Words and Works

Once upon a time, I lost my keys in the snow. Obviously, they didn’t make it to the bottom of my coat pocket. I realized this when I got to my office. After I retraced my steps, there was still no sign of them, so I mentioned their disappearance to our custodian, Mac, when I passed him in the hallway. Later, Mac showed up at my office door with my key ring. He had borrowed a metal detector from a friend and swept the area I described. He found my keys buried under the snow. Of course, I thanked him profusely.

I consider it a privilege to have had many conversations with Mac during the time he took care of the music building. We chatted about current events and college life and had lengthy discussions about what it meant to be a Christian these days. Among other things, I learned he was a preacher. We discovered we shared quite a few perspectives, particularly about people who “talk the talk,” yet somehow fail to “walk the walk.”

Mac supervised several student workers. It seems some of them had trouble doing good work, showing up on time, or even showing up at all. I had the same problem with some of my students. Perhaps it goes with the territory that some 17-21-year-olds need to learn the value of work. Yet, we were part of a “Christian” University, where many students had been more or less indoctrinated into speaking a certain set of what I call, “master words.” I apologize to Kipling for borrowing this term, but it seems to me there is a subset of Christians who believe all they need to do is say the right words and God will “bless” them.

I confess, punctuating sentences with, “Praise God!” or “Thank you, Jesus!” has never been my thing. I’ve never found such practices convincing. Maybe some people feel uttering the master words absolves them from doing the hard work it takes to be a Christian. It’s more likely they never think about it. I also confess, the first time I met a group of guys who actually tried to live the gospel turned out to be life-changing for me.

I often talked with Mac about “faith and works.” The Epistle of James (Chapter 2) states, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus, also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”

Mac wanted to speak on this topic in University Chapel. However, for a mere custodian, such a thing was not to be. The fact that he was never offered this opportunity is a problem requiring another post. Nevertheless, I can imagine Mac might have said something like this:

“You say all the right words. You claim to be a good Christian. You say you have faith. But do you show up for work, or for class? Are you aways on time? Do you always do your best? Or is doing good work somehow beneath you? The master said, “by their fruits you shall know them.” What are your fruits? You say you love others “in the name of Jesus.” But are you respectful and courteous to everyone? Do you show kindness to others, regardless of their background or appearance? Do you help others in their time of need? Or do you just tell them you’ll pray for them? Do you treat others the way you want to be treated? Or do you just recite Christian dogma? You say you’ve been “born again,” but what does that mean? Do you live like a new person or like the same old person saying a few new words? If you truly have faith – if your words mean something – you would show others what good work you can do! Then your actions would speak louder than any words you might say. And others would want to know the source of your goodness.”

In my time of need, Mac searched for my key ring. It might seem like a small thing, but it showed me what kind of man Mac was. He could have shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sorry you lost your keys. I’ll pray for you.” Instead, he showed me his goodness through his good work. He was an example for us all.