A long, long time ago, I preached a sermon at a retreat. At the time, Waste Management Corporation had a TV ad that was based on one of its drivers having won an award as the best one in the country. They titled the ad campain, "A man is what a man does."

My sermon point was exactly that, without the gender insensativity: A person is what a person does. I suppose I was at the time becoming the social justice orriented believer I am today. Today, I read the Bible as being about justice, and those who persue it. In a sense, that is based on a basic "right belief" because absent the saving work of Jesus, why bother? Persuing justice can get a person killed.

But(!) the marker in my view, of a for real Christian is not what set of doctrines they hold, or what creeds they confess, it is what they do. As Hebrews and James remind us, faith is only important if it moves a person. Holding faith without standing up and acting is a seriouis waste of time.