Not Quite There

Fries without salt (or ketchup)!

Pancakes without maple syrup.

A Coke without the ice.

Some things just aren't right unless the package is complete. This weekend I'll be teaching on this issue.

You know that phrase in the Bible that goes "faith without works is dead?" Its from James 2:14-17:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.) (Jas 2:14-17). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

I get this feeling that so many of the faith walk around feeling like they are missing some thing, some direction, some sense of purpose, some sense of fulfillment.

Maybe this explains the anemia that plagues the modern church in America. Have we become so caught up in a "consumerism" religion that we've missed the main catalyst that can spur us to greater spiritual growth and development?

Our approach to faith is based on a "drive-thru" attitude. We come in on Sunday morning (or to the Saturday night post-modern service), sing until we feel good, take in the "teaching" and then step back out into our everyday lives---consuming, consuming, consuming. We are Pac-Men and Pac-Women looking for the next thing that we can take in to give us the sense of fulfillment we seek.

Yet the secret to fulfillment and gaining a sense of purpose isn't in taking. It is in giving. Giving ourselves away to serve other people.

If we are to "become" all that we were meant to be,

if we are to find that sense of purpose,

if we are to find any real fulfillment in our lives,

we must be willing to start giving ourselves away in service to others.

We say we have faith? Let's put skin on that proclamation. We say we believe? Let's put our money where our mouths are. Faith, without works, is dead.

I want to live.