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Dear San Marco Church Family: Recently, a pastor friend of mine preached a series of messages entitled “What Christians Do.” The purpose of the series was to contrast churches’ often excessive focus upon what Christians believe with what we actually do to demonstrate those beliefs. I found this concept compelling. My brother- in-law owned a successful computer programming business prior to his retirement a few years ago. His slogan for the company was “Talk is cheap, it’s performance that counts.” While the slogan has a very transactional (and perhaps impersonal) approach to customer relationships, the truth of the slogan applies especially to how communities of faith demonstrate their beliefs. We can spend too much time arguing about what we believe even as we fail to demonstrate what we believe by what we do. We have all probably met people who talk a great game about faith (or any other topic) but yet these same people may fail to live by the beliefs they proclaim. The good news is that we at San Marco Church, for a variety of reasons, have the freedom to let what we do, rather than what we say we believe, define our faith. We are a diverse community and there is not a rigid expectation of what one “must believe” in order to be part of this community. Personally, I think God helps us grow in faith based upon the actions we are willing to take to demonstrate our trust in Christ. I challenge us all to ask ourselves how our actions are consistent with our stated beliefs. If we believe God calls us to be generous with our time and gifts, do the ways we spend our time, money, and talents demonstrate that we live generously? I confess that I must ask myself this question regularly, as I am not always as generous as God calls me to be. There is one important caveat to defining ourselves by what we do. Our faith reminds us that God’s love for us is not based upon our performance, but based upon God’s very nature. May we never let our good works, or our lack of good works, define our worth in God’s eyes. We serve out of gratitude for what God has already done for us, and not in order to earn God’s favor. This Sunday, August 17, I will be sharing a message based upon Hebrews 11:29-12:2. Please read and reflect upon the passage before worship. I look forward to seeing you in worship, and I appreciate your prayers. Steve Hart
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