Faith vs Works

An old boatman painted the word "faith" on one oar of his boat and "works" on the other. He was asked his reason for this. In answer, he slipped the oar with "faith" into the water and rowed. The boat, of course, made a very tight circle. Returning to the dock, the boatman then said, "Now, let’s try ’works’ without ’faith’ and see what happens. The oar marked "works" was put in place and the boatman began rowing with just the "works" oar. Again, the boat went into a tight circle but in the opposite direction.

When the boatman again returned to the wharf, he interpreted his experiment in these strong and convincing words, "You see, to make a passage across the lake, one needs both oars working simultaneously in order to keep the boat in a straight and narrow way. If one does not have the use of both oars, he makes no progress either across the lake nor as a Christian.

I have grown to understand over the years that if we are to become the church that God wants us to be we must have both oars in the water. James said that” faith buy itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deed, it is dead and useless.” (James 2:17) Is your faith producing good deeds? If not, then it is an empty faith. It is my prayer that all of us will find a way to use the gifts God has given us to serve the church and reach out to those around us in need.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Paul