What is the heart of the Christian faith? Many in the modern church would answer that question by naming a list of doctrinal beliefs that in theory would transform the way one sees the world. But when one examines the teachings of Jesus and the early teachings of the apostles, another message emerges: Christianity is about doing far more than believing.

Action and belief are not opposed to each other, but in our epistle reading this Sunday (no service on Saturday due to an out-of-town wedding), we are told that there is to be an emphasis on our actions and our truth-telling, rather than on believing or declaring our faith in God. The writer of the epistle goes so far as to suggest that the love of God is not in someone's heart if they see someone in need but choose not to act. This may sound familiar to another testimony in the New Testament, the writings of James, the brother of Jesus, who condemns those who would say, "Be blessed," to someone in need instead of offering a tangible hand of healing.

In the post-resurrection world, we are called to be the incarnations and channels through which Christ is manifest in the world. Theresa of Avila famously declared, "Christ has no body on earth but ours." And it seems that this is the sentiment that the earliest followers of Jesus understood. Unless we are willing to make our faith in the way of Jesus real through living the sacrificial life that Jesus taught, then how can we say we have been transformed by the gospel of Jesus? If we are not willing to speak the truth about our addictions to wealth and power, then how can we say that our lives are centered on the agape--unconditional and equalizing love--of God?

The writer of the epistle (there are a lot of "Johns" mentioned even in the New Testament literature to choose from!) says that our faith will be legitimized by how willing we are to actually embody it and to tell the truth, even when it costs us. This is the challenge that all of us are called to rise to in this post-resurrection world.