What Would the World Look Like if…?

Although I haven’t posted in a few days, I have been reading some magnificent thoughts, and have even been moved to comment on a few (see God doesn’t make ugly ducklings… and One World, One Soul). And the posts I have read have really got me thinking. Then I look at the sidebar over there to the right and see James’ thoughts about faith that makes a difference. And I wonder, “What would the world look like if everyone who called him or herself ‘Christian’ actually lived as if they cared?”

Is Jesus your personal Saviour? I would guess that almost every Christian that considers that question would answer yes. And they would be right, to a point. But if that’s all that we mean when we say we have a personal relationship with Christ, I think we are missing out on the enormity of God’s purpose for us.

Don’t get me wrong: I thank God daily for redeeming me in all my wretchedness and depravity. I celebrate the saving grace that has made me a child of God, a co-heir to the Kingdom of Heaven. But one day all God’s children must grow up and begin the task that awaits an heir to a Kingdom.

I know, it all sounds so much like works. How can we say we live by faith and are saved by the free gift of grace, then feel like we actually need to do something? Isn’t that legalistic?

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I was in a men’s Bible study for a few years but ended up leaving. Now, how I found this group and what each and every one of these men mean to me is an incredible story of God’s handiwork, but that story will have to wait for another time. Like I said, I have, unfortunately, left them.

A newer member of the group, quite an intelligent and well-meaning guy, was moved to share his interpretation of the book of Romans. Cool, right? Well, it didn’t take long before I realized his interpretation was off a little. The warning signs just kept piling up, and although I spoke up quite a bit as to where I thought he was missing some key points, the message he was bringing was very attractive, and I soon found that no one was really interested in what I was saying.

So, what were the warning signs? First off, he made a point to educate everyone on the finer points of context, but then proceeded to ignore the context of anything outside the scope of the book of Romans. Well, actually, that’s not exactly true, since he chose to ignore everything after chapter 11 as well. Which is to say, Paul’s tying together of everything he had written about and instructions on how to actually live out what he had been writing about was out the window, not to mention the broader context of the entirety of all the rest of Scripture.

Which brings me to the second warning sign. See, I had contrasted his definition of faith as presented by Paul with the quote I have in my sidebar:

[BUT] IF so, what shall we say about Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking–[what did he] find out? [How does this affect his position, and what was gained by him?] For if Abraham was justified (established as just by acquittal from guilt) by good works [that he did, then] he has grounds for boasting. But not before God! For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God).

Now to a laborer, his wages are not counted as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation (something owed to him). But to one who, not working [by the Law], trusts (believes fully) in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (the standing acceptable to God).

Romans 4:1-5

Are you willing to be shown [proof], you foolish (unproductive, spiritually deficient) fellow, that faith apart from [good] works is inactive and ineffective and worthless? Was not our forefather Abraham [shown to be] justified (made acceptable to God) by [his] works when he brought to the altar as an offering his [own] son Isaac? You see that [his] faith was cooperating with his works, and [his] faith was completed and reached its supreme expression [when he implemented it] by [good] works. And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend. You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith [through works of obedience as well as by what he believes].

So also with Rahab the harlot–was she not shown to be justified (pronounced righteous before God) by [good] deeds when she took in the scouts (spies) and sent them away by a different route? For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead.

James 2:20-26
Both from the Amplified Bible

Where the two passages appear at first blush to be in conflict with one another, they are actually both looking at the same faith from different angles. Looking at both through the broader context of Scripture as a whole demands that, if our interpretation finds conflict, there is something wrong with our interpretation of one or both passages, not something wrong with the passages themselves.

Anyway, his reaction to my contrast was, “Paul wrote Romans, not James.” And this astounded me: in effect he was saying, “Choose which books or authors of the Bible you want to believe, I’m going to believe in Paul and Romans (at least through chapter 11).”

But the greatest shock (and final straw) was that, when I pointed out that his interpretation didn’t exactly agree with the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, he shrugged it off and was essentially okay with it. And none of the other guys in the room—about twelve of them—found anything wrong with that either. So I gave up and left the group.

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All that to say this: we Christians need to get up off of our “blessed assurances” and do something. Because if Christianity is only about fire insurance, then it’s every bit as pathetic as the atheists of the world say it is.

I guess this is why the book of James has become such an important message to me–one that I feel compelled to get out to as many as I can. This group of guys—guys I had traveled with to Skid Row in Los Angeles to serve the homeless—guys who had once thought nothing of leaving groceries on the doorstep of struggling families—had changed their ideas of what it means to follow Christ. And I was left truly wanting them to hear the words of James:

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

James 2:14-17, The Message

I know I’m sounding a little obsessed in this, but it really has become my heart’s mission. And posts from people like amberfireinus and sanityfound, and others, convince me that I’m not alone. I’m not talking about my salvation: there’s not one thing that I can do on my own to redeem myself. I guess it’s more about redeeming the time I have here on earth, making it count for something. God willing.

Blessings, Robert