Had a great small group gathering last night. Men & women talked separately, and we XYers talked about two unrelated things that became related in my mind upon reflection.

The first was a followup discussion about James 2, which we studied last week. Faith and works. We talked last week about putting our faith into action, about putting equal emphasis on works as on faith. So this week we made plans to help a family whose house burned down, the neighbors of a couple in our group. We also made plans to spend a Saturday working on a Habitat for Humanity house here in town. So that was our “do” part of the evening.

Then we talked about sexual purity. All but one of us in the group is married and the other is getting married in a couple months, so the context was purity within a marriage relationship. It was a great open & honest discussion. That was the “not do” part of the evening.

Which is the way it should be, I think. Just like faith is incomplete without works, “not doing” sinful things is incomplete without “doing” the work of God in our lives. So often Christians (especially evangelicals and fundies) define ourselves by what we don’t do (premarital sex, alcohol, drugs, pornography, R-rated movies, tobacco, etc.) that we miss the point altogether. Taken to its logical conclusion this “not do” mentality leads us to sit by ourselves in an empty room until we starve to death lest we be polluted by the world. While not doing the things we shouldn’t do is important, we can’t lose focus on the active part of our faith - doing good works for others. It’s not that “not doing” isn’t necessary - personal holiness is an absolute requirement - but it’s not our purpose for living.

When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, “Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, “Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?”
He will answer them, “I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me–you failed to do it to me.”
Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ’sheep’ to their eternal reward.
Matthew 25:31-46