October 31, 2023
James 2:14-18
“Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?”
I have a friend whose favorite saying is, “acta non verba,” this translates to “actions not words.” He's one of those people who will do anything for you. His actions clearly demonstrate that the words he uses have meaning.
Many of us are good talkers.
We know the right things to say. But what about our actions? How often do you promise to do something but then don't follow through?
I want to say that never happens to me, but it does. It probably occurs more often than I'd like to admit. Oh sure, I have a good “reason,” but the reality is that it's just an excuse.
It is really hard for me to admit that.
There's a really helpful book about the rise of the church in the Roman Empire entitled, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church by Alan Kreider. In it he writes about how the verb, “look,” was central to the practice of the early church. Kreider argues, convincingly I think, that we have lost this idea of a new way of living in the world.
Perhaps, we could sum up much of the modern church as a lot of God-talk and not much God-acts.
Perhaps, I could sum up much of my own life this way.
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