Thinker-Doer

When I first saw this, I chuckled. This is very clever. Hmm...ponders. Am I a thinker or a doer? The cartoon seems to beg this question.

Then the below popped into my mind.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26

So, the question of faith/believing/head knowledge vs good works seems to be the dilemma OR there was a mentally that the two can be separated, like that of the two foundations of the respective statues in the cartoon. However, the Bible is clear that the two do not fall in separate categories.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?^. Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. James 2: 20-22

James gives us the example of Abraham. Who was well respected and known to have faith, and that alone was what considered him righteous/right in God's eyes/saved. Aka. Abraham did not do "works" to be saved, he didn't earn it as his 'right' and it wasn't by a particular deed he did to be considered righteous e.g. In the book of Galations it clearly states that Abraham was considered righteous before he was circumcised (which was a big deal for the Jews as circumcision was signaling that you were set apart belonging to God back then) .

Having mentioned that, James explores further to say that Abraham's trust in God was not static and once off, but he acted upon it. He demonstrated his trust and that he depended on God entirely, when he followed God's instruction, took action, and offered his son Isaac on the altar. Ultimately his faith was made clear, there was no doubt about it, due to his actions.

So to rethink the premise. It is not whether you are a thinker or a doer. It is a matter of do you live out what you believe!

Question to ponder: How important do you think it is that a Christian shows what they believe by the way they act?

Even if you slash out the word Christian from that question, it seems to me that 'yes' it is important to live out what you talk about. Because the result would be obvious..... hypocrite
When the whole world is watching and scrutinizing your every step. Watch yourself closely.  

Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4: 15 - 16 

Coz the flip side of this would be

It's not what you believe that matters, it's how you behave/

Along the lines of "Actions speak louder than words" mentality

which i might rip apart another day.

it's not either , or; 

neither, nor

it's both.

it just has to stack up.

reason + living

back it up!