Faith and Deeds

" ¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
 ²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[a]? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[b] and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone." --James 2:14-24

In 2001 I came to live in Spain for a year and help start a campus ministry at the University of Granada in southern Spain. One year turned into two and two into three and eventually I just stayed.

During my time in Granada, we struggled to connect with the hearts of university students and plant the seeds of the gospel there. There was lots of prayer for them. There was a lot of good quality time spent together. There were many occasions of sharing the gospel verbally and non-verbally with them; and yet, they seemed relatively unmoved and still relationally cold toward Christ and his message of Good News. While we loved on them, I had a sinking feeling that our efforts to take the gospel to them were not making the impact that I had expected.

As our team of young Americans started to study the history of Spain, especially the role of the church, as we began to listen to personal stories from students and as we entered in to experience the culture, we learned that action and follow through are highly valued over words. One significant observation that our team made during those years was the importance that Spanish students placed on good works and solidarity, not for salvation, but as proof of sincerity and as a measure of credibility. The Spanish students we met with strong faith convictions were often involved  in some kind of social justice work on campus or in the city.

Now, 10 years after coming to Spain, I am one American on a team of Spaniards. Our team is made up of Agape staff who seem to have come to the same city coincidentally, for a variety of reasons; and yet, each of us has a strong desire to make an impact on society, starting here in this city and reaching around the world. We´ve been talking and brainstorming, but it´s been a little fuzzy. Helping women and children, meeting the needs of immigrants, attending battered women....but what will be our focus? How do we create momentum to invite others to come along?

The first month of 2011 has quickly come and gone. During this time, our team of 6 in Terrassa (Barcelona province) in Spain has been learning some of the in´s and out´s of GAiN (Global Aid Network), the relief and development aid arm of Campus Crusade for Christ. We hope to start up GAiN España to serve as the umbrella ministry for several local and national projects that are already underway; and to have a platform to start up international projects, specifically urgent projects in the wake of natural disasters.

As we learn more, I´ll be sharing our progress here. Stay tuned!

Please pray for us as we take steps to work through the bureaucratic paperwork issues, as we create materials and as we brainstorm on how to develop financial support and gather contacts for projects.

On a similar note, I´ve started reading The Hole in Our Gospel by World Vision president Richard Stearns. Below is a video that previews the companion Bible study of his book about what he learned through his involvement in working with the poor and needy.