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Christian action

“As the body without the spirit is dead,
also faith without actions is dead.” - James 2:26

Albert Camus, a remarkably sensitive agnostic who fought courageously with the French underground during World War II, was once asked to speak to a group of Christians. Taking them to task for their compromising silence or safe, ambiguous theological jargon while millions of Jews were slaughtered, he spoke words relevant to all Christians in all times. He said, “What the world expects of Christians is that Christians should speak out, loud and clear, and that they should voice their condemnation in such a way that never a doubt, never the slightest doubt, could rise in the heart of the simplest man. They should get away from abstraction and confront the blood-stained face history has taken on today…Perhaps, we can not prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children. And if you don’t help us, who else in the world can help us do this?”

Our Biblical text from the Letter of James (James 2:14-26) is originally addressed not to a particular Christian community, but to various churches in the world at that time. There are indications in our text that in the time of James some Christians had grossly misunderstood St. Paul’s emphasis on faith. They presumed that St. Paul’s faith-alone doctrine (Rom.3:28), followed up and taught by his disciples (Eph.2:8-9), did not emphasize good works. Thus, in James’ time, there were those who claimed they were good Christians, but did nothing to express in actions their faith in God. The settled and comfortable life of Christian communities in James’ time became a fertile ground for such kind of Christian attitude.

Therefore, James came out with his emphasis on faith and action, emphatically saying that faith without actions is dead. In James’ time, faith was equated with saying “yes” to a set of beliefs or doctrines. That’s why he could claim that even the “demons also believe” (2:19). Hence, there was a gap between saying “yes” to a set of beliefs and putting this into practice. James had to cite specific instances of the inadequacy of mere mental assent. Such kind of faith, according to James, is dead because it accomplishes nothing. Good works or Christian actions must make it complete! In short, James is simply saying that there can be no genuine Christian faith without Christian actions, without good works.

It is easy for us to agree in theory with this general statement. We know that faith without good works is dead. But in practice, we, who have come from the Protestant tradition, have so strongly emphasized salvation by grace alone that we are often suspicious of any talk about good works. Some versions of Christian orthodoxy have so strongly and exclusively emphasized right Christian beliefs and pure doctrines that they simply ignore Christian life; all that matters is to believe the right doctrines. Some forms of pietistic Christianity have been so exclusively concerned with the salvation of souls that in practice, if not in theory, they have acted as if all that matters is leading people to make a confession of faith and join the church.

This split between Christian faith and Christian life lies behind many of the arguments in the churches today. There is currently a big debate in the churches whether evangelism should emphasize Christ as savior who saves us from our sins or Christ as the Lord who calls us to serve him in every sphere of everyday life. Is the mission of the church to save souls or to engage in Christian action which tries to bring the Good News of God’s love and justice to bear on life in the world?

Many people really cannot understand why preachers do not stick to the Bible and talk about spiritual things rather than talking concretely about what it means to live as Christians in the face of the social and political crises of our time. The result of thinking that we can be saved even without obediently living as those who have been forgiven and saved is what a German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace”.

Cheap grace is grace without obedience. It means that we are not freed from our sins, but that we can settle down with them comfortably, assured that God will forgive, whatever we do – so long as we believe in God’s redeeming grace. It says that grace alone does everything, so everything in our lives can remain at it was before. It reasons that since we depend on God’ grace and not on works for our salvation anyway, we can model our lives on world’s standards. It means that the Christian life is reduced to middle class respectability, which makes no costly demands, and is safe and painless. The upshot of it all is that our only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that our sins are forgiven.

James says in his letter that there is no such thing as Christian faith without Christian action. To be saved is to commit our whole lives to the God who saves us. To know God is to know him as the God who not only graciously forgives, accepts and loves us as we are, but claims our lives – our whole life! To be chosen by God is not to be given special privilege and indulgence, or only to be guaranteed salvation when we die. It is to be chosen in order to serve him here and now.

We can not know Christ as Savior for us without acknowledging him also as Lord over us. To have faith in him means inevitably to follow him. To receive the Holy Spirit is not just to get an emotional charge, or to experience God’s nearness and love; it is to be renewed for work, living a different kind of life.

To belong to the church is not just to belong to a community of believers who come together only to get something out of a church service, to be fed and blessed. It is to belong to a community of people who come together to be renewed so that they can go back into the world to serve God as they serve other people. #

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