Action without Faith?

Last week, a few of us went to Wisconsin for the Senior High Retreat. Outside of having tons of fun, we had the privilege of hearing a very powerful and convicting message. We spent a lot of time in James, which Heath, the speaker, stated was a very offensive book in the Bible. By offensive, he meant that James’ words are brutal, straightforward, and rebuking.

One of Heath’s messages was particularly convicting. He examined the difference between knowledge and action, and put forth the question, “Ok, you have faith, so what are you gonna do about it?” He told us this story of a surgeon:
There was once this girl, who wanted very badly to be a surgeon. So she worked very hard during college, so hard that she graduated and got accepted into Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, she worked and studied so hard that she graduated at the top of her class. One day, she was in the subway and in the middle of the ride, an elderly man collapsed and started having a seizure on the dirty, nasty floor of the subway. One of the people on the subway dropped to her knees and tried to assist the man, but wasn’t adequately trained, so she screamed out, “Does anyone here know how to save this man? Is there a doctor or surgeon here?” And nobody moved. The Harvard med student sat watching, and turned to the person next to her saying, “Hey, I read about a situation like this in my med textbook.” At this point the elderly man is starting to go into shock, and the woman on the ground with him screams at the top of her lungs, “IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN SAVE THIS MAN?!!” And once again the surgeon turns to the person sitting next to her and says nonchalantly, “Yeah, this is an epileptic seizure, I learned all about these at Harvard Med.”

This story illustrates the ridiculousness of Christians who have the knowledge of the Savior, yet do not act. Unfortunately, the Harvard Grad was a metaphoric symbol for us. Similarly, the following passage demonstrates the ideas we have examined so far.

Read James 2:14 – 26

So many times we hear that we cannot obtain salvation through good works, but this passage actually tells us that faith without deeds is also insufficient. So you may be thinking, “Well what should I do?” Well, Matthews 25:34 gives an answer. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “

Now take the initiative. Clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, care for the poor in your world, whether at school, at your extracurriculars, or even at WCAC. That is what faith calls you to do.