“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”1
Have you ever noticed that God doesn’t worry about being politically correct? Today’s politically “correct” society has all sorts of fancy watered down names for sin. We call a lie a fib (or “I misspoke”), adultery an affair, abortion a viable means of birth control, homosexuality an alternate lifestyle, etc., etc. But God doesn’t beat around the bush. Sin is sin is sin. To call poison by any other name would be deadly. To call sin by any other name is also deadly. If we do what we know is wrong, we sin. And if we know to do good, and don’t do it, we sin.
While I would disagree with a Buddhist monk on many issues, I totally agree with his statement when he said, “To know and not to do is not yet to know.”
To translate that into our Christian terminology it could be: “To believe and not to act is not yet to believe because I only truly believe that which motivates me to action.” Thus the Buddhist monk was right on when he said, “To know and not to do is not yet to know.”
If I say I am a follower of Christ and don’t do anything to help the poor, feed the hungry, care for the downtrodden in my community and in other parts of the world, nor support missions and those spreading the gospel, then I am not a follower of Jesus regardless of what I say I am. What I say is meaningless unless it is backed by my actions.
Every one of us can do something to be “as Christ” to somebody. Even if we are bedridden, we can still communicate Christ’s love to those who are ministering to us through a grateful and loving spirit, and we can pray for these nurses and doctors, and for those who are on the front line of action for Christ.
Thus, to know and not to do is not yet to know; or to believe and not to act is not yet to believe, for I only truly believe that which motivates me to action.
Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be a ‘doer’ of your word and not just a ‘talker.’ And please help me always to be faithful in being ‘as Christ’ to every life I touch, ministering to people at their point of need and then communicating your love and the gospel message with those who are lost and need the Savior. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
1. James 4:17 (NIV).
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