The author Henry David Thoreau once said, “Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.” From what I know, he would not have considered himself a follower of Christ, which is exactly why his statement should cause all of us who claim to be followers of Christ to take pause. According to the biographers, H.D.T. disliked organized religion, and he ignored most aspects of Christianity.
What if those who claim belief in Jesus as their Lord and Savior had lived out their beliefs around H.D.T.? I obviously can’t say if it would have changed anything or not (or even if they did or not), but for someone who basically ingored matters of faith and belief in a higher power to claim that living your belief can turn the world around says quite a bit to me about how he percieved people of faith.
As we look together at our covenant and wrestle with what it means to believe, one idea rises to the top: we have to live out what we say we believe. I doubt I have to say too much here, we are all familiar with people who say they believe something, but it’s not reflected in their actions. Whether it’s someone who says they believe their team will win, but bets against them, or someone who says they believe in Jesus and follow Him, but they fight, curse, steal, and cheat with the best (or worst) of ‘em. We know what it looks like to live in a world where what people say they believe, and the way the live, are usually inconsistent.
The singer/songwriter Bob Dylan once said, “People seldom do what they believe in, they do what’s convenient, then repent.” The world has seen more than it’s fair share of people who can scream what they claim to believe, but most of the world is still waiting to see it. In Scripture, James says that “religion the Father finds pure and faultless is this, to take care of the widows and orphans.” This is admittedly just one aspect of our faith, but notice… it’s an action. Jesus repeatedly blasted the pharisees and religous leaders of His day for being hypocrites, for not living what they claimed to believe. We see over and over in Scripture that saying it louder, or more often, or with more modern technology, does not necessarily mean that we really believe it.
The proof is in the pudding, as the old saying goes. It’s not what we say, it’s what we do that demonstrates what we believe. Tying a towel on like a cape and saying I believe I can fly really doesn’t mean anything until I’m willing to jump. That’s why as we covenant together, we will look to Scripture to see what some of the common indicators of the faith are, things like confession, repentance, baptism, communion, and helping the hurting. We will be covenanting together to actively seek ways to live out our belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior and, in so doing, to transform our lives, homes, communities, and even the world.
We will make this covenant together because we understand that our belief must change us, it must motivate us to action, or we don’t really believe it. And we believe that when we live out our belief in Jesus, when we strive to live like Christ, that it can’t help but transform those around us as well.