By Greg Primm
The last couple of posts I’ve been writing about lessons learned from the book of James. This small book could be billed as “How to Live Out your Christian Faith.” It’s full of everyday, practical lessons like, “Don’t just read the bible do what it says” and “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins”. So far, I’ve written about tough times and the difference between hearing and actually listening. Today, I’m focusing on a sometimes contraversial topic — showing our faith through our actions.
. . . faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17
James is my kind of guy. No beating around the bush. He gets straight to the point. So here’s the question — if you have faith in Christ, should you be able to tell through your actions? A few people will answer no — “my faith is a personal issue between me and God.” Your faith is very personal and it is between you and God, except we’re called through Christ’s Great Commission [Matthew 28:16-20] to spread the message of Christ to all people. We can’t live a life of faith and do it in a way that doesn’t show to others.
Most, I think would agree that, yes, we should live out our faith in our everyday life. The big question to me is, how much?
Crazy Love
That’s essentially the premise of one of the best books I’ve read in a while — Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Francis is a pastor from California who has challenged how I view my faith. Here’s the premise:
It’s crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe — the creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies, and E-minor — loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.
. . . the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, and good church attendance.
- Francis Chan, Crazy Love
The book is a call to action. A call to outwardly live your faith the way you say you believe. James had the same message so many years ago — that faith without action is dead.
Chan outlines the typical “lukewarm” people that inhabit many churches today:
Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.
Lukewarm people rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. They are quick to point out that Jesus never said money is the root of all evil, only that the love of money is.
Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.
So what’s the point?
I don’t have a prescription on how you should live your life, but I agree with Chan that “having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. ” We must do things that cost us here on earth but that will be worth it in eternity. And that goes against the grain of everything we know.
But the promise is that it will be worth it. The promise is that if we give up ourselves, live a life that appears crazy to others, we’ll experience a life that is lived to the fullest.
A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. John 10:10 (The Message)
Photo credit: Eduardo Deboni
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Gregg,
I’m so with you Bro. Great blog post. I could spend all day rereading, reflecting, and commenting on this one but I gotta throttle myself. I heard a preacher say that those of us claiming to be Christians should stop focusing so much on being “witnesses” and start being the “evidence!” In other words, if someone held a court on proving the existence of “Christ Followers” could I be presented as “Exhibit A?!”
That leads me into a question that’s been haunting me these past months – “If I claim to be a ‘Follower of Christ’ then…where am I going?” Doesn’t saying I’m following something or someone imply that I am moving or going somewhere? So, am I going somewhere? Where am I going? Could anyone say about me, “You know, I may not know a whole lot about Brad, but one thing is obvious, he’s following Christ.”
Chan’s “Lukewarm people…” is dead on. I fear that’s the court case where much of my life could be presented as evidence. He sure nails it with – “Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to.” I remember another preacher saying that’s why we don’t see many miracles these days -we’ve built such self-dependent lives for ourselves that He doesn’t need to give us a miracle.
Well, I’m doing a terrible job of throttling myself, but one last comment on your statement – “But the promise is that it will be worth it.”
What if we loved on others with no hope or desire of it being “worth it” for ourselves? What if we loved with an expectation that the only blessings received in this world or even eternity are the ones reaped by the one we love on. Perhaps this would be the “craziest love” of all.
Love your stuff man. Keep letting His wisdom flow to the rest of us.
Brad