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You are here: Home / A Little Less Talk, and a Lot More Action

A Little Less Talk, and a Lot More Action

By Jeremy Myers
4 Comments

A Little Less Talk, and a Lot More Action

Number of Books that would be written

At the end of his Gospel, John writes that if all the things that Jesus did were written down one by one, not even the whole world could contain the number of books that would be written.

Some days it seems that we are trying to see if John was right. It often seems like Christianity is more about teaching, preaching, speaking, writing, printing, and publishing than it is about actually doing the things we teach and write about.

I say this as I write yet another blog post among the millions of other Christian blog posts that will get published today….

However, I think there is a difference between just writing about something, and actually putting into practice what you write about.

In general, I try not to just write about theoretical things, but things that I am actually doing, or have put into practice myself.

Writing, I believe, is not just about about having something to say, but having something to live.

In Christianity, however, it seems that many of us authors would rather spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars writing about what Jesus says, explaining why His words donโ€™t apply to us, or wouldnโ€™t actually work except in an idealized world, rather than actually doing what Jesus says. Writing about Jesus is fine, IF we first put into practice what He says.

There must a constant struggle to maintain the balance between opening the Bible in the study and applying the Bible in the streets. The true hermeneutical spiral is not simply an ever-tightening spiral as we circle in the meaning of the text through deeper and more extensive study, but must also include learning the text through trying to apply it in the world.

One crucial element to Bible study is Bible living. One cannot say they have understood the Bible and theology until they have learned to live it in their day-to-day lives.

Four Areas in Church with Too Many Words

In this regard, there are four main areas in the church were a greater attention to application and practical living is needed. These are areas where we are heavy on words, but light on practice. These are the areas of preaching, doctrinal statements, prayer meetings, and evangelism.

A little less talk

All of these are valuable within the life of believers, but there are a few things that the church can do to help make preaching, doctrinal statements, prayer meetings, and evangelism more effective for the mission of the church. In the course of the next several months, I will be writing about all of these as I work my way through writing my book, Close Your Church for Good.

In the next several posts, I will be looking specially at the practice of preaching. I will critique it, and then look at some of the key texts in Scripture which talk about preaching, before finally making some suggestions at how preaching and teaching can be more useful in the life of the church and in accomplishing our mission in the world.

Toby Keith wasn’t singing about church, but I would like to see church follow the words of his song: “A little less talk, and a lot more action.”


God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Close Your Church for Good, Discipleship

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  1. Sam says

    September 20, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    I love the direction you’re going with this series!

    Would you consider expanding the series a little and making a list (or something similar) of the “things” Jesus tells us about how to live as part of the Kingdom of God on this earth? Do you think Paul and the other authors of New Testament books add to what Jesus had to say, or are they just explaining it more fully? How do we live out these things today?

    On the one hand Jesus tells us to share what we have with the poor. On the other hand, we read that the average couple will need $600,000.00 plus to pay their out-of-pocket medical expenses to get them to the end of their lives (after MediCare and other insurance has paid). What do we do?

    We know Christians who believe that we only need to do the things Jesus says if we are specifically “called” to do them, such as helping the poor. What do you think about that idea? If we live that way, are we “Bible living”? How should we figure out which “things” we are specifically called to do? Might you be called to do some things and I be called to do other things?

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      September 22, 2011 at 9:42 pm

      Sam,
      I am not sure I could develop a list like that…. But it would be a great list to see.

      I think everyone is called to help the poor, but at the same time, I think that God gives each of us certain passions and we are to follow those. For some it might be orphans, for others, it might be widows.

      However, it seems that the vast majority of churches right now have a “passion” to minister to rich people….

      Reply
  2. Steve Reed says

    September 21, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    This has been a sticking point for me as well. The book of Acts is the story of how Christ’s followers changed the world by their actions in Christ.

    Stories about that kind of power and effectiveness aren’t around today. We talk about what they did and try and relate it to being a “good person” or allegorize it somehow to make ourselves feel good, but the fact remains that these disciples were men of action and a threat to the established order of things.

    Reply
    • Jeremy Myers says

      September 22, 2011 at 11:11 am

      Steve,
      Great point. I am not sure we need more sermons and studies, but more obedience to what we already know. People complain about Christians not knowing enough…. maybe we know too much already!

      Reply

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