The work of faith
Imagining Paul and James making a joint statement.
Suppose the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ brother, James, co-wrote a statement on Kingdom living in the world? It might read like this:
“Faith without works [of love] is dead faith.”
Love is a work of faith. Love is the work of faith.
Ask my brother
Jesus’ brothers give unique insight into Jesus and their earthly family.
There are lots of people who have known me in different contexts. But my brother has a unique perspective on our growing-up years. We shared a bedroom and a lot of life.
So I find it interesting how practical and plain speaking Jesus’ brothers are. They speak to the Church—followers of their brother.
One (James) says “Faith without works is dead faith”. The other (Jude) says “grace gives no license for sin”. James requires fruit of the Spirit. Jude prohibits works of the flesh.
Apparently, the Jesus his brothers knew connected belief with actual down-to-earth behavior.
Recency, Frequency, and Amount
Applying nonprofit donation metrics to our own lives.
For three years I worked as Development Director for a nonprofit organization. ‘Development’ is short for ‘donor development’, or fundraising. It happens that my wife works as a donor database administrator for an educational institution.
There’s a report development directors use (and that database administrators provide) to assess the general health of their work. The report shows Recency, Frequency, and Amount.
Recency: how recently did each donor give?
Frequency: how often does each donor give?
Amount: how much does each donor give?
This report maps the engagement of a nonprofit’s financial investors.
Might this also be a good way to assess our own involvements? Like with our community? Our family? Our church? And most importantly, our God?
Recency: how recently did we give?
Frequency: how often do we give?
Amount: how much do we give?
These metrics aren’t only—or aren’t even primarily—about our money. They’re about our time and attention. Our heart. Our desire.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- poverty & compassion
- imagination & creativity
- technology & ai
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.