As Christians we believe it is important to believe the right things. As a preacher I spend a great deal of time and energy working to help people believe the right things. But that is not enough – I also want to help people do something with all of those right things they believe. It isn’t enough to think good thoughts. If we are not putting those beliefs into action then what we say is worthless. I think this is the whole point made by James in his letter – faith without works is dead. Faith is not really faith if it is not expressed in what we do.

In what we do. Not just in what we don’t do. We are people who are easily tempted, easily led into sins of commission, doing things that God has commanded us not to do. So we focus quite a bit of our attention on avoiding the bad things, of fighting temptation, of keeping away from sin. We need to. We are called to live holy lives before God and we cannot be holy in our living if we are straying or plunging into those things God tells us not to do.

But there is more to being a Christian than just avoiding bad things. There are also things we are called to go out and do in the world. We already know we are to spread the gospel. Evangelism is a core and crucial responsibility for Christians. But even evangelism is not the whole story. We are also called to help the needy, to take care of the poor and sick, to look after widows and orphans. It is here that many Christians start to fail, and fail miserably.

Part of our failure is our desire to avoid the liberalization of the gospel. Many people today try to turn Christianity into a call for social activism. Core truths of Christianity are stripped away and all that is left is politics and policies of leftist ideology. In avoiding that error, many Christians have held too tightly to the opposite extreme, ignoring the social requirements of following Christ.

We also fail because we are distracted by our fight against sin. Since it does require so much energy to fill ourselves with right thinking and avoid wrongdoing, we feel we have fulfilled the requirements of Christ when our theology is solidly biblical and when our lives show greater victory over sin. But we cannot forget Jesus’ call to tend to the poor and needy.

We have to avoid wrongdoing, but we also have to actively do right. Fight sin, study the Bible, learn good doctrine, and see that in all of that God has called us to give a cup of water to one who is thirsty, to visit those who are in prison, to tend to the sick, to clothe the needy.

We are not saved by our works, but our works will demonstrate our saving faith. Would you have the world know that you are a follower of Christ? Don’t stop at simply telling them. Show them what Christ’s love is like by demonstrating it in your own life, in the way you treat others, in the way you seek out the needy of the world. That means the whole world. America, Somalia, Burma, Sudan, Canada, Korea (both of them), and on and on.

Read Isaiah 58 to see what God is looking for from his people to show true devotion to him.