Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. – James 4:17 (NLT)
Bad things happen whether we want them to or not. We live in a world that is not perfect and will never be. Everyone comes across good and bad influences. However, it is what we do we see something that is wrong and not do anything about it.
The first thing most people do when something bad happens is to pray. We pray that God will do something to change the person’s heart or to make them stop whatever it is that they shouldn’t be doing. While it is good to have faith and believe that God will take care of it, we must do our part as well.
In the book of James, it says if you meet someone who is in need and just wish them well without doing anything about it, then what good is it? To be a bystander and to continue to let things go on as they are is one of the worse things we can do.
Letting things go on as they are isn’t just for those who are in need. It is also the case when people do bad things. If all we do is pray for those who have evil thoughts and then continue to let them have easy access to the tools, they need to carry out these deeds, then we are just as guilty.
God put us in a certain place at a certain time. He wants us to do our part in stopping those who wish to harm others with the resources we have at hand. Whether it doing it ourselves or supporting those who want to prevent bad things from happening, then we should do all we can to help stop it.
What stops us from stepping in and doing our part to help prevent bad things from happening? Sometimes, it is what others tell us or what we believe. To determine what we believe or what we’ve been told we should use the litmus test of what Jesus would do. Would Jesus just be an idle bystander, praying for things to change and then doing nothing about it?
Jesus, during his time here on earth, was not an idle bystander. When he saw the money changers in the temple, he could have prayed for them to change their ways and then just keep on walking by, but he didn’t – he went into the temple and did something about it. Doing nothing, when he knew could is something Jesus didn’t do, and neither should we.
If you know that you can do something, even if it is just showing your support is better than doing nothing at all. Praying things change will not necessarily make them change. There are times when we will need to do something and show that our faith is supported by our actions. Being a bystander is showing others that we have a dead faith. It is when we do something, we show others that our faith is alive and real. Even when we know it won’t make much difference, we should be doing all we can to make a difference.
When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we also accepted the fact that we can never be an idle bystander in this world. It is our duty to do know we ought to do and then do it.
Originally published August 2019