Living the Faith

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22 TNIV)





Many people have written many books on what it means to be a Christian. If I were to ask 100 people what a Christian is, I am sure I would get 100 different answers. Hopefully, though, they would be variations of some basic ideas. In it's basic, distilled form, a Christian would be a "Christ follower". But from that one idea sprouts many paths. But to take this basic idea just one step farther, you could say the being Christian involves both belief and action.


This is not unique to Christianity. Anyone, following any religion or belief system, requires you to have beliefs that lead to actions in your life. The diference with Christianity is the radical claim that Jesus made; that he was God. If we are truly to be his followers, we must both believe and act. Without action, belief cannot be faith. It would only be mere mental assent.

We are called to love God with all our soul, mind, and strength. We are no longer our own; we have been bought with a price. The old is gone; the new has come.

salt and light

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. You are the light of the world. (Matt 5:13 HCSB)





As a Christian believer, I am called to be salt and light to the world. I am to be a witness to God's truth and love, and when others see me, they should get a glimpse of God. When they see my life, others should want to have the same thing that I have. I wish that I could say that this is always true, but, alas, it's not. I am a sinner like everyone else, and I am not a good witness always. I am saved by grace, though, by a loving Father that loves me in spite of myself. Yet I want non believers to see something that is missing in their lives. Which brings me to 'salt and light'.



I want to stand out, but for the right reasons. Too many times I have seen Christians defined by what they are opposed to rather than what they stand for. I our American culture today, there are many things that are not God-honoring. Yet rather than spending all my time condemning those practices, I feel that living the Christian life and speaking God's truth is what I am called to do; to live out God's message in my life.

There are plenty of people that spend their time point out wrongs, and there are plenty of wrongs to point out. God's word is filled with many examples of people who were called to do exactly that. But if we spend all our time pointing out the sawdust in each others eyes, we'll miss the plank in our own. And fortunately, the Lord doesn't require us to do it all, only to go where we are called and tell what we know. And I pray that I am faithful in that.

Well, this is the first post of a new blog. Hopefully it'll lead to a greater understanding of life and where God wants me to fit in it.