Holism- Faith and works!

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27 CSB

A partial gospel results in an empty religion. We end up with either a privatized, individualized spirituality that never quite walks in the real world or a set of obligations and activities that aren’t animated by a lively Spirit of God. The Churches and the disciples of Christ are bound to deliver a full gospel which embodies Holism in all form. What Do I mean? I mean we exhibit the gospel of love in action at all cost, and James calls it as Pure and undefiled religion. There is no dichotomy between being spiritual and religion. Greg Paul author of Resurrecting Religion says "Spiritual or Religions? its not a matter of choosing between them. We need to be both. I don't mean we should be both. I mean we need it.".  

James further highlights the strong correlation between Faith and works and explains how the same makes a complete religion. His pointed questions demands that we make our faith full of action failing which the faith is bound to suffer death. Can we ponder on the question raised in the book of James 2:15-16 “If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them “go in peace, stay warm and be well-fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?” CSB. When we fail to respond to the needs other than the spiritual we inadvertently can display partial religion. We the disciples of Christ and the church are bound to reach to the concerned needy with the Holistic approach.

The poverty that we witness in our times is getting even more complex than it actually displays. Robert Chambers's systems approach to poverty is a powerful tool. He talks about the interconnection among the six elements of the poverty trap in the figure displayed below. Each is linked to and reinforces the others. A problem in one area means problems in another, and it is easy to see how the result can be greater and increasingly intractable poverty.

 Mother Teresa once said, ‘… the poor come to all of us in many forms. Let us be sure that we never turn our backs on them, wherever we may find them. For when we turn our backs on the poor, we turn them on Jesus Christ.’ Love for the poor is not an optional extra. It is at the heart of the New Testament. It is evidence of living faith: 

‘If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right’ (James 2:8). Your love is shown especially in what you do for the poor (v2–7), the hungry (2:15) and the needy (2:16). ‘Kind mercy wins over harsh judgement every time’ (James 2:13, MSG).

 As believers in Jesus and being part of the body of Christ-the church, we are called to live differently. Your faith must be evident by your deeds. All the way through the New Testament, these two go together. As do words and actions; proclamation and demonstration; the transformation of individuals and the transformation of society. As John Calvin put it, ‘Faith alone justifies, but faith which justifies is never alone.’ You cannot earn your salvation. You are not saved by your good works, but you are saved in order to do good works (Ephesians 2:9–10).

Blessings.