Blog

by Logan Ames

I was listening to sports talk radio the other day and a man named Marcus Thompson was being interviewed. He writes for a website called The Athletic. Mr. Thompson was talking about his coverage of Golden State Warriors’ star Kevin Durant and his research into Durant’s background. Mr. Thompson said in the interview that it is remarkable that Durant turned out the way he did and has excelled the way he has because his upbringing did not set him on the road to success. Durant, like many others with rags-to-riches success stories, grew up in a broken family. His father left the family when he was infant, which led to his parents’ divorce and the need for his grandmother to help raise him. Basketball was his ticket to success and he worked hard at developing his craft to match his God-given height and ability. Similar stories would describe the lives of other all-time great athletes like LeBron James and Ray Lewis, proving that regardless of whether you come from a firm foundation or utter brokenness, your actions will go a long way in determining who you become.

In last week’s post, I shared my thoughts regarding James reminding his audience about their church father, Abraham, and his faith that was shown through action. To further illustrate his point, James follows his writing on Abraham by discussing the living faith of someone who couldn’t be more different than Abraham in every area other than faith. In James 2:25, he brings up Rahab, an Old Testament woman known best by a single title - “the prostitute." I find it interesting that James is a Christian, writing to mostly Christians, and referencing someone who came to faith just like they did. Yet, he still refers to her according to the worst part of her past. Why? I’m guessing it’s because James’ audience was primarily Jewish and judgmental and, though they knew the history of Rahab coming to faith, likely still remembered her sinful past in a way they had disregarded their own. Don’t we all do that at times? We hold onto the sins of others but conveniently forget about our own. More importantly, by reminding his readers of her past, James is showing that living faith has nothing to do with how you were raised or your past actions. It doesn’t even matter how long you’ve had faith. Once again, we’re reminded that living faith is always accompanied by ACTION. James 2:26 tells us that good deeds are to faith what the spirit is to the body. The spirit is what gives the body life, and deeds are what give life to faith.

Rahab’s story isn’t perfect. You can find it primarily in Joshua 2. She didn’t start out with any spiritual basis in her life. As I wrote in my book Heroes of the Faith, we must see the truth from Rahab’s life that faith is not something that only happens for the “religious” or “self-righteous." It doesn’t happen by going to church, and it’s not about our parents. No matter where we come from or what we’ve done, faith is an individual choice and is shown through action. Rahab did a lot of things wrong and lived in a pagan city enslaved by the filth of the world, but she chose to have faith when she came to realize she needed God the most. Rahab lived in Jericho, which was a fortified city just across the Jordan River from where the Israelites were camped out. It was the first city they would come to when they would enter the land of Canaan, which was the Promised Land that God was giving to them based on his promise to Abraham many years earlier.

Joshua was the leader of the Israelites and though he trusted that God would give them the land, it was still wise to scope it out because there was no guarantee that the current occupants of the land, who did not follow or worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, would just give it up without a fight. So, Joshua sends a couple spies over to check out the city of Jericho and see what will be necessary to take the land and the city. The spies wisely chose to enter the home of Rahab because no one would’ve suspected anything. As a prostitute, there were men leaving and entering her home all the time. While the spies’ plan made sense from a human perspective, their cover was blown when somehow, the king of Jericho received word that the spies had come to stay with Rahab. The king then sends men to Rahab and orders her to bring the spies out. Make no mistake about it - they would be brought outside to experience a public death intended to scare the bejesus out of anyone else who dare come to spy out their city or even think about trying to capture it.

At this point, the spies knew they were toast. Their fate was in the hands of a pagan woman who had absolutely no reason to help them. That was their assumption, at least. What they didn’t know was how God had already been working in her heart. In Joshua 2:4-7, we see that Rahab does the unthinkable and hides the Israelite spies, knowing full well they are from a nation that wants to conquer her city and her people and that she could be killed herself for aiding them. We also see that she lies to the men looking for the Israelite spies and sends them away. Later, she explains to the spies why she made her decision and how they can get back to the Israelite camp without being killed or captured. If this were all we knew, we could assume Rahab had some other motivation that had nothing to do with faith. If a person does good deeds without faith, that person is just as spiritually dead as someone who has faith but no deeds. In order for faith to be alive, it has to be BOTH an internal belief AND accompanied by action.

Joshua 2:9-11 shows us the reason why Rahab was suddenly motivated to help God’s people. She explains to the spies that she knows the Lord is giving them the land and that her own people are greatly afraid because of it and because of what they’ve heard about how the Lord has fought for them and provided for them in the past. Rahab now knows what it means to rightfully fear God. She even adds, “The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (v. 11). Rahab decided that it was better to be on THAT God’s side when the judgment comes than the side of her countrymen. First, we saw the action of hiding the spies; then, we saw the faith behind it. And all this from a woman who had no Godly foundation and didn’t even consider God someone with whom she could have a relationship at that point (she said “the Lord YOUR God” [caps mine]).

James is telling all of us that Rahab’s faith was just as much a saving faith as Abraham’s faith was. She didn’t have a clue what it meant to walk with God and his people yet, but her belief that the God of Israel was in total control caused her to determine it was best to help HIS people, and that belief led her to action at a moment when she was the only person who stood between the men of Jericho and the Israelite spies. Notice that James is not commending her for her lie, just as Hebrews 11 does not. He’s not saying Rahab’s faith was perfect. We all know that Abraham’s faith was far from perfect. But you don’t have to have perfect faith in order to have faith that is ALIVE. God used Rahab’s imperfect but willing faith to not only continue His plan and promise for the people of Israel to gain their own land, but also to bring salvation to Rahab and her family. Rahab would come and live among the Israelites after the fall of Jericho, would marry a Hebrew man, and would end up in the genealogy of our Messiah as the great-great-grandmother of King David (Matthew 1:5-6).

If you’ve grown up in a difficult situation, had poor examples of faith all around you, and had very little teaching regarding Biblical traditions, don’t think for a minute that you can’t have LIVING faith in God just as much as I or any other Christian you know does. Of course, it starts with some sort of internal recognition of who God is. That’s important. Once you have that realization, it may motivate you to some change in your life, possibly even something that seems drastic. But maybe that is what God wants for you. If it is, don’t waste another day ignoring what God is doing in your heart. Let go of the past and trust Him to lead you from here on out.

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