“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? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 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?” – James 2:14-16 (NLT)
While driving home late one afternoon, a car was pulled off onto the shoulder of the road with its hazard lights blinking. Although it was pouring down rain, I could see that the car had a flat tire and that a woman sat by herself in the car.
The thought immediately came to me that I should stop and render her some assistance. But I was tired. I’d gotten up very early that morning and had been in meetings all day. Besides, the rain was coming down hard. “I’ll say a prayer for this woman,” I said to myself, as if somehow that alone would solve her problem. And so I did, as I continued on my way home. But the further I drove, the more bad I felt for not stopping to help this poor woman in need of help.
Just not bad enough to turn around and go back to help her.
I had a choice in that moment to be a Good Samaritan. The Holy Spirit had even challenged me to do something the moment I saw her pulled off to the side of the road with a flat tire. And yet I simply chose to leave her stranded, thinking someone else would surely stop to help.
I chose to remain idle in this gap between Knowing and Doing.
Prayer is good. We should always be praying: praying for our families, our friends, our churches, our communities, our country and its leaders, and especially for those who don’t know Christ.
But there’s a point when the love of Christ calls on us to do more than just pray; it compels us to spring into action. This was a key part of Jesus’ teachings, “Loving our neighbors as ourselves.”
“[Jesus said] For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” – Matthew 25:35-36 (NIV)
A few verses later, Jesus goes on to remind us that whatever we do to others, we do to Him. And whatever we do for others, we do for Him.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” – Matthew 25:40 (NIV)
I still remember that day a year later. And the Holy Spirit continues to remind me that these opportunities to share the love of Christ with others goes beyond just prayer and telling others about Jesus.
Action speaks louder than words. That’s what Jesus taught, and that’s what Jesus did on the cross of calvary. And that’s what his brother James the Evangelist would go on to share in his letter to his fellow Christian sojourners living abroad.
We may not be actively looking for these opportunities when they come. But when they come, the love of Christ calls us to do more than just pray. His love calls us to act; to not only know, but to do.
Former Blackout Artist 