ISept 12‘m a preacher, a communicator. I use words all the time. I believe in the power of words. They can evoke emotion and elicit response. They can build someone up, and they can tear someone down. But there is a time when words just don’t work anymore. There is a time when a word must become something more. It must become an action.

It seems that for far too long, we as church leaders have let this happen. We’ve even done it many times ourselves. As a matter of fact, it just happened a few minutes ago. I was chatting on the phone and all that was happening was an exchange of words. The comments started flying back and forth, until finally it happened – Let’s find another time to talk more. When can we continue this conversation? Do you have a book I can read about that? 

At what point do words need to become something more? When do our words need to stop just falling from our mouths and start moving our feet and our hands? At what point will we realize that words are not what saved us, but the word made flesh. The word came alive. It lived among us in the person of Jesus. The word acted among us. It did more than speak. It didn’t give us a book to read or a conference to attend. The word became human and began living out his life among us.

It’s tiring to see churches and church leaders attempting to say the right things. Words fail. Words have power, but they’re limited. They only go so far. Words take on a life of their own when they’re lived out. Jesus didn’t say, “be saved and forgiven.” He took our sins on himself (action), carried them to the cross (action), buried them in his own grave (action). You see if we keep talking about our good intentions and how much we love Jesus and the people in our communities but never actually love our neighbors or Jesus with our actions – what does that make us?

What’s the solution? Do something! Anything! Just do something that will put your thoughts, words, and beliefs into practice. If you happen to share the same passion for Jesus that I have, take these words to heart. Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:17

What one thing will you do today to make a difference in someone’s life?