Written by Jennifer Woodruff Tait, a contemporary Episcopal priest, editor, and author.
When I was a young person, two different ideas were often set before me in terms of how we were supposed to bring others to the Gospel. One was the idea that what mattered was to convince people to believe rightly, no matter how much harm we might cause in the process; this would lead them to behave rightly. The other was the idea that all that mattered was behaving rightly, and that our behavior would convince others to believe even if we never spoke about the Gospel. For the record, I think both believing and behaving are important. But I think—based on these and other passages—that calling people to Jesus starts with behaving kindly to them far more often than we tend to think. As the church, let’s get a head start on being “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” That’s quite enough to get started with. It would transform society if we did it.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. [James 3:13]
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