A Progressive Christian reflection

If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.James 2:15-17

It sounds, I’m sure, as if I’ve been hammering away at the same theme continuously. And the problem, of course, is that those who need to hear the message summarized in the few words above, seldom do. And those who are already doing all that they can simply end up feeling guilty that they’re not doing more.

What we sometimes overlook is the fact that letters like James, most likely written sometime between 200 and 300 CE, specifically take to task those who could do more but who choose not to. Any claim to faith they make, says the author, is useless.

There are times when we need to be just as blunt with those around us who do not see the well-being of all as their responsibility.