Rev. David Holwick T First Baptist Church Ledgewood, New Jersey June 5, 1994 James 2:20-24 FAITH IN ACTION =============== I. Spiritual blahs. A. Faith does not seem exciting. 1) God may not seem real. B. Bible identifies the problem as shallowness. 1) Too many Christians are self-centered and shallow. a) We want personal and emotional experiences with God. b) We want to FEEL his presence and power. 2) Emotion is good, but only emotion is deadening. a) It is captive to our weaknesses. b) It produces roller-coaster faith. II. God's prescription for the "blahs." A. Add action to faith. 1) "Faith without works is dead." 2) Biblical faith always produces an impact. B. Active faith is alive, and makes us feel alive. 1) Christianity is not just something you believe. 2) To have faith is to live boldly. 3) Ancient principle: Ecclesiastes 9:10 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." 4) John Wesley on prayer: "Pray as if it all depends on God; act as if it all depends on you." #468 -2- III. The relationship of actions and attitudes. A. Attitudes lead to actions. 1) Christians usually operate on this principle. a) Change your heart and mind, and your life will follow. 2) Often true, but not always. a) America religious, but immoral. 1> Incarceration (jail) rates have more than tripled in last 14 years, after being steady for 70 years. b) In our own life, we see dilemma. 1> We believe lying is wrong, yet we lie anyway. 2> Attitudes can be weak in shaping behavior. 3> Bad behavior overwhelms attitude. B. Actions lead to attitudes. 1) Interesting experiment by sociologists: Housewives where asked to put a large, ugly "Drive Carefully" sign on their front lawns. Most of them refused. Another set of housewives was asked to fist sign a safe driving petition. THEN they were asked to put up the ugly sign. Surprisingly, many of them did. A small initial action gave them a new attitude, and prepared them for a more significant action. #2664 2) Principle cuts two ways: a) Evil actions can produce cynical, godless attitude. 1> Influence of viewing pornography: Another experiment tested young men on their attitudes toward women. They were then show several hours of pornographic movies. Afterwards, their attitudes were re-tested. The researchers found a definite shift, with the men much more likely to believe women are sexual objects who WANT to be oppressed by men. #2464 -3- 2> Creeping sin can be more dangerous to faith than intellectual doubt. 3> Sin condemns us in future, and sucks away our spiritual vitality right now. b) Godly actions can produce godly attitudes. Experiments indicate that when children are encouraged to resist temptation, they tend to internalize that behavior. Also, when children have an opportunity to teach other children these moral codes, they will later follow them more closely than those who don't have the opportunity to teach. Christian sociologist David Myers says - "An antidote for the corrupting effects of evil is repentant action." #1140 1> Evil acts shape our soul, but so do moral acts. 2> >>Operation Dare and other programs have dropped drug use by 1/3 or more. IV. Actions is a vital component of faith. A. Faith cannot be reduced to key doctrines. 1) Biblical faith is always dynamic. 2) It produces fruit = change. B. Faith cannot be produced by actions, but is definitely influenced by them. 1) In OT, full knowledge of God comes through actively doing his will. 2) Example of Abraham. [used 5/29/94?] a) Sacrifice is proof of faith Abraham already had. b) Key is not that he was willing to kill own son, but that he knew God would preserve his life. 1> "We will come back." Gen 22:5 2> God can raise the dead. Heb 11:19 c) Also probably made him think deeply about his relationship with God. -4- V. How can we strengthen our faith? A. Psych self up, take a Bible course? 1) Limited effectiveness. 2) Resolutions peter out fast. a) (How many New Year ones still followed?) B. Do something concrete. 1) How do you teach swimming? a) Blackboard? b) Throw in water. 2) Discipleship by doing. a) Converts in Africa hand out literature. b) In Ledgewood, 15 years experience before spiritual responsibility? c) Those who get involved early are more likely to stick. As the Nazis were moving into the Netherlands, Henry Kramer, a Dutch theologian, was confronted by a group of Christian lay people. "Our Jewish neighbors are disappearing from their homes," they said. "What must we do?" Kramer answered, "I cannot tell you what to do. I can tell you who you are. If you know who you are, you will know what to do." #1727 VI. The kind of actions that build faith. A. Tithing. 1) Required in OT, expected in NT, supported by Jesus. 2) Only few do it, but God holds accountable. a) Times are always tight financially, so it will test your faith. b) It is a real test, because we only give to what we truly believe in. 3) Put God first. -5- B. Witnessing. 