Words to Deeds

NCF Office – April 2, 2024 3 Comments

And God SAID, “Let there be light”, and there was light. Genesis 1:3

God spoke things into existence 11 times in Genesis chapter 1: the heavens, the earth, day, night, vegetation, animals, us, and more. 

I highlight this process of speaking things into existence because I want to encourage us that while speaking something up does make a difference, our call as believers go beyond words. Fact is, us mere mortals not only need to speak things into existence, but actively work towards making those words transform into reality. OH, HOW I WISH IT WAS AS EASY AS SIMPLY SPEAKING THINGS INTO EXISTENCE. Alas, post fall of humankind in the garden, this thing called WORK was invented by God.

As believers, we must put in the work. James 2:20 in essence says, “Silly rabbit, faith without works does not mean much of anything”. James gives us an example with Abraham. Could we have celebrated Abraham’s faith had he not been willing and ready to sacrifice Isaac? If Abraham stayed home and said he’ll get to it later, that probably would not have done the trick and have God decide this is the guy to be the patriarch of generations of believers. 

Now, as the young people say, “Don’t get things twisted” (translation: please do not hear me incorrectly). We cannot justify or save ourselves by our works or deeds. We cannot earn our salvation by working. However, as believers, working towards building God’s kingdom should be in our DNA. 

The reason I am highlighting this faith-work relationship we have as believers stems from my frustration of witnessing words not being backed by deeds among believers. People of God say we love everyone, and we are all God’s children, yet according to Robert Jones’ book, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, Christians (evangelicals, Catholics, and protestants alike) are more racist than atheists (derived from research-based surveying). And if you do not believe the research from the former Southern Baptist evangelical author, all you need to do is observe Sunday mornings across the country and see as much segregation than the Jim Crow south.

In my work in racial justice and more recently in reparations, I constantly see words in the form of statements, goals, strategic plans, objectives, policies, etc. that describe equality, equity, racial harmony, and racial justice. When I recently did a workshop at the Christian Community Health Fellowship conference (a gathering of faith-based health clinics across the country), I did a pre workshop survey asking my attendees if their organizations had such wording in their organizations. All but one of them said yes. Then I had a follow up question asking, if they believed African Americans should receive reparations for historical and present structural racism and the responses resembled the national average of 32% affirmative, and 68% negative. I have witnessed words not meet actions and subsequent results in too many organizations to count. It is as if we are acting in the pre-fall of humankind where speaking something meant that it happens. Unfortunately, our words today require work. I hope that when it comes to creating a world of racial justice, believers can change course and back up these words with actions (measurable, observable actions that yield results). 

I often take for granted what people do not know or where they stand on these issues. For me, it seems obvious that believers ought to lead the charge in promoting justice of all kinds (including racial justice) and back their words with action. However, I continue to learn that it is not obvious and realize it is important to speak about these things as much as possible. I was greatly humbled and happy to receive an email from the father of one of my workshop attendees (her father happened to be the director of CCHF). He relayed to me that his daughter said, “it was the best workshop she went to. It was life-changing for her, and she has not stopped talking about it”. In this season of my life, my faith compels me to share my beliefs on racial justice and reparations to anyone that will listen/hear me. That faith translates into me doing over 18 presentations, writing 3 news articles, having 3 radio appearances, one TV appearance, and a hearing in Springfield since this past October concerning reparations. I believe works naturally follow faith and I imagine Abraham, somehow, most likely believed his sacrifice (in this case, an only son from an impossible birth) would not outweigh God’s plan. I encourage each of us to discover or if already found, pursue our passion for building God’s kingdom by putting action behind our words. Not to save ourselves or even others, but because our faith compels us to. -Jeff Trask, Adjunct Pastor