Is Belief Enough?

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder."

James 2:19

(New International Version)

Just about everyone I know says that they believe in God. I think that is a good thing. Recent surveys taken have found that upwards of 70% of Americans say they believe in God. With those numbers being true, we should be shocked to see the number of churches that are failing or in decline around us. I have a friend who pastors a church made up of only 14 people. 25 years ago it had nearly 80 members and averaged about 65 per week in worship attendance.

I was raised Roman Catholic and was taught that missing worship or mass as they refer to it, was a sin which required confession and absolution by a priest. Because of this, attendance at catholic churches is probably better than churches that don't teach that absence is a sin. I know a lot of catholics who never miss mass but have never opened their Bible, worked in missions, gave money or even prayed. They went to church because they were told that they had to.

Now, I don't want protestants think I am by any means letting them off the hook or that I am picking on catholics alone. There are many protestants who only go to church on Christmas and Easter and also do not practice any of the disciplines of their faith. They merely feel less guilty than catholics because no one has suggested their mortal soul might be in jeopardy.

The truth is that both catholics and protestants who practice this type of luke warm Christianity seem to be growing in numbers. They staunchly defend the idea that they believe in God, but do little else to give evidence of their faith. So the question is whether or not there is anything to be gained by just believing in God? Does mere belief do anything to enhance our daily lives? Does it lead to better relationships, stronger marriages, more generous lives, purpose for living or a zeal to do one's work? I would say that it doesn't do much to enhance any area of life.

Why do we so easily say we are Christians if we make so little an attempt to practice or live out the faith. Many think that believing in God justifies their sense that they are a good person. They are not perfect, but God knows they have a good heart. Others say they believe in God but don't practice or participate because they are convinced that all Christians are hypocrites who do not practice what they preach. They stay away as a protest to all forms of judgmentalism or accountability. And then are those "cafeteria Christians" who simply want to pick and choose only the things of God they want in their life. They may pray before meals or at bedtime, but they would never consider going to a bible study or worship service. What all these kinds of Christians have in common is that they think belief in God is enough.

James, the brother of Jesus would say that a faith based only on belief is a dead faith. James ministry was in Jerusalem. His audience were Jews who believed that only belief and the outward appearnces of religion were all that mattered. Why not? They were good Jews who followed the law, kept the fasts and festivals and were observant of temple activities. But James is telling them that their belief and appearances cannot save them. It is only faith in Jesus Christ that can save and just believing will not change one's destiny. He says even the demons believe in God...and even they shudder, which was more than the people of Jerusalem were doing.

The crux of James' teaching is that the true test of faith is not intellectual assent or opinion, but is action. James writes, "Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like(James 1:22-24)." James is saying that if not lived out, our faith will be forgotten and will have no effect on our daily lives. Do we pray, read the Bible, worship and do acts of generosity and charity? Do we live authentically and truthfully? Do we honor our obligations and hold ourselves and others accountable? If we do none of these things then what impact can our belief possibly have in our lives?

Practice may not make perfect, but it does make us better. James has often gotten a bad rap because many believe he teaches works righteousness. That means that he teaches that we are saved by our deeds rather than our faith in Jesus Christ. But James does not teach this at all. He merely teaches that a good tree bears good fruit. If faith is alive in our hearts it will express itself in who we are and in what we do. When people look at you, do they see a believer or person of action who makes faith apparent in the way they live and the things they do?

Now, this is far from easy and takes time and practice. Anything truly worth having always comes through struggle. We have to be intentional about our faith and work at it. It starts with regular worship. I have heard so many people say that you don't have to go to church to be a good Christian. This is an excuse. A Christian who believes that God saves cannot help but want to celebrate Jesus with other people. Worship is not an event or a service it is an expression of the love of Jesus inside ourselves. It spills forth. Jesus gets into our lives and the first thing He wants us to do is to give him to others. He wants us to celebrate, focus on and declare our faith. This can only be done by worshipping. We go to church because we want to share this experience with those of like minds. There is no substitute for this company we share with other believers. Does going to church make you a good Christian? No, but good Christians want to go to church. Nothing we try to do in life will work when we are not declaring and celebrating Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives. Everything flows from that.

