Embracing Your Calling with Enthusiasm: The Connection Between Faith and Works (Part 3 of 3)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

“So, What now?
What will you do now that you found Me?
What now?
What will you do with this treasure you’ve found?
I know I may not look like what you expected
But if you remember this is right where I said I would be
You’ve found me
What now?”   Steven Curtis Chapman Lyrics

Good intentions. We all have them. Obligations that should be done and we do because it’s that’s our duty as Christians. We go to church because it’s what we’ve always done; give our tithes because we don’t want God mad at us; read our Bibles just to rid ourselves of guilt, and then wonder why we feel so empty at the end of each week. It’s because we confuse the ought of obligation with the ought of opportunity. Spiritual growth in the process of following the call of Christ is much more than a life of going on what you should do.  Instead it’s a life of what you want to do. Does this sound strange to you? Let me explain this concept a little better. When I say, “want to do,” I don’t mean whatever you very well please of doing. On the contrary, it’s embracing a life that desires to please and honor God. Along with desiring to draw closer to Him in what we do. Wanting what God wants from us and finding His invitation to “taste and see that He is good.” (Psalm 34:8) It’s embracing every opportunity that God gives you with passion, enthusiasm, and wonder. Having faith is enough for salvation, but in order to take the next step of living for Christ, action must follow. We will be looking at the book of James, but before we do let’s look at the obstacles that stand in our way of doing God’s work.

The obstacles of putting your faith into action come in all shapes and sizes. There’s procrastination, which tells you to put something off until you feel like it. Usually when we have this approach we end of not doing it in the first place, don’t do it well, or we completely miss the opportunity before us. Then there’s busyness which tells us that we don’t have time to open the door of opportunity. Instead we follow our to-do lists and ignore what God is calling us to do. It’s not necessarily doing the wrong things; it’s failing to see the best things over good things. Laziness is the exact opposite of busyness. Because we don’t want to put time and effort into something; we push it to the side for someone else. Fear is another huge factor. What if we fail? What if we’re put into a uncomfortable position? What if it’s too hard? Faith without risk and uncertainty isn’t faith; it’s sight. Finally, we doubt our abilities and talents instead buying into the lie that we’re not good enough. “Let someone else who’s more qualified do it…” ; we reason. Then the opportunity that was meant for us is wasted and often times never even realized at all by anyone. God tells us that, “anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” (James 4:17) When you fail to seize an opportunity that God has given you and ignore it, it’s a sin, plain and simple. There are countless reasons we could give ourselves for not taking action for the cause of Christ when it’s all said and done. But that doesn’t make it right.  Let’s now open our eyes to why works are vitally important in your walk with Christ by  looking at the book of James.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)… “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) On the surface, it appears like there is a contradiction here. Paul tells us that faith isn’t based on works but on the grace of God; while James writes that without works faith is dead. These two passages don’t contradict each other; instead they complement each other. Paul is writing about our salvation, James is  addressing Christians who already have salvation, but weren’t doing anything about it. In short, talk is cheap. Saying we believe that Christ is who He says He is and accepting His free gift of salvation is one thing, but actually doing something about it is another. It’s not enough to say you believe, you must be willing to take action by changing your thoughts and attitudes, wanting to obey His Word, letting others know about Him, and showing His love to everyone you meet. For believing that God exists or Christ rose from the dead and not doing anything about it is completely of no use. (James 2:20-24)

It is well known fact among the church today that Martin Luther had severe problems in accepting the Epistle of James. He even suggested that it should be eliminated from the New Testament. But, he clearly understood what James’ point about the nature of faith was all about. He wrote in this commentary on the book of Romans, “impossible to separate works from faith–yea, just as impossible as to separate burning and shining from fire.” Deeds are not an exhortation to prove that we have faith or to work to keep one’s faith alive. It is instead a natural process of the faith. Our works should flow naturally from our faith in Christ. We don’t do it because we have to, but because we want to.

