All Talk, No Action

I am a single woman. Now, the reason that I am telling you this is because I am hoping that I can circumvent eHarmony and just use Faith Sowers as a kind of online dating agency. Ok, ok, that was just a joke. The real reason I am telling you is because of as a single woman in her twenties I get a lot of "let me set you up" offers from people far and wide. I get suggestions of possible romantic introductions from work, church, friends, friends of friends and even family. For example, my grandfather introduced me at his church this past Christmas as his unmarried granddaughter. The horror! Most of the times these comments are made with the best intentions. Yet if I had a dollar for every time I was told that someone knew someone who was just perfect for me, I would be a rich a woman. Rich enough, perhaps to end hunger in the world today. However, nothing ever comes of these offers. There is very little follow through. It is "all talk, no action".

At this point you might wonder what my singleness has to do with injustice in the world. Do I think that the fact that I am not married is unjust? Well, no, I don't. Yet after watching Blood Diamonds I must admit that able to think smugly that I definitely know I don't have one of those! Anyway, do I think that people saying that they have someone who should be my future husband and yet do nothing about it is unjust? Perhaps, but that is for a different blog! Anyway, the reason is because I have been reminded about the "all talk, no action" is because it not only relates to potential setups but even more so to the Church as a whole as we simply do not act when we say that we will.

Recently I went to a conference that was hosted by a high profile anti-hunger organization in Washington, DC. There were a lot of compelling speakers urging us to get involved in social justice and to see everyone, rich and poor, around the world as our neighbor. They called us to love and to act in ending extreme global poverty. All of this I agree with. However, what struck me was that we were hearing about a lot of shocking facts and statistics about the struggle against poverty. There were a lot of words being shared. Yet are these words being backed up by action? Will the participants actually do something after leaving the excitement of the meeting? Were we full of talk and no action?

This conference is not an isolated issue. We in the Church love to talk. I love to talk. But do we love to act? Do I love to act? Do I actually give up my leisure time to go out and do? I like to talk about injustice and how we can end suffering in the world but I wonder what actions I do on a regular basis that perpetuate the very thing that I am talking about wanting to end. I am so quick to pick out the inaction of others that I forget to realize that I am also standing still and simply moving my mouth.

So, where does that leave us? Clearly I am still without a date! Seriously, though, if I get frustrated with people talking and not acting about my nonexistent love life, how much more frustrated must God get when those who say they love the poor do not show it? Hmmm, I could write about this forever, oh irony!