Those pesky good works
Bobby at “Deconstructing Neverland” has written a wonderful post called “Showing our faith by works.” In this post, he looks at the connection between faith and works and, in particular, asks what kind of works are connected to our trust in God.
As you might expect, Bobby uses James 2:18 as a point of reference to consider the faith and works intersection. While there is a tremendous amount of “good stuff” in this post, I want to highlight one part where Bobby deals with the types of things that might be considered “good works.”
He writes:
Works that come from faith are demonstrated by doing things where there is no return to us.
- Helping others who cannot help us back.
- Feed the hungry
- Serve widows and orphans
- Take care of immigrants and homeless
- Turn the other cheek
- Give your life for a band of folks who will likely abandon you at your greatest hour of need and pretend like they never knew you
- Be the last in line
- Forgive the unforgivable
- Love the unlovable
These works take faith because the results cannot be seen with our eyes and touched with our hands. They lead to a change of heart, deep down inside of those we serve in this way. If we want to see God’s promise come to fruition we must have works that are rooted in self-denying, God dependent faith.
I appreciated Bobby’s distinction between all activities and good works which are “rooted in self-denying, God dependent faith.”
By the way, while you’re checking out Bobby’s post about faith and works, you should also read his post “A fictional non-fiction story with a function.” While it may be “a perfectly pointless story,” it is quite amusing nonetheless. Plus, he mentions my blog.
Alan,
As I commented to Bobby,”Right on!”