But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
If you ever have had a puppy dog for a pet, you know how they like to play tug-o-war. It doesn’t matter if it is a $15.00 toy from Pets-R-Us or an old sock. Given the chance to chomp down on something, growl fiercely, and throw their head back and forth, they will take it every time.
Like a puppy with a sock, James has sunk his teeth into this idea of faith and deeds.
Grrr-rrr-rr—rrrr—rrrrrr—rrr!!
He just won’t let go!
So here we are, talking about faith versus deeds again.
Like a puppy who wants to play, James growls out a challenge: Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds!
Let’s accept his challenge. Let’s show James our faith. And we will do it without deeds. How does that work?
Wait a minute… it’s a trap!! We can’t “show” anything without doing something.
Grrrrr…. Now it is my turn to growl!
So what is James telling us? Isn’t going to church showing my faith? I mean that is doing something, right?
Well, yes, I think James would agree that demonstrates faith. But there is that thing about discriminating against the poor that he was talking about. So if I go to church but discriminate against the poor what do my actions show about my faith?
Maybe James is saying that what I choose to do says more about my faith than just doing something. In the post titled, “Two Pictures” we talked about what James explains is “…religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless…”
I keep coming back in my mind to Jesus’ summation of the law:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”*
I think James is tugging at us to look at what our deeds say about us. Am I really paying attention? Do I really live the faith I say I believe in? Do my deeds show that I am loving God above all else and my neighbor as myself?
Application: Take the challenge: Write down all of the things that you do in a day or a week that reflect your faith. What kind of picture do you see?
Food for Thought: If you were to write a list of “ideal deeds” that showed the faith you would like to have, what would be on it?
*Matthew 22: 37-40
A difficult question brother (but a good one). I think this list will be as different as each person. We have different gifts and talents. I think our list should reflect the use of those gifts and talents to the glory of God, done through a motivation of our love for Him and others.
Rich,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Yes, this is kind of a challenge question. I don’t think there are any “wrong” answers. I trust that any deed that reflects God’s love, no matter how large or small, would be welcome on the list.
👍🏻