Legit Check
VERSE
James 2:14-20 MSG - 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? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
INTRO
In the sneaker community, every so often you’re bound to run into a pair of fake sneakers. When you place a real pair next to a fake pair you perform what’s called - a legit check.
In a lot of ways, Christianity can be very similar.
The owner of the fake sneakers might be proud of what he or she has in their possession, but those who have an authentic pair can spot flaws from a distance. The colors might be a little off, the quality seems cheap, or maybe the stitching isn’t as as clean.
How many of us treat our relationships with God the same way? Claiming to be faith-filled yet our faith has flaws in it, or we claim to be the king or queen of good deeds but the stitching our of our works is torn?
What good is faith that we post about on social media, when our works at home are the complete opposite? Our attitudes are off, or our moods are very negative.
What good is it to claim to be close to Jesus, but you argue and separate yourself from your family, or you continue to jump into sin without any form of accountability?
This isn’t a personal attack on anyone, in fact it’s like Bishop Ruddy says, “an alarm is irritating but it’s also meant to shake you awake.“
James warns us that that just because you talk about faith, doesn’t mean that you have it. Because “faith without works is dead.“ Luckily he presents us with a solution, and invites us to not stay where we are, we can always get better.
Before things go back to normal, before COVID-19 becomes a thing of the past, ask someone to help you do a legit check.
Have an honest and open conversation with a leader, and do just as James 5 says:
James 5:16-18 MSG - Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with…
THE GOAL? TO BE WHOLE AND HEALED
Let’s not underestimate the power of prayer, God wants to restore, He’s on our side and wants to make sure we are complete in Him.
The book of James is very corrective but also very constructive, I hope this message serves as a wake-up call for us to be able to lead efficiently and correctly.
Leaders, it’s time we do a legit check on ourselves, find another leader to confide in or reach out to myself and Vanessa. We want to help your walk with Christ be better!
DISCUSSION
Be honest with yourself, do your works have nothing to do with our faith? Or does your faith outweigh your works?
Do you have someone in your life you can be honest with about your walk with Christ? (This includes leaders.)
How can we make changes to improve our spiritual well-being TODAY, not later on?
PRAYER
Prayer requests
Prayers to repent, improve and live in an authentic Christ-like way.