The principle of “Faith and Works” is inextricably connected with the principle of “loving one’s neighbour as oneself” and is crucial to Christians. This issue was dealt with by Paul, a Roman citizen who was converted to Christianity on or around the fourth century AD. Paul played an important role in influencing the Roman elite and Emperor Constantine to finally accept the religion as that of the Roman Empire.
In his first letter to Timothy, Paul speaks of his intention to foster “love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith”. He advised that Timothy should “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.” (Timothy 1:5 and 6:11).
He believed that God “decided to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Galatians 4:5-6). He stated that “the only thing that counts is Faith working through love”.
He also admonishes that “if we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:2-5). “All must test their own work, then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads” (Galatians 6:4-5).
James, the head of the Jerusalem Church at the time, took a more robust view of “Faith and Works”. He said: “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22).
At James 1:24: “But those who believe into the perfect law, the law of liberty and persevere, being not hearers who forget, but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing”. At James 2:14 he states “If you say you have faith but do not have works. Can Faith save you?”
“faith apart from works is barren”.
James 2:20
At James 2:18 he states “I, by my works will show you my faith” and at James 2:20 “faith apart from works is barren”. Finally, at James 2:24 he says: “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”.
Jesus, in his discussion with his disciples before his arrest, told them: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do.” (John 14:12)
In Revelation, John, who received the prophecy said that the Angel told him about the second coming of Jesus Christ. “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me to repay according to everyone’s work.” (Revelation 22:12)
The modern Roman Catholic Church has been seeking to refocus itself to genuinely come to terms with the principle of “Faith and Works” to properly carry out the mission of Jesus Christ with which it is charged. This transformation in its approach started in 1962-65 at the Second Vatican Council. It has gained some momentum since Pope Francis became its head on 13 March 2013.
He adopted a wider agenda of stressing the importance of social justice. The Church now advocates that Christians are called to look at the world from the perspective of the marginalized and to work in solidarity for justice. It stresses that the social order and its development must work for the benefit of humanity.
In his apostolic letter “Evangelii Gaudium” of 24 November 2013, the Pope said that he will discuss the entire “People of God”, which evangelizes missionary outreach, the inclusion of the poor in society and peace and dialogue within society.
On 19 November 2017, “The World Day of the Poor”, the Pope called on all humanity to “let us love, not with words but with deeds”. He also stated: “Poverty is not brought on by itself but is caused by selfishness, pride, greed and injustice.”
The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago, Archbishop Jason Gordon, in his homily delivered at the commemorative service in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Black Power Movement in Trinidad and Tobago clearly showed, by implication, that the local Church, for the future, intends to embark on a prophetic ministry where “works”, by involvement in civic and social activity, is stressed while its teaching ministry is maintained. In other words, it seems that the Church is committing itself to a mission that emphasizes both evangelism as well as social responsibility.
If I am correct in this view, the Church, in line with the current perspective of the Vatican, must move urgently to be the dynamic and the instrument of transformative change in the society.
The Church must now take urgent and concrete actions to assist in the development of our communities and social outreach programmes to enable our citizens to be self-reliant, constructive, efficient and productive.
It must call on its laity and other members of the society to become social activists; to wake up from their slumber, overcome their ignorance and indifference, and raise their voices in support of genuine democracy and human dignity; to struggle consistently, and with determination against racism, tribalism, exploitation, manipulation, inequality and oppression; and to struggle for the creation of a just society where the spiritual and material life of the people are improved.
The Church must reeducate and refocus the laity and the society, encouraging us to pursue idealism, critical thinking and intellectual development to awaken the Love principle in our hearts and to become reservoirs of Love and constructive thought.
Our worship of God must not focus on manifesting superstitious emotionalism or seeking sensationalism, emotional excitement and stimulation. Instead, we must constantly seek to discover “the Word and Truth” and develop the capacity to understand it and to live by it, emphasising service to community ie “living by the Word/Spirit”. In other words, “to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19).
For too many, going to the Church is something that we do because it is the proper thing to do. For many of us, it is a matter of seeking psychological support, spiritual and emotional stimulation and satisfaction.
We refuse to follow Jesus’ advice to the Samaritan woman: “God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). But instead, we worship as though God is a divine male being and a personal benefactor whom we love, worship, praise and seek forgiveness, guidance, benefits and miracles. We, therefore, place emphasis on personal conversion, individual piety and philanthropic service.
As a consequence of this self-centred approach, we neglect and are blind to the bigger picture, namely the rich prophetic substance of divine love of justice, divine compassion for all and divine equality ie the equal worth and dignity of every human being. These things that awaken conscience, concern and social consciousness in us and are the core principles of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and are also found in Advaita, a theological tradition of Hinduism.
We do not seek to understand and gain the motivational message in the Word that free will acting through faith, perfect love, courage, sacrifice, striving, struggle, suffering, challenges and risks achieve outward expression and fulfilment when we live by the Spirit/Word.
That love of justice; that service to family and community; that love and compassion for others, that loving with wisdom to protect ourselves from predators, are the foundation of our relationship with God, the source of our inspiration.
It is the source of determination that each of us be a vital force for good. And it is the path through which we can attain spiritual awareness, consciousness and liberation.
In this way, we will be following the admonition of the prophet Micah (Micah 6:8): “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”
The Church must now, in accordance with the vision of the Vatican, actively promote “respect for the transcendent dignity of the human person”. We must become our brother’s/sister’s keeper.
In seeking atonement for its grievous mistakes, the Church must immediately, in collaboration with others, play its role in leading, mobilizing and organizing a collective non-violent movement to achieve transformative change, peace, social justice and equality in our beloved nation.
Our future efforts must be to promote and establish a just and egalitarian society, which provides genuine equality of opportunity and development to all.
The Church and its laity will be judged by “works and deeds” in the unfolding drama that is taking place in Trinidad and Tobago. They must now move quickly to activate and mobilize us to “fight the good fight of the faith” in order to overcome inequity and injustice and to save our beloved nation.
