“Faith In Action”
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“Faith In Action”
Part I
By: Pastor David Grove
Faith in Action is a statement that I have made for over two decades of ministry, but what does it mean and what does it look like? The Bible says in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” As a Christian I’m sure you have heard this and said this verse many times throughout your life. We have seen this truly “In Action” over the past few weeks with the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Personally, I have listened to Charlie for the past several years and I’m very pleased to see that many people are now tuning in to listen to him and above all to see what he stood for and who he stood for.
Charlie was not about politics per say, his purpose was much deeper than that. His desire was for others to see Christ in him and for them to place their faith in the one who can save them and set them free from whatever is holding them in bondage. There are groups of people who say that he spewed hatred in his words, brought about chaos on the college campuses and discord among the masses, but this is the furthest thing from the truth. I find that these individuals and groups are blinded by their own biases and not willing to do research for themselves, they simply are placing their faith in others who say they know “best” and what “truth” is. Charlie was a man of God standing up for biblical truth and praying that these truths would touch the hearts of those he was speaking to. Charlie never “debated” as many say he did, he did something that people have forgotten to do, “dialogue”, and this is a lesson that everyone can learn from.
You may be asking, what does this have to do with Faith in Action? It has everything to do with it. Charlie didn’t’ have faith in himself, his intellect or among the 100 books he read each year. He placed his faith in the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit wherever he went to lead him, guide him and direct his steps and his voice. His faith was deeply rooted, and he lived it out until the very end.
Within Christendom today we find many pastors and denominations vying to be in the top ranks of belief among Christians. They are more concerned about the number of people in the seats and on the rolls rather than seeing spiritual maturity within those who are in their churches. There are many that will stand by and put their faith in their traditions and denominations first and foremost rather than standing on what the scripture teaches in context. They will fight and battle against each other on who is right and who is wrong rather than looking at what God desires for all of His creation. He desires for all people everywhere to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV).” He knows that if His creation will trust and put their faith in Him their lives will have direction. He also, “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4, NKJV).” The truth He is desiring, is the truth of placing our faith in the Lord Jesus and through this, they will be saved.
Throughout my years of ministry, I have had the privilege to speak and interact with people from all types of backgrounds, beliefs and denominations and it’s sad to say that more often than not, I hear people say they are Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostal and so on before they say they are a Christian. Recently, I was in North Carolina, and I was speaking with a man and our conversation turned to faith and he asked if I was a Christian and I answered “yes, I’m a blood bought child of the Living God”, I then asked him if he was and his response was, “I’m a Baptist”, I think you can see why my statement above is correct. You may agree or disagree with this statement and that’s ok, but I would encourage you to take time and see for yourself without any personal biases if this is true.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8 NIV).
Part II continued in next week’s issue of Scott County News.