Here’s a snippet of an exchange I recently shared with a student:
Student: “Would you rather believe in God or do good things?”
Me: “That’s impossible to answer. Because I believe in God, I do good things.”
Student: “It’s not always like that.”
Me: “For me it is.”
And then he decided the drop the argument and return to the main conversation, casually responding, “Okay, okay, fine. You’re right.”
So what is this anyway? Here we are, at the intersection of one of Christianity’s oldest debates. Faith vs. Works. Then we start throwing words out there like justification, theology of salvation, works-based-righteousness and confuse swarms of people with bulky definitions. I’m half convinced we use such incomprehensible terms to disguise a general lack of genuine comprehension.
How can I sincerely explain my answer—how can I even give an answer—if I’m still a little fuzzy on the relationship between faith, good deed, salvation, and what it means to imitate Christ?
If we’re being honest, imitating Christ involves a tremendous amount of good deeds. But believing Christ requires absolutely no good deeds. What is this strange tension between faith and works? How do we navigate it as authentic followers of Christ? Better yet, how do we respond when onlookers begin asking questions?
The rules of “Would You Rather” imply two mutually exclusive entities displayed as options. Often, the response reveals something about a person. Look again at the question posed. “Would you rather believe in God or obey Him and do good things?” To me, that sounds as illogical as asking, “Would you rather never eat chocolate again or would you rather never eat dark chocolate again?” It doesn’t quite work as a “Would You Rather” question.
For me, one of my favorite components of my faith is the insatiable desire to follow and obey God, being a positive presence on earth and doing good deeds. But it’s a component of my faith, the beautiful result of understanding on an earth-shaking level what happened through Christ’s literally earth-shaking death. If I give up my faith, I give up this divinely appointed life of service. This sense of peace and purpose that transformed everything about me. If I give up chocolate, I give up also those delectable dark chocolates I love a little too much. In fact, I have a highly diminished desire for chocolate if you eliminate the option of dark.
Removing the obedience and good works of imitating Christ from this faith called Christianity eliminates so much of its richness. Theologically, we can say one is saved only through Christ’s coming, his solemn sacrifice to go to death and defeat it, and resurrecting victorious. One is not saved through checking off a list, obeying rules, doing more good than bad things, or any other offering of salvation that eliminates Jesus from the equation.
However, accepting this belief is what I consider the moment of planting a sapling tree. It’s partially grown already, but those branches certainly couldn’t support a climbing child. The fruit hasn’t started coming. There is not true shade. Absolutely, the fact that it’s a tree is undeniable, and it will always remain a tree. But what is the sense in limiting a tree to be eternally a sapling?
Newly faithful Christian, welcome to the kingdom of trees. Here you will find countless other saplings. Some trees have lots of fruit, others just a few perfectly ripe pieces. Some carry diseases. Others are sequoias, nearly intimidating in their fortitude. There are so many different types, and some look so different it’s practically unbelievable they all belong in the same category.
As a person matures in faith, as this heartfelt believing in God becomes more personally important, a natural growth process occurs. Good works is one of the surest authenticity tests of a Christian. It’s a positive indicator that they truly believe, love, seek, and follow this Triune God. A fake plant isn’t going to produce any fruit. And “By their fruits you shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16)
We’re continuing our conversations about faith and works. I’m trying to express why this Would You Rather question just doesn’t fit. But this historically tricky topic will take some time.
I’m now just going to list a few relevant verses. Read them in context. Talk about them with people. Learn from them. Let’s know enough about our own faith to have more of these conversations with others!
Faith: John 3:16; Romans 3:20, 3:28, 4:3, 4:5, 5:1; Galatians 2:15-21; Ephesians 2:4-10; Hebrews 11:6
Works: Matthew 7:15-27, 19:16-30, 23:3, 25:31-46; Luke 3:9; James 2:14-26; Revelation 20:12