Friends in Christ Weekly Message
September 9, 2006

     Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup - where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
James 2:14-17 (Message*)

Jesus went about responding to the needs of those he encountered. When the sick came to him, he healed them. Facing a large crowd who had not eaten in some time, he fed them. Encountering exploiters of the poor at the temple, he disrupted their activity. The common people saw something special in him at least as much for what he did as for what he said.

If we allow ourselves to be truly transformed by Christ, it will affect everything we do. It isn't just about, or even mainly about, what we say with our lips. If Christ's spirit is in us, we will respond with deeds of compassion to those in need, not with religious platitudes.

Can others see in us the spirit of Christ by the way we respond to their needs? Are we about living the gospel not just talking about it?

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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