Earthly Good

James 2:15-17

What good is your faith? Have you ever thought about what that means? Anyone who has heard the Gospel preached understands the idea that Jesus is the Savior Messiah who paid the price for our sin that we could not pay for ourselves. But, what difference does that make today or tomorrow? This question is not one of eternal value, but earthly value. What good is your faith today or tomorrow for you, your family, your neighbor, or your friend? This is what James is getting at. To make the point clear, he offers a rhetorical question to his readers. Suppose someone is in need of clothes and food... does telling them to "go get some" make a real difference? The obvious answer to the question is no, not it doesn't. So, then, according to James the words, "go, get some" don't do any real good. The person who is saying them might genuinely believe they need food and clothes. They might even really want them to have some. But, the simple fact of saying something doesn't really do any good for the person who is in actual need at that moment. To this somewhat obvious truth, James then adds, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead." This is usually the place where people begin to get upset and think that James is trying to teach a "works-based" faith. But, the reality is that he is not. He is merely illustrating that if our faith is no more than beliefs that don't translate to behaviors, than it's not doing any earthly good for anyone else. Remember that serving others is part of the mission of the Church. If our faith is just an intellectual thing, than we are missing a huge part of the mission Jesus left for us to do. 

Prayer: 

Holy Spirit, please touch my heart and give me a desire to serve others. Use me as a living breathing testimony of who You are and what You have done in my life. Amen. 

Reflection: 
What actions have you seen others do that illustrated their faith in Christ? 

In what ways have you seen the love of Christ demonstrated to others? 
What actions will you do this week to show Jesus to someone else?