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By Dennis Rowan "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant." (Matt. 23:11, NIV) Ten years ago this month Psalm 23 Camp sponsored its first work mission camp here in Monroe County, WV. Matthew 23:11 (The greatest among you will be your servant) has been the guiding Scripture for this Servants-At-Work (SAW) program. The Bible says we are saved by God's grace, for if it were by our works then we would be bragging about it. (Eph 2:8). God's gift of salvation however, is not automatic; it is based upon our accepting Jesus Christ. (John 3:16, Romans 10:9) Jesus said (John 14:6) that no one goes to God the Father unless they come through him (Jesus). In essence, these Scriptures say we go to heaven based upon God's gift, but we have to accept the gift via belief that Jesus is the way, and that we do not earn or work our way to God. The Bible also says faith without works is dead (James 2:20). I have noticed that some people, some congregations, and some denominations tend to put most of their emphasis upon faith with little or no actual works while others do the opposite; they do much in the way of works with little attention to biblical faith. It is easy to define works, not so easy to explain faith. For those who put the most emphasis upon works then performance is most important to them. It may be serving others or it may simply doing "all the right things" like going to church, wearing the right clothes, and it may mean to them that they avoid doing countless things to "earn" God's favor. In contrast, some faith people are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good. It is a "be ye warmed and filled" (James 2:16) attitude. In other words some people are big on saying the Christian or faith things without doing anything about it, or shall we say they pray for people to be warm and well fed rather than actually providing shelter and food to the needy. You might say spiritual talk is cheap. Countless examples of faith and works can be given, but there should be a proper balance. For starters, legitimate Christian faith means believing that the Bible is, in fact, the very word of God. It is His instruction manual without revision by some person or group to fit their idea of who God is. Secondly, since we regard the Bible as His guide for us, that includes more than sitting in a church pew and toting a Bible around. We think it means we are to do something about the welfare of other people when we have the resources to do so. We don't claim to have that balance, but nonetheless think we should always strive to achieve it.
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