Applying Amos today

'But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.' - James 1:22-25 (NIV)

Here are the clear instructions from Amos:

5:4-5 Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing. Seek the LORD and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

5:14-15 Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.

5:23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.

Amos warns the northern kingdom of Israel that it faces the judgement of God because of three sins: social injustice, idolatry and their economic enslavement of the poor. If the worshippers do not practice justice, then their worship is a disgusting insult to God. The book of Amos describes God’s reluctant action against those nations that have experienced His grace but have consistently turned from Him to injustice (2:6), immorality (2:7) and idolatry (2:8). In the 21st Century, the disparity between rich and poor is more extreme than ever before in human history. Amos is a penetrating warning for all Christians that God hates worship without justice; it is an exhortation that all who love Jesus must fight for justice for the oppressed.