Doers... and Do Nothings
Monday, February 19, 2024
“The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention.” – Jacques Joseph Duguet
Jacques Joseph Duguet was a French theologian who was born in 1649 and ordained in 1677. Much of his ministry career was spent at odds with different factions within the Catholic Church, but it is hard to disagree with the sentiments he expressed in the quote above.
After all, didn’t James – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – say virtually the same thing?
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead.” James 2:14-17 (BSB)
And didn’t Jesus Himself convey a similar teaching in Matthew 21:28-32?
“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”
My friend, we all know what the road to hell is paved with, right? Good intentions!
“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” Matthew 5:37 (ESV)
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.” James 1:22 (NASB)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
