“All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.” – Proverbs 14:23 (NIV)

As we move on to 2018, we also take time to look back and reflect. One thing I ask of you as you focus on your past, hopes for the future, and plans for today: what deeds have stemmed as a result of your faith in 2017?

The title of this post is pretty self-explanatory. Many of us tend to go to church not because we want to serve others. Rather, we go to church to serve ourselves. Therefore as a result, we are “alive” in church, but truly dead in faith!

I am not saying that we should give up on church entirely. In fact, church is important to our spiritual growth (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Before you become offended, let me explain. If you cannot remember the last time you testified to someone of what God has done for you in your life, thereby encouraging your brother and/or sister in their own faith – why do you go to church? Have you served others in love, praying for them in earnest before God, toiling for the good of others? When was the last time your faith prompted you into action?  When we act on our faith, this results in us and those around us seeing God’s work manifest in you and in others. When have you struggled to sincerely serve God and people without any real or perceived benefit to yourself?

Lastly: be honest – does the church need you? Or is it really you who needs the church? Are you so blind that you believe the church cannot function without you? Truly, Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22-23), so don’t think about boasting that the church can’t function without you (Proverbs 27:2; James 4:16; Jeremiah 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 3:21). Since Christ is everything and truly all we need – trust me, you aren’t that important – yes, you are not! But that’s the truth. Everything is about Christ, and goes back to Christ. Not you! Read Romans 11:11-31.

If you have been going to church only because it is something simply expected of you to do so, you are missing the purpose of the church. Church is not a building or a group of believers who gather together to simply worship, eat, then go home. Church is a body of believers, and Christ is the head of the body (1 Corinthians 12; Colossians 1:18). We all are there to serve one another, not to benefit ourselves or fulfill some so-called “minimal” expectation or “obligation” we place on ourselves to do so. Rather, church is where we grow in our understanding and capacity to truly put our faith in action. In other words, church is a training area for Christians. It is the fullness of Christ. That’s why Paul likens living a life that pleases God, becoming more and more Christlike to training for a race. A marathon. He also has compared Christians to soldiers – and truly, we are. (1 Corinthians 9:24; 2 Timothy 2:3-10). As Christians, we are called to be a rampart, to stand in the gap and pray for all people (Ezekiel 22:30; Psalm 106:23; Isaiah 63:5; Jeremiah 5:1; Isaiah 58:2; Isaiah 61:6; Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:5,9; Romans 15:16).

Now before you start thinking about all the failings, shortcomings, etc. about the church, tempted to complain or are already complaining in your heart about the church, the people you do not get along well with, or simply just do not like for one way or another, read this: Philippians 2:14-16.

There are churches that preach or believe in the wrong things, but that is another matter entirely, which I will not go into detail here. That said, if there is something lacking in the church, perhaps it is God revealing to you the need for you to pray for that particular need (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Be careful! Don’t fall into the trap of pride and boasting. Christ is the head of the church, not you! More importantly, the need that you see in church might be exactly what God is using in order to prompt you to seek Him and pray about it, so that you might be able filled with wisdom to fill that need. Christians have a saying: our problems are God’s opportunities! You are part of the church, and your job is not passively or irresponsibly wait for “someone else” to do it. That someone else is you!

Now as Paul writes to us about faith and deeds: believing in God, that Jesus exists, and Holy Spirit is at work in us is simply not enough. Let’s read James 2:14-25:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.  You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?  You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.  And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?”

In sum, Paul points out what everyone likes to tell everyone else: mere talk and beliefs are cheap. Anyone of us can say we have faith. Well, good! You have faith, then prove it! Live it out! If you do not know where to start, my answer is simple: begin with prayer. After all, it all goes back to God – everything we have is from Him, and everything we give is for Him! We cannot do anything by our own power or strength, but by His Holy Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). Why else did Christ die for us in order to pay the penalty for our sins? Why else did God give us His Spirit (John 14:15-27; 2 Timothy 1:7; Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:16-18). Remember, God is continually at work in you AND in other Christians.

Ask God to help you live out your faith. Work to continually examine yourself honestly and become who you are meant to be. Be humble, don’t look down on others. Become an example for others to follow. He is faithful and will do what you ask. Moreover, He will give you more than you can ever ask for, think, or imagine (James 1:5; 1 John 5:14; John 14:14; Ephesians 3:20-21).

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” – James 2:26 (NIV)

This year, starting 2018, let us all truly be alive in faith.