A Little Less Talk

Okay, I expect to take some heat for this, but take your best shot. There is a song I remember hearing somewhere that struck me as I was reading scripture yesterday. The song is "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action" by Toby Keith. Now, don't quit reading. I know, country music is an oxymoron, but this jumped into my brain. I don't listen to country music, don't condone country music, and have a hard time even admitting there was a time I liked country music. It is not that I think the lyrics are bad or anything, but how many songs about a dog, a pick-up truck and a girl named Louise can you write? Give me some classic rock, some Zepplin or old school Aerosmith, but not country. I may be committing heresy here by using country music in context of scripture, but cut me a little slack. (If you are a country music fan, I apologize. And may God have mercy on your sin sick soul!!)

However this little phrase jumped into my head as I reflected on Romans 12:9-21. Paul is writing about what our lives should look like as followers of Christ. He says this at the very beginning: "Love must be sincere." If you go no further in the passage you have a whole ton of stuff to wrestle with.

As I was sharing with some high school students last night about this verse I brought it down to the very simple concept: Love = Action!! Christians are great about talking about love. We like love. We focus on love. We dream about love. But what does it mean if love never translates to action? If I tell my wife I love her, but I never demonstrate it to her by buying her a card or flowers or sending her a little text message, do I really demonstrate love?

As followers of the Way of Christ, we must begin to model love. We put it into action. It leads us to inconvenience and self-sacrifice. It costs something. But the reward is awesome. Love acted upon is the greatest example of God's love for us. Check out Romans 5:8 for a picture of his love.

So, today, let's do one thing. I never thought I would say this, and I know it is taken out of context of the song, but let's put love into practice. In the words of Toby Keith, "We need a little less talk and a lot more action."