“If any man seems to himself to be a formal worshiper [“to be ‘religious,’” Phillips] and yet does not bridle his tongue, but goes on deceiving his own heart, this man’s form of worship [“religion,” Phillips] is futile.

James 1:26

James shows that a person might seem to himself to be truly religious and yet his form of worship could be futile. The Greek word here translated “futile” also means “idle, empty, fruitless, useless, powerless, lacking truth.” This could be the case if someone claiming to be a Christian did not bridle his tongue and use it to praise God and to build up his fellow Christians. He would be “deceiving his own heart”