Is your faith any good?

(Part 1)

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?”-James 2:14-16

As I was reading the book of James, I started wrestling with the differences between belief and faith. We have, so often, interchanged those words that I fear we have blurred the lines and have grown to see no real distinctions between the two.

Even our secular definitions of the two words seem to carry that same nuance:

Belief: something that is accepted, considered to be true.

Faith: strong believe or trust in someone or something. (Faith is characterized as a strong belief.)

The danger that we face with aligning the meanings of these two words is that a belief requires no action. It only requires our approval or agreement. It is internalized and although it may, at times, impact our thinking and behavior; it doesn’t necessarily need any other expression.

James recognized this tendency developing in the church. There was a lot of approval or agreement (verbally) with the things being taught and expressed, but there was little application taking place. People believed it, but they were not acting on it. That is the point that James begins with here in James 2. What good is it to know and even verbally affirm that the hungry need fed and the homeless need clothed and sheltered, but do nothing to help them.

What good does that do? More importantly, If that is faith, is our faith any good?

 “So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”-James 2:17-20

Real faith will always produce action. James goes a step further and declares, in fact, if it does not produce it is dead and useless. That makes sense right? Dead things don’t reproduce. How can you know that what you confess to believe is truly alive in you if there is no visible fruit of it in you life?

The super-spiritual among us would say, “Some people have faith, others have good deeds.” The argument being that the two can somehow be separated. James declares that real faith always manifests itself with action.

Pastor Scott Burr