Speaking in a black church yesterday (time to rethink that tax-exempt status), John Kerry implied that “our present national leadership” is lacking in compassion because some people don’t have jobs and teenagers are killed in drive-by shootings.
“The scriptures say, what does it profit, my brother, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? When we look at what is happening in America today, where are the works of compassion,” preached Kerry.
What he’s getting at is that faith without works is dead. While I don’t expect Kerry or the liberal media to know what’s in the Bible, I do expect him to have the decency to seek counsel from clergy before he starts using scriptural references on the campaign trail.
The pastor at New North Side Baptist Church probably sat there nodding his head, saying, “Amen” along with the rest of the congregation while Kerry misapplied the word of God in transparent references to President Bush.
The passage Kerry took out of context is James 2:14-17:
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.
James wrote his epistle to Jewish believers, “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” exhorting them to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience,” one of my favorite verses.
He urges the believers to be doers of God’s word and not hearers only. A believer is saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, but that faith manifests itself through action or works (”fruit”).
James gives guidance on how individuals, not governments, can evaluate their faith to determine whether it’s living or dead. It is the personal works of believers that James has in mind in this passage. It wasn’t addressed to Caesar.
If Kerry were a Christian, he’d know that the biblical standard of the test of faith doesn’t rest on whether poor people exist or teenagers are killed in the streets. Using taxpayers’ money isn’t a work of faith.
What you do as a professing Christian, i.e., using your own money or time to feed the poor, would be considered “works.” Does Kerry see the distinction?
I believe he can get away with such misapplication, even in a church with a “learned” pastor sitting only a few feet away, because most Christians seem unable or unwilling to do proper exegesis and understand Scripture themselves. As a result, when someone like Kerry misuses God’s word, Christians don’t recognize it. This is why Bible reading is very important.
I used to assume that when people first become saved, they’re on fire for truth and hungry to know the God they worship. I don’t assume that anymore.
God gave us the Bible, written down by men inspired by the Holy Spirit as His revelation to us. He is Creator, Love, Righteousness, Perfect Justice, Savior, Friend, Advocate, and so much more.
We live in a postmodern age where people believe that there is no truth, that it cannot even be known! It is vitally important for Christians to know what they believe, know what’s in the Bible and always be ready to defend the faith and challenge people who misuse (purposely) Scripture.
John Kerry would do well to remember that the word of God is a two-edge sword. Works without faith, genuine saving faith, are just as dead.
