Two Parts to Faith

Two parts to Faith

“If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead... You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” - James 2:16-17, 22

Faith, what is it really? Is it just hoping, or wishful thinking, or an out-dated belief in some “god” or “higher power”? Normally when someone says faith, it is to be taken as that they believe in...whatever it is they have faith in. For example: I have faith that the U.S will come home with 20 gold medals from this year’s Olympics, or I have faith that I will get a job. Believing that something will happen or come to pass even without really knowing is faith, but it is just the first half of it.

The Bible puts it this way, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Is it enough to just believe? It is not enough to just believe, but to act on those beliefs as well. Putting action behind what we believe is true faith, a faith made whole really. Believing is good, but to just believe, what would be the point?

So right now I need a job. I could sit at home and do nothing and say to myself, “Ikaika, I believe you need a job!” And then I’ll reply to myself, because that’s what crazy people do, “Yes, you are right I do, need a job. I hope I get one.” Well, I believe, and do add to it, I’m hoping. Unfortunately sitting down is not going to help my belief at all. But if I believe and then get off my boney butt and apply for a job, that is when I truly believe it. To truly believe something, you must do something that supports your belief, because if not it is just an idea, an unconvincing thought.

Laughing to myself, this seems so very commonsense, like we should all slap our foreheads and say “duh” in a very dramatic fashion. I suppose though that commonsense really is not all that common, and the reason for that is because often we are too close to a problem or situation to see the answer clearly. In other words, commonsense is so common that it is too close for us to see it.

However, more than just applying it to our daily mundane ventures, I believe that this needs to be applied to our spiritual lives, because a lot of good can come from doing just that. A lot of us are trying to live a “good” life, trying to say the “right” things, praying at every meal, but other than things that just seem so ritualistic and repetitive – which there is nothing bad about, wouldn’t it be more potent as Christians to do more of what we say we believe?

Without dragging this on any further, I would like to challenge you, as well as myself, to look at what you believe from the Bible and find just one thing that you could put action behind to make it a true, whole, and complete faith. Find just one thing that you can identify with, that you believe and have faith in, but have taken little or no action behind and take action on it. It could be something simple as honoring your mother and father, visiting a friend or family member in prison, helping a friend that is in need that you are able to help, or even something as big as buying me “Star Wars: Unleashed” for my Xbox 360 (that was a joke by the way).

Find something to challenge your spiritual growth, even if it’s the same challenge for several days. Your spiritual growth will mature you and grow you in ways that going to school, having a full-time job, or parenting alone won’t do. This will ultimately draw you nearer to God, and like Abraham and Kind David, you will be considered a friend of God and A man, or woman, after God’s own heart.

God bless and grow well,

Ikaika Mossman