James Chapter Two - Part Two, Faith & Works

"Come on, Timmy, just taste your broccoli.  It is so good for you.  It will make your body healthy and strong like superman!  It doesn't taste bad either.  Here, you can dip it in this dressing and it will be delicious!"  Does this sound familiar to you?  Either you were the child who hated to eat something, or you are the parent trying to convince your child to eat something... it is, without a doubt, a familiar scene. 

When I became a mom, one of the first things I realized was that I wanted a better life for my son.  Not that my life stunk... far from it.  But I have my foibles and I really didn't want to pass those on to my child if I could help it.  For example, I am not a big animal lover.  I am not cruel to animals, but I don't want to spend my life caring for them.  A petting zoo is not my idea of a great time.  Well, when Timmy was about 2 years old we were renting a house in the country where the landlords lived on the same piece of property as we did.  They had two dogs, a few chickens, a rooster, and goats.  Well, one spring when the goats had their kids, I determined that I was going to give Timmy a fair shot at being an animal lover.  He didn't need to lose out on the wonder and enjoyment that so many people possess when it comes to furry and feathered creatures just because I didn't see the allure.  So, I walked him out to the back yard.  I was so bold - I almost fooled myself.  I walked right up to the baby goats' pen and reached through the wire and started petting them.  All the while, coaxing Timmy to come over and do the same.  I insisted that the goats were nice, cute, and oh what fun it was to pet them.  Timmy stood about 15 feet away and watched me skeptically.  (Could he have already figured me out at the age of 2???)  I kept up the charade, petting the goats one by one and smiling real big while encouraging Timmy to come closer.  About this time, I noticed that one of the baby goats - an ugly one with one blue eye and one brown eye and a spotted coat - kept butting the others out of the way and forcing himself to the front of the line to be petted.  Being a mother of a toddler, I was well versed in the importance of taking turns and I actually scolded the little goat - out loud - for being so rude and told him that I wouldn't be petting him again until he stopped.  After a couple of minutes this little goat, figured out that I was refusing to pet him and decided to go about it another way.  He started testing the fence for weak spots.  Uh Oh.  As you might guess, he eventually succeeded and escaped from the pen.  He came right over to me ready to receive the petting he had been denied.  I was shocked and Timmy was terrified.  I decided it was even more important now to keep up the animal loving charade so that Timmy wouldn't be scarred for life by my fearful reaction to an escaped baby goat!  So without hesitating, I picked up that goat and put him right back in the pen.  Timmy was nearing hysterics at this point.  Crying and starting to back farther and farther away from me and the goats.  I started to head over to him, to scoop him up in my arms and reassure him, but right when I did that little goat jumped out of the pen again and came toward me.  Well, now I am facing a real dilemna.  You see, these aren't just pet goats... these are our landlords' bread and butter.  They sell these special goats for a pretty penny every year and now I am faced with the problem of caring for my own precious child and their precious goats.  I scooped up the goat again and put it back in the pen, but by now the other goats had caught on they had formed a line and were jumping out of the hole in the pen one after another and coming over to me to join in the game.  Timmy was freaking out and moving farther and farther away from me, as I kept calling out reassurances and acting like it was all some fun game.  I was picking up those goats and putting them back in the pen as fast as they were coming out - imagine Ethel and Lucy eating those chocolates as they came off the assembly line, unable to keep up - that was me.  Timmy finally picked up on my panic and took off running in the opposite direction.  That is when the choice became obvious and I abandoned the goats and my one attempt at convincing my child to be an animal lover, and ran after him, leaving the goats to fend for themselves.  I caught him and we went to the landlord's house and knocked on the door.  PRAISE THE LORD she was home!!!!  She came out and saved the day.  Timmy never went back to play with those goats again and neither did I.  The charade was over.

Now picture that child again refusing to eat something new...  if they don't see the rewards of eating that food, you can talk till you are blue in the face and you'll never convince them to try it.  They can see thru a con job a mile away.  =o)  It wasn't until Timmy saw me eating broccoli and enjoying it on my own (without trying to prove something to him) that he decided to taste and see for himself. 

That is what I pictured when I read James 2:14-26.  A profession of faith doesn't necessarily mean a possession of faith.  An intellectual belief in God's existence without a response to that belief - repentance and reliance - is not faith at all.  This is what James is talking about when he says that a stated faith without the works to back it up is dead, worthless.  God sees through it as fast as my kiddo saw thru my charade of being an animal lover or as fast as the child you are trying to convince to eat broccoli notices that you aren't exactly chomping at the bit to eat your own broccoli! 

At some point, we have to act on our stated belief.  If I say I believe that a particular chair will hold me if I sit in it... but then I never sit in it.  Do I really believe anything at all?  My belief certainly isn't doing me any good, and it certainly isn't inspiring others to share that belief.  In fact, the more I sit in that chair, and the more it continues to hold me up, the stronger my belief will grow and the more credible I become.  In James 2:22 it says, "You see that faith was working with his works and as a result of the works, faith was perfected."  They go together - faith and works.  One strengthens the other and vice versa, but if we get hung up on one and become imbalanced then both become weak and our witness suffers just as we suffer. 

God help me to be someone who isn't afraid to put my faith to the test - to step out and act on all that I believe in.  Help me to trust you enough that I will step out and do something with all that you have taught me, so that when I look back and others are following my example - I will know that I am not leading them astray.  The truth was, God, that I didn't really want Timmy to become a true animal lover - because that would have necessitated a change in my behavior in order to facilitate that desire in his life.  I was holding back and he could sense it.  May NO ONE hold back in their walk with you God, because of a hesitancy they sense in me by the way I live my life!!!!