The book of James was written to address believers in the early church who were being swayed by a false teaching that faith and deeds can exist independently of each other. As we’re already seen there are two wrong assumptions towards the Christian life: We can earn our salvation through works and faith and works aren’t connected. The right way of thinking is seeing that good deeds are evidence of genuine faith. Listening and reading God’s Word aren’t enough. For if we merely listen to Word, but don’t put into practice we literally lose our identity in Christ. As James 2:23-25 says: “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”  What James is telling us is that when we fail to put our faith into practice we fail to see ourselves correctly and thus forget who we are. But if we put into practice the prefect ways of God; not only will we keep our identity in Him, but also will be blessed as well.

As we read on in the book of James, we get a closer look at how faith and works are connected. He goes on to say that talk without actions is cheap: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17) It does no good just to empathize with someone in need, we must prove what we say and believe by doing it.  Essentially without action, faith is dead—nonexistent. A few verses later, James gives firm examples of faith in action with Abraham and the prostitute, Rahab. Both were considered righteous in God’s eyes as “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24) If God considered a prostitute righteous by her actions, then we should pay close attention on how to put our faith into practice.

Although actions are vitally important in living out our faith, our words are also important as well. James addresses the importance of taming our tongue in chapter 3. “Our tongue may be a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts” (James 3:5) It can corrupt our entire being, so we must watch what we say as it can be a restless evil that’s full of poison. (James 3:8) Out of this same mouth can come praise…..or cursing. We need to choose to speak things that are kind, uplifting, gentle, humble, and pleasing to God. Professor Quentin J. Schultze says this about speaking the truth in love: “Our communication should manifest the love of God, who became fully human for us and for our salvation….Christians are God’s conduits, the Creator’s eyes, ears, and voice on the earth. Our communicative talents belong to Christ, not to ourselves.” Our mouths don’t belong to us, they belong to God and we must use them for His glory and honor, and not our own.

There are many other practices that James writes such as listening. “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (James 1:19) Often when we get angry it stems from a wrong assumption about a situation without hearing the other person’s perspective. If we listen first and let both sides of an argument be presented then we’re much less likely to give into anger. Also we’re told to submit ourselves to God: “Submit yourselves , then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.” (James 4:7-8) By obeying and honoring God we can avoid the lure of temptation and draw nearer to God. Finally, don’t boast about tomorrow as James goes on the say, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes….As such boating is evil.” (James 4:14,16)  Trust in God and stop worrying about things that are out of your control. These practices and many others are listed throughout the book of James.

How will I know  when to seize an opportunity before me? How will I know that it’s for me in the first place? Instead of approaching an opportunity with these questions, ask the question: Why not me? If God has blessed you with money, give to the needy and less fortunate. If you’re been blessed with material wealth, give out of your wealth. Are you a good cook? Then cook and serve others out of God’s love. Do you love to teach? Then teach what you’ve learned and help others understand God’s Word. Use your God-given talents to reach a desperate world in need of love. If you’ve got time on your hands, put it to good use. Encourage others in need of it. Serve your community. Join a missions project. Whatever God has called you to do, do it. Not tomorrow, not later, not someday, NOW. Every ability, talent, possession, personality trait, passion, experience can be used to put your faith into action. God could have made it so that when we accepted His gift of salvation that we instantly went to Heaven to be with Him. But He didn’t. There’s still work to be, there’ s still stories to be told, and He’s not done molding us into His image yet. God’s knocking on the door, now it’s our turn to grab the handle and open the door into a world of opportunities right in front of you. So ask yourself: “What now?” What will I do with this treasure I’ve found? This is your time to show the world the gift you’ve been given. There’s no better time to start than now!

Future Features: If you want to know more about putting faith into practice I suggest reading the book of James for yourself to further understand the principles I outlined in this blog. Also read another blog I wrote a few months back titled: The Astonishing Implications of Application: http://shoutitforlife.com/2010/07/25/the-astonishing-implications-of-application/ Next week we’ll start a brand new series entitled: “Express Your Gifts Effectively”  It’ll be a six part series that will go through the first week of December. The first gift we’ll look at is spiritual gifts. That will be followed by personalities, experiences, interests, abilities, and conclude with longings. Have a great week and God bless!

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