1) If your faith is worth something, share it. a) Express it in an honest way. b) >>My experience at Youth Center in Heidelberg. 2) Merrill Beal teaching Sunday School. a) I had to learn to teach others. C. Concern for poor receives James' emphasis. 1) Your ability to be bothered shows your faith. Speaker at Christian conference: If you had an urgent need at 2:00 am, do you know someone in your church who would help you? Not one person raised their hand! I mentioned it to Celeste, and we both agreed there are people in this church we could go to. More than a few. But we would call them in a certain order! #2645 2) Helping takes commitment. a) (Example of Habitat for Humanity.) b) Richard Grayson robbed at Howard Johnson's restaurant in 1973. Experience haunted him. His wife later suffered from depression, became a Christian. Richard did as well. He volunteered for work in prisons, and organized a restitution program. Since many prisoners are too poor to pay, he gave them jobs in a federally-funded program. #788 3) Making a difference in someone's life will make you feel good, and increase your faith. ================================= Original sermon, November 1, 1987 ================================= I. Spiritual blahs. A. Faith does not seem exciting. B. God may not seem real. C. Bible identifies problem, and gives a solution. II. The problem. A. Too many Christians are self-centered. 1) We want personal and emotional experiences with God. 2) We want to FEEL his presence and power. B. Emotion is good, but only emotion is deadening. 1) It is captive to our weaknesses. 2) It produces roller-coaster faith. III. The solution. A. Add action to faith. 1) "Faith without works is dead." 2) Biblical faith always produces an impact. B. Sociological debate on relationship of actions and attitudes. 1) Attitudes lead to actions. a) Christians usually operate on this principle. b) Change your heart and mind, and your life will follow. c) Often true, but not always. 1> America religious, but immoral. A> (incarceration rates?) 2> In our own life, we see dilemma. A> We believe lying is wrong. B> We lie anyway. C> Attitudes can be weak in shaping behavior. D> Behavior overwhelms attitude. 2) Actions lead to attitudes. a) "Drive Carefully" experiment. b) Principle cuts two ways: 1> Evil actions can produce cynical, godless attitude. A> (influence of viewing pornography) B> Creeping sin can be more dangerous to faith than intellectual doubt. C> Sin condemns us in future, and sucks away our spiritual vitality right now. 2> Godly actions can produce godly attitudes. A> (experiment where children are taught to resist temptation, and internalize it.) B> (Operation Dare has helped drop drug use by 1/3[?]). C> David Myers- An antidote for the corrupting effects of evil is repentant action. D> Evil acts shape our soul, but so do moral acts. IV. Actions is a vital component of faith. A. Faith cannot be reduced to key doctrines. 1) Biblical faith is always dynamic. 2) It produces fruit = change. B. Faith cannot be produced by actions, but is definitely influenced by them. 1) In OT, full knowledge of God comes through actively doing his will. 2) Example of Abraham. [used 5/29/94?] a) Sacrifice of Isaac is dramatic. 1> May seem like Abraham saved then. 2> But saved when he believed. 2:23 b) Sacrifice is proof of faith Abraham already had. 1> Also probably made him think deeply about his relationship with God. 3) In NT, example of Peter. a) He drops net and follows Jesus. b) Only later does he put faith into words. c) As 2:22 says, our actions make our faith perfect, or mature. V. How can we strengthen our faith? A. Psych self up, take a Bible course? 1) Limited effectiveness. 2) Resolutions peter out fast. a) (How many New Year ones still followed?) B. Do something concrete. 1) How do you teach swimming? a) Blackboard? b) Throw in water. 2) Discipleship by doing. a) Converts in Africa hand out literature. b) In Ledgewood, 15 years experience before spiritual responsibility? c) Those who get involved early are more likely to stick. C. The kind of actions that build faith. 1) Tithing. a) Required in OT, expected in NT, supported by Jesus. b) Only few do it, but God holds accountable. 1> Times are always tight financially, so it will test your faith. 2> It is a real test, because we only give to what we truly believe in. c) Put God first. 2) Witnessing. a) Merrill Beal teaching Sunday School. 1> I had to learn to teach others. 3) Concern for poor receives James' emphasis. a) God can great concern for outcasts. 1> Jesus focused on them. b) Not romantic, but hard work and sometimes depressing. 1> Get involved. c) Best way: hand out cash, or disciple? 1> (Example of Habitat for Humanity.) d) Making a difference in someone's life will make you feel good, and increase your faith.