Don't forget the baseballs.

I love to play baseball. I love both the challenge and the shear joy of playing. It seems no matter the outcome- win or loose- I can still walk away with a fulfilled feeling. As I was recently studying Bible faith, I thought about how ridiculous it would be to approach the start of a game only to discover that no one brought any baseballs! All the pregame prep, the strategy, the adrenaline and excitement, the fans, the anthem, and then...nothing. At that point, every bit of the prep becomes pointless.

Sound absurd? Yet time and again, we'll declare we have faith in what God's Word says but are without the most important element of the faith "game"...corresponding action! People should see our faith! Jesus saw faith in Luke 5:20. There were plenty of people sitting in front of Him as He spoke; in fact, the house was packed. But the actions of four men- their movement- caused them to stand out from the rest. Jesus recognized faith when He saw it! The defining difference in my faith should be my actions.

The Message Bible puts it this way, "Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?  Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?" It goes on to say, "Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?" It concludes chapter two of James by saying,"The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse."

As impossible as it would be to play a game of baseball without baseballs, so too, is the impossibility of having productive faith- faith that gets results- without actions that support that same faith. When we make a claim to believe God's Word, what plans do we have to demonstrate that belief? Can we demonstrate our faith without actions?

Known by our Actions

"Do what I say and not what I do". I grew up hearing those words more than once, and every time they'd go down like I'd just swallowed a fish bone. To translate, it should of sounded something like, "I'm expecting you to do or act in a way I have no intention of myself". It was hypocrisy...pure and simple! Don't tell me 'til you can show me!

There are people in courtrooms across the land pleading that their intentions be considered above their actions as if what they've done just somehow "happened" mysteriously. How can someone honestly say that what they've done was completely unintentional- an act apart from their will? They may have known better, but they're actions certainly were what they intended.

As leaders, our actions speak so much louder than what we say. What we do is being critiqued constantly. No matter how well-meaning our intentions or eloquence, it's ultimately our actions that people judge. In fact, with one careless act, someone could invalidate even the most well-crafted, well-meaning words.

When instructing his young leader about the qualifications of an Overseer, the Apostle Paul wrote Timothy , "...he must have a good testimony among those who are outside lest he fall into reproach..." (1 Timothy 3:7). That good testimony is established through the actions and conduct amongst others- especially amidst those outside the faith.

In the Book of James we read that with our words we can bridle our whole body (James 3:2), but if our conduct isn't in harmony with our words, it's our words that become invalid not our actions. Our words and actions should align however, our actions will always override our words.

Someone once said, "I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day; I'd rather have one walk beside me than merely point the way." As Ben Franklin was quoted as saying, "A good example is the best sermon."

Would you agree that our actions speak louder than our words?