Jesus was a man of action. He didn’t just teach; He also did the things He was teaching. As Christians, Jesus calls all of us to not only be listeners but to be doers. This isn’t even debatable. Throughout the teachings of the New Testament Jesus constantly challenges His followers to not simply hear the words He says, but to put His teachings into practice. This idea is most clearly communicated by James through the entirety of James 2. Summed up in one sentence it’s “faith without works is dead.” I would say that most Christians know this and understand the concept of being a doer of the word and not simply a hearer, but our enemy also knows this as well. Now Satan is a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them. It would be foolish to underestimate our greatest adversary. Scripture often tells us that he is cunning. One of the ways he fools us is to not try and have us misinterpret scripture but to fool us into thinking we’re living out scripture when we really are not. In this way, many Christians think they are doers of the word, but in reality, they are not. Satan has tricked them into confusing in action for action and here’s how it happens.

Hearing the word is the way most new believers are tricked into believing is doing but is not. Often times we confuse scriptural study, listening to sermons, and generally bettering ourselves as “doing.” This is a tricky one because we often can see the results. We can feel our spiritual lives get stronger. We can feel ourselves grow closer to God. Since we feel a sense of progress we confuse spiritual discipline with doing spiritual works. The reality is that it’s not. Don’t get it twisted; spiritual discipline is extremely important for the life of every believer, but we must realize that it is a means to an end. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Paul is talking about self-discipline using the analogy of running a race. He speaks about how an athlete may train for a long time so they are in shape and ready to compete. What good is an athlete who works hard training and then doesn’t compete? Paul says that he doesn’t run aimlessly or throw punches like he is boxing the air. He trains so that he may do something that matters to The Kingdom of God. He trains so that he can be a doer. What good is learning all you can about scripture and growing closer to God if you don’t end up using what you have learned to actually serve others? Serving yourself through spiritual discipline is not being a doer, it’s not actual service. The ironic thing is that if you want to become closer to God and learn more about Him, serving is one of the best ways to do that. Serving is an awesome way to learn spiritual discipline.

While confusing spiritual discipline for actual action is how many new believers are fooled, it usually doesn’t fool mature Christians. That isn’t to say that they are impervious. The thing mature Christians are tricked into believing is “doing” but isn’t is praying. Now I don’t want anyone to get what I’m going to say in this paragraph wrong. I absolutely believe in the power of prayer. I believe we should pray unceasingly. I believe prayer is one of our greatest weapons. I think prayer can do amazing things. I know all these things about prayer are true, but I also know that prayer is only half of it. The other half is action and often times we mistake prayer for action. Think of it this way. Let’s say you’re ill, so you go to the doctor. After having an examination the doctor tells you that you have a sinus infection. You’ve had a sinus infection before, so you know it’s nothing that some antibiotics won’t clear up. The doctor tells you he knows just what you need. You hold out your hand expecting to receive a prescription for some antibiotics, but to your surprise, the doctor grabs your hand and prays with you. He prays that you would be healed of your sinus infection. Then he thanks you for seeing him and lets you know that you may leave now.

You probably wouldn’t be too thrilled in the doctor’s treatment, but you believe in the power of prayer right? This is the same attitude many Christians feel about prayer and it stems from an incomplete understanding of what prayer is. Should we pray for those who are in need? Absolutely we should. I believe in the power of prayer, but I also believe in the power that God has placed inside of me to do the work of His Kingdom. Prayer and service go hand in hand. If you’re serving without praying or praying without serving then you’re only “doing” halfway. Look at the example Jesus sets for us in Matthew 26:36-46. Jesus prays desperately in the garden of Gethsemane, but He doesn’t just pray there. Eventually, Jesus accepts God’s will, leaves the garden, and dies on a cross for all. There is a time for prayer, but there is also a time for action. Eventually, we all must leave the garden and be doers of the word. Prayer is also a two-way street. Many mature Christians have a very deep prayer life where they lift up their praise and problems to God so that He might provide for them, but when God wants to use us to provide for others, prayer suddenly loses power. My Old Testament professor in college explained prayer this way. Prayer is not our will being done in Heaven, but Heaven’s will being done in us. If your prayer life is all about what God can do for you but has no hint of what you can do for God, then you’re doing it wrong. Look at Jesus in Gethsemane. He pleads with God to take this cup from Him, but He resolves and says that it should not be His will done but God’s.

Being a doer of the word is all about being a servant, and we can’t be a servant to only ourselves and we can’t be a servant only by praying. Serving is an action. It’s more than just prayer. It’s about serving others. This entire concept is laid out in Matthew 25:31-46. There are two groups of people before God, sheep, and goats. He tells the sheep that they may enter the kingdom because they clothed him when he was naked, fed him when he was hungry, etc. They ask when they did this and God replies that whenever they did it for someone else they did it for Him. He then tells the goats that they cannot enter the kingdom because they didn’t clothe Him, feed Him, etc, because they did not do that for others. There are two things that must be realized about this verse. First, the goats considered themselves close to God. They considered themselves believers. We know this because they call God Lord. These goats are Christians, yet God denies them entry to His kingdom. Secondly, the sheep enter the kingdom not because they believed, studied scripture, or heard sermons. They enter the kingdom because they served others. God doesn’t say I was hungry and you prayed for me,  I was thirsty and you told me about a sermon you heard. No, God says I was in need and you met my need by serving me. Servant and Christian are synonymous. You cannot be one without the other. If the only one you serve is yourself, of if the extent of your service is prayer then you might want to reevaluate whether you’re a sheep or a goat. Just because you go “bah” doesn’t make you a sheep. You have to walk the walk behind your talk.