Talk Less, Do More

I’ve thought about this idea for a while now. So here it is, talk less and do more. Quite simple right? However, it’s astonishing how often I see more talking than doing. My main point is where this idea fits in with the church.

At my last church, I would call the culture there very theologically heavy. There were a lot of resources available for one to learn there. Not only was there Sunday morning service with a sometimes one hour long sermon (yes, just the sermon was an hour not including songs, scripture reading, etc.) but there was also Sunday academy before the morning service, monthly Sunday night theology classes, monthly Sunday night service, a mid week bible study as well as small groups and men’s and women’s ministry and workshops. And don’t get me wrong, I think learning theology is not only good but crucial to the christian life and a good church should be teaching and offering resources. But what I’ve noticed was a LOT of talking. Talking and talking and talking about the same things over and over again. And I just grew… tired of it.

As a christian newer in one’s faith, it should be a very transformative time. Not to say that a more mature christian isn’t being transformed but as a newer believer one has to really build a foundation for their faith. The Bible offers a lot to learn about living a holy life that takes a lot of time to understand and grasp at first. Again, mature christians are still learning but not quite in the foundational way that a newer believer is. Therefore, a newer believer might be devouring scripture and taking in every resource a church has to offer. This is where these resources are good. However, for many christians who have been walking in the faith for a while, have a solid foundation and feel called to go out and do their work in the world, these resources often feel like mandatory obligations. I can’t tell you how many times I was encouraged to attend all of these events at the church where I felt Sunday morning service was quite enough for me from a corporate studying of the Word perspective. I constantly felt like I had to defend my position or give excuses as to why I couldn’t make an event.

It is good for Christians to study and talk about the Word of God together, but I do not think that should take up the majority of the Christian life. It’s kind of like when you work for a company and you sit in meetings all day talking about the work but no one is actually doing the work. Sometimes it seems to me Christians are spending time in meetings all week, so who is actually going out there and doing the work??? This stems a bit from a legalistic mindset that being a good christian is measured by how often one is at church. Other christians can visibly see you at church, serving on a bunch of different teams and therefore you are “good” in their eyes. And my absence means I am “bad.” But what about all the time faithful Christians choose to say no to church activities to spend time with non-believing friends, family, or neighbors? And not just to treat them like a project so they can brag about their evangelism in small group, but to actually love and care for these people and call them friends, even if they don’t share the same faith. I am tired of the church describing non-christians as so “other.” I know so many wonderful people with beautiful talents, personalities and ways of living that I greatly admire and they are not Christians. And if I happen to get the chance to share my faith with them because I believe it is a message of hope, then absolutely I will, but what if they also have something to teach me? So instead of joining another Bible study, why not join a book club with some friends outside of the church? Instead of signing up for another church activity, why not sign up for a workout class or a play date group or a pottery class? Places where you’ll have a chance to do fun things and develop friendships with those outside of the church in order to serve them and love them well - the real work of the Christian life.

Another point is spending time outside of talking/listening based church activities to actually serve and help those in need, whether through a formal charity or through personal connections (which one might make through the activities mentioned in the last paragraph). Christians are called to tangibly care for others who may be less fortunate. There are probably many different opportunities to do this within any given neighborhood and most of the time charities that serve good purposes already exist. How beautiful would it be for christians to be the ones filling up the volunteer lists at these charities?

I can hear the objection in my head, why not do all the church activities AND do all the things outside of the church as well? I don’t know about you, but I personally have limits as to how much I can take on in addition to my job, maintenance of my household, personal health needs such as sleep and having time to eat meals, and caring for my husband. And we don’t even have kids yet! We often need to be strategic and choose how we want to be spending our time and energy effectively while having proper boundaries to avoid burnout. I am not saying completely neglect the church, but what I am saying is if I have to choose between another church meeting where it’s mostly talking about doing things and going out and actually doing the things I am going to pick the latter. Maybe I’ll be seen as less by other christians, but I know that God sees what I do regardless of what other people think. I’m here to encourage you to do the same, whatever that might look like for you and your personal limitations. There should be no shame in doing more and talking less.

I don’t want to be misunderstood either that you should always be busy or doing things in order to have value. All human beings have value in the eyes of God simply by existing. The gospel tells me I can not earn my way to heaven, so doing the hard work of the christian life is not my way to salvation - only Jesus Christ is. But christians are called to be “doers of the Word” and we know faith without works is dead. As a christian asking the question “how should I live my life and strategically use my time and energy to glorify the Lord?” I don’t think the answer is always spending more time in church. It’s easy and comfortable to sit and talk at church with people who you easily have common ground with through your shared faith. It’s harder to find common ground with non-believers and put the effort in to find shared interests in order to develop friendships. It’s harder to put yourself out there to others who don’t necessarily have the same moral beliefs that you do. It can be hard to give of yourself to those in the community who are less fortunate. But this is where christians are called to go. Christian, be encouraged to have other believing friends and be connected to a church but also be encouraged to go out and do the hard work even if that means sacrificing time spent at church.