WEEK TWO: IT’S ABOUT WHAT YOU DO

We all know someone (or at least have encountered someone) who knows what to say, how to say it, and when to say it…but all of that doesn’t match up with what they do. They talk a good game but don’t back it up with action. When I was still playing baseball, I had a teammate like that. To hear him talk about his accomplishments you would have thought he was the second coming of Babe Ruth, Bob Gibson, and Tony Gwynn (if you don’t know who they are, look them up) all rolled into one person. Unfortunately, his play on the field didn’t match up to the stories he told.

We can find ourselves in that some boat spiritually if we are not careful. We can become so comfortable in our faith and so set in our practices that we can deceive ourselves and allow wrong ideas, thoughts, and practices to seep into our lives. We can become comfortable in hearing the Word of God, but then we don’t use it to guide our lives or to make a difference in someone else’s life. We can become passive in our faith, deceiving ourselves into thinking that knowing is the same as doing. We convince ourselves that our words are enough, that our intentions are good, even when our actions contradict our beliefs. We prioritize our own comfort and convenience over the needs of others, and sin blinds us to our own inconsistencies.

You see, our faith (or “religion” as James calls it in his New Testament letter to the Church) isn’t about what we say or how much we go to church or if we do all of the right things while we are there. It comes down to what we do everyday. In James 1:27 he writes, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (NIV) In other words our faith isn’t determined by our Sunday actions but rather by how we conduct ourselves both inside and outside of the church building.

So what will it take for us to start looking and acting the same way we appear to be? Let’s look out for others. Let’s think before we speak. Let’s refuse to criticize or gossip, but choose to encourage and defend instead. Let’s live out true religion. Let’s let our faith become action, helping those in need without expecting anything in return, and let’s become doers of the Word.