Most of us have had the uncomfortable, disappointing experience of trying to trust a person’s WORDS while seeing ACTIONS that consistently contradict their words. While words have so much power to convey & convince, they only express that power when fueled by parallel action. My car has a refined system of electronic ignition, transmission, suspension, and plenty of bells and whistles that enhance comfort. But all of those systems and comforts are powerless unless they are fueled. With no fuel, all the car’s other features are pointless and useless. Like a friend said years ago when I had my last big MD-DOS-based computer system, “It’s of little value now except as a boat anchor!”

The more we see the contradiction between our words and actions, the more we see our words eliminated of value. We put it this way in our modern vernacular: “Talk is cheap!” Jesus noted that same problem time after time and gave helpful insight to the disciples. He looked at religious experts who could recite scripture, delve into the vaguest nuances of faith, and claim legalistic obedience to the 10 Commandments. But the actions produced by that knowledge betrayed hard hearts, ambitions, intentions, and cruel ambivalence to the suffering surrounding them. He evaluated “pseudo” followers who knew the right words to say and knew all the jargon but whose actions contradicted those claims. Finishing a parable about “sheep” and “goats,” the goats (those who only mimicked faith) called out to Jesus claiming to have done great things, great ministry success. But Jesus sent them away with this shocking response: “I never KNEW YOU.”

Matthew recorded Jesus’ teaching in his 7th chapter, a section known as The Sermon on the Mount:

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.  A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.  So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.  Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.“

So let me ask: Are you so determined to trust someone that you ignore actions? Do you decide and then look for ways to justify your opinion? Or will you take Jesus’ words to heart as a litmus for your trust and compare words and actions to see the truth? Also, will you seek to back up your own words with the choices and actions that transform good “intentions” into spiritual “reality” for Jesus’ sake?