Why Read the Bible: To Find Examples of Faith in Action

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives. Give the people these instructions, so that no one may be open to blame. Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

–1 Timothy 5.1-8 (NIV)

This passage has been curiously omitted from the daily lectionary, but it warrants a look nevertheless because in it we see a couple of powerful examples of faith in action. At first blush, it looks like Paul is giving Timothy (and us) a bunch of arbitrary rules to follow but this would be a serious misreading of the passage. A much more satisfactory reading would be to read the passage through the lens of learning about how faith in Christ can change us and others for the better. Here we see two different examples of how faith works in our daily lives.

First, note the transformative expectation that is implicit in Paul’s writing. He is essentially telling us that faith always leads to action. It always seeks to alleviate human need and suffering where it can, in this case in the context of the family. Why is this so? Because what Paul is talking about here is driven by the two great commandments, or what we refer to as “the summary of the Law.” We are to love God with all that we are and have, and that must necessarily by made manifest in part by how we treat humans. In other words, if you claim to love God you will show him (and others) that you do by how you treat your fellow humans, even the most unlikable among us.

For example, notice the concern for human dignity that jumps out at us in this passage. “Don’t abuse old or young people,” says Paul, “in part because it is the wrong thing to do and in part because the oldest and youngest represent the weakest and most vulnerable in our society.” How often do we see old people shoved off into nursing homes because their families do not want to deal with their aging and infirmity or do not know how to deal with these problems? “We don’t marginalize people for our own convenience,” Paul seems to be saying. “People are made in God’s image and are therefore worthy of our utmost respect despite where they are in the seasons of life. Being created in God’s image is what gives people dignity, not power, wealth, or prestige.”

Of course, not every family puts its old members in nursing homes because the old people are an inconvenience. Sometimes it is medically necessary to get our loved ones help when their needs surpass our ability to address them. But to ruminate over this example misses Paul’s point about the dignity of every human being and the need to care for society’s weakest and most vulnerable. The Christian will always seek God’s guidance for how he or she can best demonstrate God’s love to others. The Christian faith will always lead us to be on the lookout regarding how we can best help society’s weakest and most marginalized.

We see this same principle made manifest in Paul’s discussion of widows. Like the elderly and young, widows represented some of the most vulnerable in society in Paul’s day. They still do in ours. Here Paul reminds families of their Christian duty. “Take care of your own,” Paul says. “Otherwise your faith is dead and you show yourself to be the rank hypocrite you are. Not only does that make you look bad, but worse yet it brings dishonor to the Lord Jesus.” Yikes!

Like the elderly, the widowed are made in God’s image too and are therefore worthy of our respect. If we claim to love the Lord, we should want to obey him and charity starts at home. Faith should always seek to make a difference in people’s lives and it doesn’t have to be something spectacular. To the contrary, we have multiple opportunities to alleviate human need and suffering in the ordinary circumstances of life. As you look at your own faith (or lack of it), you should be able to see where you are making a difference for someone, especially in the ordinary situations of your life.

But to do this, we need to be fed and reminded of our responsibilities. We need to constantly remember Whose we are and what our responsibilities are to the One who loves us and claimed us from all eternity. Why do we need to be fed and reminded constantly? Because we are easily distracted in the living of our lives and prone to forget. Just as an athlete needs to eat well to help his body perform up to its maximum capability, the Christian faith needs to be nurtured and fed by God’s word in Scripture, by worship, by Christian fellowship, and by partaking of the sacrament of Holy Communion. All these disciplines feed us, remind us Whose we are and that we are not alone, and consequently help us put our faith into action. Just look at the life of Jesus if you need a further example. Mark tells us that before every major decision in his life, Jesus spent the preceding time in prayer. He understood that he needed to be firmly rooted in God’s strength and power and to know God’s will before he acted. Likewise with us.

If you are looking for meaning and purpose in your life, here is a wonderful opportunity to find it. You find it by giving yourself entirely to Jesus and then developing the recognized disciplines mentioned above that will feed your love for him and for your fellow humans. When that happens you will be amazed at how your own life will be transformed as you live and work to put your own faith in action to help others in need.

If you have not already done so, take the chance and commit yourself to following Jesus. As you do, read about the lives of the saints in the Bible. You will find them to be just like you in a million ways–ordinary people who responded to God’s call to them, which in turn transformed them into extraordinary saints. It can be just like that for you too. You too can tap into God’s extraordinary power to help you love him and others in the context of the ordinary days and people of your own life. Is that not just way too cool?

2 thoughts on “Why Read the Bible: To Find Examples of Faith in Action

  1. Speaking of taking care of small children who are vulnerable–One of my violin students comes from a family of 10 children. The mom and dad raised 4 of their own, now in their 20’s. Then they adopted 6 (!) more from China. Several of them have physical/mental disabilities, so of course they were the ones that it would have been difficult to find adoptive families for. I don’t know if the parents know Jesus, or what their relationship with God is. I pray for them, and am grateful at least that they are living out what God would have them do in taking care of those who are the “least”.

  2. Pingback: CT–Polling Evangelicals: Cut Aid to World’s Poor, Unemployed | The Anglican Priest

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