The second thing we need to work at is our salvation. Many Christians believe that salvation is like a business transaction. They accept Jesus as Lord and he returns its by forgiving us and giving us eternal life. It is a one time transaction in their minds. Once you confess Christ, you have your salvation. Many can point to the date and even the time when they received Christ. But salvation is not just an event that occurs in one moment of your life. Philippians 2:12 says, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." It's not the fear and trembling that is most important, it is the work. Working out your salvation means approaching every important event in your life with a new committment to Jesus. Every day should mean a new committment to put God first in our lives. It is hard and there are many things Satan has placed in our world to distract us and keep us from giving our whole selves to anything. It takes work. It means constantly re-dedicating yourself to God.

This is where prayer comes in. Many find it hard to pray because they do a lot of talking and almost no listening. We go to God with a laundry list of wants and needs, speak them and then walk away. And we wonder why our prayers aren't answered. He is not silent...we are just not listening. One part of prayer is petition...asking God for help, guidance and healing. But the bigger part of prayer is reflection. We have to give our prayers time to work. God moves mountains but usually not in a moment. God works over time through every day encounters with ordinary people. He will lead us where we need to go, put us in situations that bring healing and renewal and will send new people to us who will bless our lives. God uses prayer to create opportunities. It is only by discerning and discovering opportunities that prayers are answered. But we have to reflect. I do it by keeping a journal. I write my prayers out and then spend a couple of days just writing about what is on my heart and mind. After a few days of reflecting on what I've written I always seem to uncover an answer to a need or an opportunity to make a difference. We all have "God Moments" where the Lord places things before us. By regular prayer and reflection, we will see and sieze on those "God moments" when the Lord sends them our way. So we must work at prayer every single day.

Another thing we need to work on is knowing what God says about himself and us. There is nothing we can know about God or His plan that is not in the Bible. But Many of us claim that it is too difficult to understand or interpret. The problem is that we need to approach it with a student's mind set. We are not reading a novel or comic book, we are doing vital research. If you don't know anything about the books of the Bible, go and find out. There are study Bibles, reference books and commentaries. Most of these you can easily find on-line. The problem is that we have to want to learn. Faith brings hunger with it. God wants us to know the truth and has plainly delivered it to us, but we have to seek it out. Bible research should happen every day of our lives. You can never spend too much time with Scripture. The Bible is inspired, which means that when we spend time with it we will encounter the Spirit of God. Scripture is not complicated. Once you take the time to learn the context and background of the writing, it generally interprets itself. It is everyday truth for everyday life and it needs to be explored at some length every day.

The last part of working at our faith is giving of our time and money to the work of the Lord. We need to be busy working for the kingdom of God. We can spend time working in ministries that reach out to others with the love of God. This is not The United Way. These works are a sacrifice we make to the Lord. It can be working at the food bank, doing small fix it jobs for the elderly, making supply kits for those experiencing natural disasters and difficulty. The things we can do are too numerous to mention. If we take time to think about it there will be certain works we can participate in that are going on around us. Find one and get busy. The second part of this means giving of your money to God. Where your money gets spent is where your heart spends its time. Giving to mission projects, church offerings and regular tithing are not optional. The scriptures require it. It is a discipline we need in our lives. When you take the money you are spending on things like movies, eating out and sports and dedicate some of it to God you will be blessed. Your church will have more resources to grow and reach out to others. Our $30 may not seem like a lot, but when you pool it with the $30 of 3,000 other believers you can build a whole neighborhood of houses for people in underprivileged countries. It is the ant hill effect. One ant cannot move a mountain, but 10 million ants can. This is how churches, hospitals and affordable housing are developed in third world countries. When we make a sacrifice...God will make a difference.

James is right...belief alone is not enough. Even the demons believe. Real faith takes work. It is not easy. Nothing worth having ever is.