Faith or Deeds?

Social work is great. That statement is an all-encompassing statement that includes actions from Dr. Prevette’s line of work (child development) to merely passing out humanitarian supplies in an Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP) camp in Northern Uganda. Yet, as great as social work is, that is not our ultimate mission as followers of Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ does call us to feed and clothe the orphans and widows; as James put it in the book of James, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27). However, notice what he said; “Religion that God our Father accepts. . .” Webster defines religion as ‘a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.’ I believe that our religion, that what we practice and show the world, should be to love others; as Christ put it, “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13: 34-35). The world should know us by our love for one another. Oh how far we are from that!

Congruently, Christ’s final words to us as His followers are found in Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Nowhere in this statement does it say ‘Go and feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help the sick.’ Christ also said that we would be “. . . [His] witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). Upon further study of this passage, we find that our ‘Jerusalem’ can be interpreted as our local area, for example Lakeland. ‘Judea and Samaria’ imply those who are like us (Judea – other Jews, just like the disciples) and those who are different from us (Samaria – non-Jews, others who are not like us). To us, this would be Florida and the United States. Lastly, He says ‘. . . and to the ends of the earth.’ That would most certainly be the remaining nations of the world, from Canada to Chile, from England to Australia and everywhere in between. To be His witness would imply that we go and share with others that which He has done in our life, so that they too may be able to have a similar experience.

So then, since Christ did not give us the formula to be perfect Christians (if there’s even such a thing) by saying ‘2-parts works, 1/2-part faith and 1-part evangelism’, where do we ‘draw the line’ (so to speak) on works and evangelism? Is it possible to have one without the other? Is it possible to have too much of one and not enough of the other? Certainly so! I quote James again, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) As James says earlier in that chapter, one cannot claim to have faith yet not show it through their actions. As Christ explains Judgment Day in Matthew 25, He tells us what God will tell the faithful: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” This statement most certainly implies action; He’s not going to say ‘Well thoughtful, well theorized, or well talked about my good and faithful servant.’ No, it will be a ‘Well done’.

Nevertheless, I feel there comes a point when Christians can get so wrapped up in trying to bring about social justice in the world that they miss the whole point of being a follower of Christ and being in the world – to share Christ with the lost. Our primary goal should be to win hearts (and souls) for the Kingdom of God, whether that is through social change or simple evangelism.
As Christ said to His disciples after Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” (John 12:8). This statement is so true; there have been poor since before Christ walked this Earth and there will be poor until the day this Earth ends. Thus, no matter how much social change you attempt to bring, you can never completely solve the social problems mankind faces. There will continue to be social injustices all over the world. Innocent lives will continue to be lost and atrocities will continue to occur. And we can continue to go in and rebuild hospitals, schools, homes, and churches once they have been destroyed by civil war or social unrest; but they will only be destroyed again. However, the only way to stop this vicious cycle is to change the hearts of men who cause these evil things to occur.

For example, simply building more orphanages will continue to house the growing population of orphans and give those beautiful children a place to live and a meal to eat. However, simply building orphanages will not solve the problem; it merely treats the symptoms of the problem. If you have a disease, clearly you would want to stop the symptoms of that disease; however, your main goal should be to completely eradicate that disease from your system so you can get back to full health once again. Instead, if you will change the hearts of the men who cause these children to be orphans, you will certainly see the orphan population decline. There is no rhetoric, logic, or any argument in the world that can change a man’s heart. The only way that can occur is by the power of God. Thus, my reasoning on how to bring about the greatest amount of social change is this: share Christ with those who do not have a personal relationship with Him. That is the most radical social, political, economic, emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual change you can bring to a community. Jesus is the answer to all of life’s dilemmas.

With that said, yes I still support social change via physical means (build hospitals, pass out clothes, give out meals) because that is our faith in action, however the greatest way to bring about the biggest amount of social change (and bring others into a relationship with God) is by winning souls for the Kingdom. That should still continue to be our primary objective. As one of my favorite quotes by Oswald J Smith goes:
“We talk of the Second Coming of Christ, yet half the world has never heard of the first.”