faith without works is dead

I have had many conversations with my youth minister. One of the ones I remember most is works vs. faith.
My youth minister says they are both equal, and I can see how that could work. Faith causes works, and works support faith. It would make sense if that was how they worked, all equal, but the more I think about it, the more it doesn't seem to make sense at all.
If they were both equal, it would mean that a christian that went to church weekly and was deeply religious and prayed every night and never faltered in belief, would be at least half right, but if that was true, then Mohandas K. Gahndi would be half wrong, even though he did great and followed many Christian ideas, even though he wasn't christian.
 The way that I see it (And remember, this is all completely hypothetical), if you are perfect in faith but do no works, it would be a net loss for the good of everyone. But if you are perfect in faith but have no faith or a faith other than christianity, then what you do is a net gain for the good of everyone, despite the fact that one more seat was empty during church.
It says in the bible, "If you have faith enough to move mountains, but do not love, you are nothing." Love as I understand it, love is root of all true good works, and it can come from a Hindu, Atheist, Muslim, Jew, or even a cult member. So even if it is a bit uneven, I think works overrule faith in most cases.