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 a look into james

you need a new life?  well, do we have the produce for you - with just a few dollars you can change your life.  you can have whiter teeth, fresh breath, cleaner cloths, more hair - you name it and we have what it takes to change your life.  if you need a deeper relationship with others, you need the product we are selling - or so says the commercials.  if we are to believe the ad people, our lives would change if only we spend on money on the right product -  but, talk is cheap, and it always comes with a disclaimer.

interestingly enough, this is the way most people see christians - we make all the claims - "christ is the answer." "trust 100% in God,"  "love our neighbors,"  yet our actions do not match our words.  to most of the outside we are no different then a bad tv commercial - all the promises, but nothing delivered.  james seemed to know this is what would happen, that we would be "all talk and no action."  that is why he tells us straight out - "isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" (484, the message).  and the answer to many is - YES.

you see, we in the church have become our own best listeners - we ask if we are helping others, and we say, "yes we are."  but those in the community have a different view.  people outside the church see us as all talk and no action.  we, of course, see it differently.  we say we are moving on God's time; we say we have to be good stewards of God's funds.  I remember being involved in one church where we had a wonderful opportunity to outreach to teens in the area.  people in the town were concerned that the teens were getting "wild" and people in the church felt we needed to examine how we could help.   but the "trustees" felt that having that many teens in the church would cause extra wear and tear on the building; the extra money needed to purchase the needed spots equipment would be better spent on choir robes and music;  and my time as pastor was better spent dealing with the members of the church who contributed to making the church operate (nice way of saying those who give money).  needless to say, our outreach was limited.

james tell us to put our money were our moth is - to go beyond talk and into action.  we are not called to talk about how to help - we are called to help.  we use "gifts" as a copout.  we claim, "that is not my gift."  in scripture we are told that some are called to teach, some to preach, some to evangelize - but it does not say some are called to sit on their butts and do nothing, and unfortunately that is what most christians do - nothing.  we use God's word to imprison us, instead of setting us free.  we use the excuse that we are not called to a certain mission, but never take the time to find what is our calling.  here is what i believe needs to be done:

1. we need to outreach to others and let them know that we do so because we are changed by christ.  ministry is doing good in the proclamation of christ, good deeds are just doing good.  if we feed the hungry we need to let them know we do so because christ has changed our hearts; if we house the homeless, we do so because of christ.  if we do not proclaim our faith in our actions, we make no statement for christ.

2. we need to get away from the excuses.  i was once talking with a friend who told me that he did not share his faith because the church did not teach him to share.  i was perplexed; we had offered several classes on the subject and he never came - he said he was working, or the time was not good for him to attend.  i said i understood and asked how his new baby was doing - in no time he took out several pictures of his beautiful daughter and related several stories of how she changed his outlook on life.  i asked him who taught him to share his love for his daughter?  he told me no one,  sharing his daughter seemed natural to him because of his love for her - i just said, "dido."

3. we need to minister to the culture, through the culture without being changed by the culture.  if you were going to send a missionary to another land to share the gospel with the people of that land you would make sure that the person spoke the language, knew the culture and liked the people.  if that is how we would send out missionaries, why do we have a different expectation for sharing our faith in the US?  in america we expect people to learn our language, and to know our understanding before we are willing to speak with them.  this is wrong.

faith is action - they are connected at such a point that we can not take them apart - if we have faith, we must have action.  if we do not we are fooling ourselves, and making the case that christianity is a religion of talk, and has no value today - and we all know better.

john o'keefe