For many years I thought that faith and works inspired by
faith were two separate but related entities. Faith was the source of works that came from believing in Jesus Christ. Faith was also something that the mind, heart, and
soul did, a spiritual-something that received salvation from Jesus if placed in Jesus
Christ. Works were something that came
out of that faith, material acts which
showed faith; these acts could vary in intensity levels as time and space
allowed. While spiritual fruits were
expected, it didn't really matter if I didn't make time for working in the
church or doing some other ministry work if I was busy with other things.
Yet James challenges this perception of the dual nature
between faith and works. In James 2:26,
James writes, "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith
without works is also dead."
Normally when we think abstractly about faith, we think of it as
something "spiritual," something ethereal. This notion relates directly to the spirit of
the body, which we also think of in ethereal terms as some spiritual substance that floats up to heaven after death
to be with God before the resurrection.
However, James turns this notion on its head, relating faith to the
material body and works to the spirit which moves the body.
In essence, what James is saying is that works drive faith
- without it, faith is limp and motionless, like a body without the
spirit. Yet, just like the body/spirit
relationship is complex and intertwined in such a way as to be almost
indistinguishable, so is the analogy between faith/works. Dietrich Bonheoffer, a great theologian
during World War II in the midst of Nazi Germany, writes this: "Only those
who believe obey, and only those who obey believe" (Cost of
Discipleship 68).
Another way of putting this phrase is to say, "Only
those who have faith will do what Jesus wants them to do (works), and only
those who do what Jesus wants them to do have faith." This is a very difficult thing to admit to
myself, and is even more difficult to follow, for while obeying Christ sounds
easy when spoken ("Just do it!"), it is far harder to "just do
it" in practice. So where does this
leave us? We need to struggle, strive, push ourselves, and pursue God with
everything we have, not making excuses for ourselves and what we do, but
looking to live for God with every breath.
As we do this, we can also relax and fall into Jesus loving arms,
knowing that his grace abounds, and we can remember that the point
behind all the works and all faith is simply the love relationship with
the Triune God.
"Lord, help me to live for you, for only in obedience
does faith come alive."
I remember when you pointed this out to me - it was indeed eye-opening! To go one step further, my mom actually unpacked the story of the 10 women with lamps and oil waiting for the bridegroom in a similar light with some other twists. She mentioned that the 5 with lamp only enough for one burning, wasn't that they didn't have faith, but that they didn't act on their faith, whereas the 5 with oil left over for later, had faith as well as works that was prompted by their faith (they brought extra oil and were prepared for the coming of the bridegroom). She asked the question of, so what was the work that we need to be doing that is birthed from our faith? She uses Matthew 25, where Jesus separates the sheep from the goat, and points out that he doesn't ask, "did you have faith?" but rather points out WHAT actions each did that differentiated the sheep from the goats - the acts of love, even to the least of these. Although there are many things we can do in response to our faith, loving others, especially the least in our society, will be a true mark of our faith. So the 5 women who were prepared, not only had faith, but their love for God prompted them to take action. She likewise points out, as you infer, that faith without works is dead, just as the 5 women who lacked oil, despite their faith, were shut out of the house because of their lack of action.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts on work/faith in light of James :)