LIVING FAITH THAT WORKS
(click the pic!) Mainstream news and social media today make the most money from whatever generates the most clicks, and what drives the most clicks are our negative emotions – mainly anger and lust, which in turn stir up social unrest and disharmony. To counter this and to achieve a peaceful and harmonious society, we need to heed the foundational truths of our Christian faith that have successfully held society together for 2,000 years. We must return to a (click→) Living Faith That Works!
Now, scroll up a bit in the top frame of the above linked web page, to verses 19-20: "So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God." The mainstream news and social media thrive on anger. What's the antidote to this social poison? Get rid of "filthiness" as well as angry, divisive rhetoric in our social interactions, especially on social media. Then, get involved in positive actions as well as words. See verse 22: "But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves." Hearing nice sermons, nodding "yes" and shaking the preacher's hand afterwards is self-delusion if we don't act on what we hear and speak. Our walk must match our talk! What we really and truly believe will show up in how we behave!
Click the links after verse 27 to read each cross-reference Scripture in the bottom frame: they're all about putting into action what we hear and say. "Care for the widows and fatherless." "Rescue those being led away to death!" (unborn babies?) "Put away your evil doings, seek justice, relieve the oppressed." "Loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the bands of the yoke, and let the oppressed go free." "Execute justice between yourself and your neighbor; do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood." The foundation for a living Christian faith is laid out in the Old Testament.
But telling only a partial truth while deliberately hiding the whole truth is telling an untruth. The foreigner was also required to observe the faith and moral laws of Israel: “If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you" (Ex. 12:48-49). We also must not forget the story of Ruth: “For where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people are my people, and your God is my God; where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and so may He do more, if anything but death separates me from you” (Ruth 1:16-17).
This shows that the well-intended (or soft-headed) norms of "inclusive" acceptance, peace and love can often be taken to such extremes that they produce ever-increasing negative results such as open borders, arrested criminals set free without paying bail, rampan t homelessness, compulsive-obsessive gluttony and greed, transgenderism, and hundreds of millions of murdered unborn babies.
Then we get into the New Testament: "Blessed are the peacemakers" – that's a sticky wicket! It can get rather risky to stick your nose into a conflict and try to make peace. Let's move on a bit: "If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men" (Romans 12:18). This gets a little more nuanced: sometimes it's not up to us to be at peace – the other party has a vote in the matter. If an armed burglar or terrorist breaks into your home, your asking him nicely to put down his gun and please go away just won't cut it. Men: be ready to defend and protect your wife and family!
Look at Ephesians 5:25-26 – "Husbands, love your wives, even as the Khristos, the Anointed One, also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it." A Christian real man must be ready to give his life for his wife and family, to preserve their sanctity and purity just like Christ did for His Bride, the Church. There are crazed rapists, thieves, and terrorists out there who just won't listen to reason. Remember, the Lord Jesus said – "let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one" (Luke 22:36). The mistaken notion of absolute pacifism is not taught in Scripture: "But if anyone doesn't take care of his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8).
Let's look deeper into that 1 Timothy 5 passage: it gives some qualifications and limitations on what Christians should do for the widow: she should be at least 60 years old and unable to take care of herself, not just panhandling and begging the Church for free food and shelter; the wife of one man – not immoral or a mutiple-married woman; not an idle gossiper or busybody. Then we read that the primary responsibility belongs to the widow's relatives, and not burden the church. This same idea pops up in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-13 – "If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat" and people should "work with quietly and earn their own living" as much as they are able.
Remember the stories of Barnabas at the end of Acts 4 who sold his land and donated the proceeds to the church. Good deed! But then comes the tale of "Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, [who] sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?" (Acts 5:1-3). Bad folks. From the very beginning of the early Church, some folks try to "work the system" or figure out how to deceive for unworthy personal gain.
So in conclusion, we as Christians have a hierarchy of social obligations to care for others: first of all for our own spouse and family. Only after that, we should care for those in our local church – the elderly, widows, orphans, sick, disabled, and poor who are unable to care for themselves. And lastly, for society at large. It's impossible, impractical, and downright risky to feel obligated to provide for all who ask for support, especially if we're unable to verify that they're really in need and not just grifters.
Finally, click on the "Also, pray with us!" link at the top of the "Living Faith That Works" page: you can join us "live" every morning in our online "Morning Prayers and Readings" and chat with us *anytime* online, or use our "Daily Prayers" for your private prayers, either online, as an Android app, or print your own 28-page prayer booklet.
You can read the rest of our newsletter at https://agape-restoration-society.org/ARC-News/a-n_2025-11-08.htm, and share it! Also, create your own website for less than $4 per month!
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