Be Still And Know

James 1:27 The question of what genuine faith looks like is one that we meet in both the Old and New Testaments. The prophet Amos spoke powerfully about the rich people in his society who were so pleased with themselves that they were sure God would reward them in due course. But he told them that, because they had built their wealth through exploiting the poor, God would judge them harshly. They attended the Temple regularly, but Amos told them that God would not accept their sacrifices or listen to their worship (see Amos 5). In the New Testament, Jesus spoke severely to those who put on a show of their praying and fasting but lived lives that far away from God (see Matthew 6). It was crucial for the early Church to know the difference between people who had genuine faith in Christ and those who didn’t. James was clear that genuine faith would be expressed in loving action towards the most vulnerable members of the community. In the Old Testament, orphans and widows were often identified as those wh