“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1Jo3.18
Consider what it would be like to take a karate class and six months later discover, that all you could do was talk about karate. No doubt, we would probably fire our martial arts instructor. Karate is something you do, not something you describe with words. I am afraid that through the years we have substituted Christian education for discipleship. It seems that today’s Christians are able to converse at length about Christianity but have little experience in practicing it. True discipleship teaches the disciplines not just knowledge about the disciplines. Listening to Christ, talking to Christ, living in community and worship, even acts of charity are skills to be practiced not topics to be discussed.
It is generally observed that people are inclined to too much talk and not enough action. I think we are told to restrain our words if for no other reason so that we may unleash our energy in action. Perhaps a Sunday School class could better teach Christian charity meeting each week in the inner city to repair someone’s home, than meeting in a church room to only talk about the importance of doing so. 2/27/07 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
