Faith and Action

Two years ago today, our family packed ourselves, our dog, and a few of our belongings into our blue Suzuki Esteem and left Ottawa for Manitoba. When we took possession of our new house later that week, we were aware that the well water had been contaminated with bacteria in the past. So, we got it tested. It came out having both coliforms and e-coli. We had the well "shocked" and tested the water again. This time the water only showed coliforms. Needless to say, we didn`t use it for drinking or washing vegetables. Beside our bathroom sinks were bottles of water to brush our teeth with. Other than the water that passed through my lips accidentally in the shower, I refused to ingest this water unless it was boiled first.

A year passed. In the summer of 2011, we got out water tested again. This time the result surprised me. It had nothing – no menacing micro-organisms – in it. . Could it be true? I couldn`t believe it! Even though I would tell other people, “Our water is fine. We can use it now.”, I didn`t believe it. How do I know? Well, the proof of my faith was in my action.... I still wouldn`t use it. Not to brush my teeth or wash vegetables and definitely not to drink. It was sort of laughable. The rest of my family started using it immediately but I wouldn`t. What was my hang-up? Why did I find it so hard to believe the test results? I think it was because I had committed myself so earnestly to not getting sick from this water. I was very diligent to not use tap water and I found it really hard to change my ways. I viewed this water as my enemy and wasn`t ready to start receiving the benefit of it.

Are you wondering what happened? Well, a couple of weeks later I chose to pay the $32.00 fee and get it re-tested. And yes, it did come out totally fine again. This time, I was ready to take action. Maybe my faith was built by the second test or maybe I just needed time to open myself up to the possibility of it being true. Whatever the case, I believed it and I`ve been using it every since.

This experience got me thinking about the connection between faith and action in our Christianity. Two things in particular became apparent to me:

1. Our faith is revealed in our actions.

We can hear something that is true and even repeat it to others but we don't fully believe until we are behaving in a manner that is consist with the belief. One of the ways we can know what we believe is to look at our lives and ask ourselves: “What beliefs am I living out?” We may adhere to a creed or a statement of faith within a denomination, but the manifestation of our faith is seen in our daily lives. For example, do I live as someone who is forgiven? Knows that they are loved by God? Believes that every follower of Christ belongs in the Body of Christ and has gifts to share for the common good? Believes that I have the privilege and responsibility of loving others?

James gives us a challenge regarding faith and deeds (or actions) in James 2:14-25

2. Our faith forms our habits so our habits can detering us from changing our beliefs.

Sometimes we aren't ready to fully believe – even if it is good news – because our actions (that are a result of prior beliefs) have become so habitual. They are an ingrained aspect of our daily life and may even constitute part of our self-definition so we don't want (or maybe don't know how) to change them. For example, we can be so used to depending on ourselves or so used to assuming we are unworthy of God's love that the good news of God's grace and forgiveness seems impossible to believe.

If you are wondering why you find it hard to believe something, consider how not believing is working for you. Like me with the water – not believing was a way to continue to protect myself from the potential harm of the water. Also, is was just habit. A habit I needed to break by taking action. One day I had to stop just talking as if I believed the water was okay and take a drink. How do we get to this point in our faith with God? Two verses come to mind:

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the the message is heard through the word of Christ.”   Romans10:17
Just like I needed to hear a second clear test before I believed my water was usable, we may need to expose ourselves to the Word of God over and over again in order to believe it.

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  John 8:31-32
We need to let go of the false beliefs and hold onto Jesus' teachings. They need to become part of us. That's the way to be His disciple – one who listens to and follows Him.

My hope and prayer is that the Holy Spirit will highlight something for you to take away from this blog.  (I realize that it is a little longer than usual).  Please feel free to leave any comments you have. I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts.

peace and grace,
Tracy