When was the last time someone went out of his/her way to do something good for you? What did that act of service mean to you?
What does it mean to “have faith?”
How has “having faith” been appropriated by our faithless world these days? What does it mean to them to “have faith?”
How has “having faith” morphed for the church today? Does it mean the same thing as Jesus intended it to mean?
I really think that for many believers, for many churches, “having faith” means that you believe in a certain set of theological ideas about God, about humans, and about who Jesus is and what he does. Have you seen that? What is that like?
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?
James 2:14-17 NLT
15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
How is James’ idea of faith different from the way we tend to think about it?
Why is that?
It seems to me that James thought your faith wasn’t even real if it couldn’t be seen. No matter how Biblical it is, James would say if it doesn’t come out in obvious ways (good deeds) it is worthless. You aren’t saved.
But that doesn’t preach really well… At least it doesn’t grow churches these days. What do you think?
In what way should the lifestyle of a Christian verify his or her faith?
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
James 2:19-20 NLT
James even takes it farther to state that good, solid theological faith without any lifestyle evidence is just demonic faith! How does that strike you?
How have we believers gotten to the point where we feel like we can separate our beliefs from our behavior?
Do you think Jesus is okay with this idea?
“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
-Jesus, Matthew 25:31–46 (NLT)
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Seems like James and Jesus both think that not serving people in need is the same as not serving Christ, and vice versa. Practically, what does this mean for us?
On the other hand, what was the first thing Jesus said to the goats? Why were they condemned to eternal fire?
How are the sheep (the first group) and the goats (the second group) similar? How are they different?
How is it that by meeting the needs of others, we demonstrate authentic faith in Christ?
What are other ways we demonstrate our faith by actions?
Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
James 2:18–26 (NLT)
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. 23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. 24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.
25 Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. 26 Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.
In what way is “faith apart from works” dead?
What is the object of authentic faith?
What kinds of things in your life—even seemingly “spiritual” things—might cause you to look the other way when there is a person in need?
How would the world be different if every Christian demonstrated authentic faith as James describes it?