“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? … So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
James 2:14a, 17
One of the first questions I was asked shortly after stepping into the office of bishop was “How many members does a congregation have to have in order to be viable?” The first thought that popped into my head was, “I don’t think they covered that one in my two weeks of new bishop’s school!” The second thought that popped into my head was, “I don’t think that question is the right question to be asking.” The problem with the question is its underlying assumption that congregational viability is based on numbers rather than on mission. Given the ever-changing landscape in which the church now finds itself, we need a new question or, perhaps, a whole new set of questions.
Much of my first year as bishop has been spent discerning what questions we now need to be asking. Certainly, there are many, but recently I have come to settle on two. First, what impact is our faith in Jesus making in our own lives and in the lives of our faith communities? And, second, what impact is our faith in Jesus making in the life of the community outside the walls of our congregation and, indeed, in the life of the world? Congregational viability is not determined by the number of people in the pews but rather by the impact congregations, regardless of how large or small they might be, are making in the lives of people and in the lives of the communities around them.
The impact of our faith is, at least in part, what the author James is getting at in his New Testament letter. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters,” asks James, “if you say you have faith but do not have works?” (2:14a). To paraphrase, what good is it if our faith makes no impact? “So faith by itself,” James continues, “if it has no works, is dead” (2:17).
Yes, as Lutheran Christians, we know that faith is not something we do, but rather a gift of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives (see Luther’s explanation to the Third Article in the Small Catechism). Yet, if the gift of faith has no impact, that is to say, if the gift of faith at work in us does not transform us, our congregations, and our communities, then is it really faith at all?
Even Martin Luther, who did not hold the New Testament book of James in the highest regard, writes about the transforming impact faith has on those who receive it. “Faith is a living, busy, active, powerful thing; it is impossible for it not to do us good continually. It never asks whether good works are to be done, but has done them before there is time to ask the question, and it is always doing them” (from Luther’s “Preface to Romans,” 1522). In other words, the gift of faith at work in us impacts us and, through us, impacts others. If our own individual lives as disciples of Jesus or the lives of our congregations are making no impact, then are we and our congregations truly living by faith?
For many years, I had a picture posted on my office door that showed a picture of a high-school aged youth playing basketball with a group of much younger kids from the neighborhood at an outdoor basketball court. The caption under the picture was a quote from Frederick Buechner, one of my favorite authors. It simply read, “Faith is the direction your feet start to move when you discover you are loved.” Faith is a gift that flows freely out of the gift of God’s love for us in Jesus. Such faith, however, does not stand still. It causes us to move in the direction of loving and serving our neighbors. It makes an impact in our lives, thus freeing us to make an impact in the lives of others.
As we enter these fall months and as our various ministries gear back up, I invite you and your congregation to ask some new questions. What impact is your faith in Jesus making in your own lives and in the lives of your faith communities? What impact is your faith in Jesus making in the life of the community outside the walls of your congregation and, indeed, in the life of the world? In other words, what direction are your feet moving? You might just be surprised at how viable your community of faith truly is!
Leading in HOPE +
Bishop Greg