“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26(KJ)
Tonight, I stumbled upon a layer of that well-known verse I had previously missed. And by "stumbled upon," I mean "pierced with."
I should preface this with the confession that my more than decade-long faith in the Bible being the infallible Word of God has been dislodged. I'm not sure how much of it, if any I believe anymore. I say that with a heavy heart. I am so very confused and it's been a painful, bitter limbotic break-up. Some context.
But my regretful dance with resentment is not where I want to take this little rant. What struck my soul (if there is such a thing- kidding) tonight as I rinsed soiled dishes in my darkened kitchen, was how tragically lost the meaning of the verse seems to be in those who claim to be followers of Christ. It claims that faith without works is not merely weakened or incomplete but DEAD. Lifeless. Non-existant. If this is the case then it is not merely swell but pivotal that faith have life breathed into it by action.
This past year has been unbearably tumultuous for me. Due to major life changes, I have felt rejected, unloved, frightened, desperate and alone for so much of it. I have been very fortunate to have some wonderful friends as allies in these months; some blessed, kindred spirits have brought me joy, comfort, laughter and have shown me love and compassion of the purest kind for which I'm not only endlessly thankful but I believe saved me. But curiously, few of these people have been the Christians I know. So what’s bothering me is, right now, as I wade through the murky, dank, skeleton-ridden swamp that is this season of my life, where are The Faithful? Why were they the first to jump ship?
We all prayed for Haiti. I wonder how many of us sent money or supplies. Those who pray for their unbelieving family members, do you show them kindness with no expectation or do you close them off from your hearts or worse, from your lives, keeping your circle "pure" and heathen-free? Prayer is important, but is it keeping you from action? It is satiating that lingering conviction in your heart to be a good person enough to actually prevent you from being one? My suspicion is that if this God of yours is as benevolent and loving as you believe Him to be, He would be unsatisfied with your Quiet-Time plight for righteousness; your good deed that the raw, nearly-banished human side of you is secretly boastful over. If that’s where your philanthropic efforts end I would wager you're having little desired impact on your world. Or worse: a harmful one. Telling a beggar you'll pray for them without giving them the wrinkled five-dollar-bill in your pocket that you're going to spend on a chai latte laughs in the face of sincerity.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t plenty of Christians who genuinely and beautifully walk the walk and follow their prayers with loving acts of kindness and selflessness, who's faith and works march harmoniously. But sadly, many spend most of their time as Christians within the comfort of the proverbial church walls, rarely venturing out of their Bible study groups or worship band practices and their "safe" social circles to look around and see the gritty, ugly pain that is around them and then and stare it in the pock-marked face when that is exactly what is needed and exactly what Jesus Himself did. I am saddened by the vast landscape of desolate fields; graveyards of parched prayer seedlings, dying in the sun. It's time to water them.
Amen.
“Well maybe there’s a god above
But all I ever learned of love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you.
It’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.
Hallelujah.”
~Leonard Cohen
