Faith and Works: Working Together to Share Christ

¹⁴ 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? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ 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? ¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” – James 2:14-20 (NLT)

We have opportunities every single day to show Christ to unbelievers outside of our church walls. We may come across people struggling with just supplying basic needs for their family or people are struggling emotionally, people struggling financially, people struggling with health concerns, and people struggling with addiction. We may never know the struggle, but that’s also why our interactions with people we encounter is so meaningful. Those are our opportunities to show the love of Jesus to people we encounter. So many of Christians proclaim their faith in Christ, but their actions don’t line up with the instructions the Bible gives us on how to live our lives. Jesus gave us instructions on what we’re to do on earth with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 (NLT): “¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He gave us a command to make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teach these new disciples to obey the commands He has given us. That’s a bold mission He put us out on, but instead, modern Christianity is afraid of offending people, saying the wrong thing, or watering down the message of grace, love, and hope that Jesus gave us by dying on the cross for our sins. Now, we say we have faith, but our actions don’t line up with it and verse 20 says it best: Faith without good deeds is useless. Jesus told us in Matthew 7:20, “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.” People should see Jesus in you without you even having to say a word, but instead we see people calling themselves Christians and treating people terribly or doing sinful things very publicly and that’s the representation of Jesus they put on display to the world. It’s no wonder people don’t want to come to Christ or come to church when they see Christians behaving in such a way.

One of my favorite verses is 1 Peter 3:15: “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” You might be thinking, “Why would anyone ask you about your hope?” The answer is simple: Because they see something different about you and want what you have. They see the evidence of Jesus working in you on the outside and know there’s something different and they want it. Notice that verse also says to be ready to explain it. If someone asked you why you’re a Christian or asked you how you came to Christ, would you be ready to explain it? When I was a senior in high school, my youth group went on a trip to Nashville, Tennessee to the M-Fuge camps and for seniors, there was a special track that we could go on. One of the places this track took me was to a juvenile detention center and I was with teenagers I didn’t know and a youth pastor I didn’t know and honestly, at 18 years-old, I hadn’t really done anything noteworthy or profound to be transformed by Christ. I just felt a simple tug in my heart and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. The youth pastor asked me to share my testimony with this group that was in prison. I reluctantly agreed, but to be honest, I had no idea what to say. If given that same opportunity today, I would absolutely be prepared. My point is: You never know when you’re going to be put on the spot to share the story of how Jesus changed your life.

My challenge to you is to think about three things from this blog: First, do your actions line up with your faith in Christ? Second, if someone were to ask you why you are a Christian, are you ready to answer that? Third, what Jesus are people seeing in you? Do they see Jesus, who is loving and caring or do they see a hateful Jesus? Let your faith and your works tag team together to advance the gospel of Christ.