Thursday, July 7, 2022

Unplanted Faith

 

Thursday, July 7, 2022

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?  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.”  James 2:14-18

Tertullian, a second-century church leader, is credited with the saying that the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.  In that analogy it is simple to squeeze out a corollary, consistent with apostle James’ caution:  unplanted seeds of faith will produce almost nothing.  I say “almost” because there is one result, a false sense of security for those looking for an easier, quieter, less-troublesome brand of faith that requires little.  That unplanted faith seed becomes an empty pot of toxic wishes, instead of a harvest of blessing for untold millions of faith-starved people today.

The apostle was concerned with warning his flock that wishes, dreams, hopes, and plans, are only wisps of smoke if there are no good deeds that come forth in the form of blessing others.  Is it good to pray for the homeless without doing something about a mother and kids sleeping in a storm drain? 

Does it make sense to hope for the gun violence to go away, but never support positive measures for gun safety?  Can any good come from a proud, patriotic feeling you get without willingness to stand against the enemies of freedom? 

A popular song when I was in high school about one girl’s advice to all others about “wishing and hoping” they could get that special guy, echos, somewhat, that which James wrote to his flock about planting genuine faith seeds:

Wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin' each night of his charms
That won't get you into his arms
Just wishin' and hopin' and thinkin' and prayin'
Plannin' and dreamin' his kisses will start
That won't get you into his heart
So if you're lookin' to find love you can share
All you gotta do is
Hold him and kiss him and love him
And show him that you care
©

Care is the fuel James said to pour on the sparks of revival and transformation.  Every generation since the Garden of Eden has craved being cared-for, knowing that they matter, that someone really notices, and is willing to listen.

For You Today

Have you encountered someone that’s a little rough around the edges?  If you’ve prayed for that person – good.  If you’ve asked God to use you to strengthen that person’s relationship with the Lord – great!  You have prepared the ground, and are holding the seed of care in your hand.  You stand on the threshold of actually planting that seed.  Let your faith be alive and growing.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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To dig deeper into this topic or Scripture text:  Faith and Works and Picking Up the Trowel

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©   

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