Being nice is not enough

"O! Deeds are better than the Words" -- declared the proud or the lazy.

It is such a noble thing to say, and immediately gives the people who say it
to you a boost of RedBull energy drink as if they were more pious than you
are. So, you are tempted to catch a chance to say this to someone else in
order that you may feel the boost of the instant upgrade of piety yourself.
And for some others, it is a lazy cover to excuse themselves from diligent
study of God's word because they can simply be "nice".

That is a false understanding of Jesus' teachings for his believers to do
good deeds. Jesus never teaches that good deeds alone are sufficient. What
He teaches is that words alone are not sufficient. There are so much truth
in the riches of God's Word that can not be demonstrated in deeds but need
to be proclaimed in words. For example, how do you demonstrate without words
to your neighbor that God parted the Red Sea and stopped the Jordan River?
How do you demonstrate in deeds alone that a donkey talked and a fish
swallowed a man alive for three days? How do you demonstrate without words
why Jesus die on the cross? And who is Jesus anyway? Simply being "nice", or
even "very nice" is a secular definition of moral code. To love our neighbor
can not be divorced from our rich duty of witnessing the work of the Lord by
proclaiming his truth.

Most importatntly -- how can we forget -- not some, but ALL fall short of
the truth revealed. Therefore, let Christians stop the foolish thought
thinking that our deeds are sufficient in proclaiming God's truth. While
Christians are commanded to do good deeds out from faith, Christians must be
warned so we remember our own vanities: many pagans live more outwardly
moral lives than believers. How many pagans do you know actually commit in
deeds of adultery and murder? Yet David was chosen by God as a living
example to proclaim in words that God forgives every sinner who runs to him:

"Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will
sing of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare
your praise." (Psalm 51)

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