning sermon and later watched the Sunday afternoon conduct of those who had heard it would conclude that he has been examining two distinct and contrary religions. . . . It appears that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right. So the divorce between theory and practice becomes permanent in fact, though in word the union is declared to be eternal. Truth sits forsaken and grieves till her professed followers come home for a brief visit, but she sees them depart again when the bills become due.[7]”

[7] A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1986), 51–53.

— Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter (Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary Book 13) by Charles R. Swindoll