Recently someone I know suggested that if one gets too involved in politics, it brings into question his or her devotion to Christ. My first thought was, “who authorized you to be the judge of another person’s heart”? All of us are prone to judge others. It’s part of the human condition. Here is what Paul wrote about it.
Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval. Romans 14:4 (NLT)
Paul said in another place that he did not even judge himself. He left that up to the Lord, the only one who sees perfectly into our hearts and motivations. (1 Corinthians 4:3)
At times we get the idea that other people must measure up to the standard we set for them. One definition of a legalist is someone who demands everyone else come up to the level of righteous behavior he thinks he has attained. We like to do that to other people, but hate it when it is done to us. But God makes it clear that only he can adequately see into the heart and properly judge us. (1 Samuel 16:7) We tend to judge ourselves by our good intentions and others by their actions.
Even a leader as great as Moses failed in this area. Let’s not forget how reluctant he was to take on the leadership of Israel to guide them out of Egypt. He came up with all kinds of excuses, but finally he agreed. He should have been merciful to his people’s reluctance to follow God, but he became judgmental of them toward the end of their desert wanderings, which cost him the privilege of being able to lead them into the promised land. (Numbers 20:10-13)
When leaders judge the the people under their care, they stop properly representing God and may reap the judgment they sow.
This begs the question, is it even possible to measure our own or others’ devotion to Christ? What standard should we use? A great diagnostic question I sometimes ask is, “Are you doing enough for the Lord?” The answer will tell a lot about how someone understands what Christ has done for them. A friend of mine recently told me that he believed he had done enough that day. Naturally I asked him how did he know? He gave the perfect answer: he felt he had done what the Holy Spirit showed him to do that day.
The Bible says that Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law on our behalf. (Romans 10:4) He measured up perfectly to God’s holy standard so that we do not have to do so. Therefore, we begin each day with an A+ on our spiritual report card. Now all that remains is for us to follow the leading of the Spirit, not to measure up, but simply for the joy of it.
Have you ever noticed that people who really enjoy their work usually go above and beyond what is required or expected? I have a friend who loves woodworking. He builds furniture for people and charges far less than what one would expect considering his labor. He does it because he loves his work. He refuses to cut corners even though he isn’t getting a proper return on his investment of time and effort. He produces a very good product because he loves and is good at what he does.
I spend quite of bit of time writing. For some people, writing is difficult and unpleasant; so, they don’t do much. For me writing comes fairly easily and is very satisfying. For that reason, I am happy to spend whatever time it takes to write and rewrite an article like this one because it brings me satisfaction and joy. No one is making me do this. I certainly am not getting rich. Because I love to write, I spend time to do it as well as I can and hope it benefits others and somehow glorifies the Lord.
Paul wrote that his labor in the gospel was done because of love.
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NIV)
Certainly not everything Paul did was fun, but he loved what he did because he loved his Lord and deeply appreciated all that Jesus did for him. Paul said that he worked harder than his contemporaries, but gave all the credit to God.
But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NLT)
Jesus also did his work for the joy of it. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote:
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Hebrews 12:2 (NLT)
Someone once said that, if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. Paul and Jesus worked very hard doing what they loved. Love compelled or motivated them to expend themselves for the Father’s and our sake.
I have never met a missionary who did not love missions. God seldom calls us to go against how he made us. Some women are tremendous mothers because they absolutely love being a mom. It is certainly not easy work, but love motivates them to be excellent. They take joy in their calling. Some fathers do a great job being a dad because they love their kids and greatly value having that role.
Those who resent what they do rarely go the “extra mile,” and they will certainly not inspire others. However, when someone loves what he does and goes above and beyond what is expected or required, his enthusiasm becomes contagious.
The elder brother of the prodigal son faithfully served his father, but not for the joy of it. His resentment bubbled up when his father blessed his younger repentant brother. Many of us Christians, sadly, are like the elder brother. We resent those in the church who do not seem to work as hard as we think we do because we are serving for the wrong reason. When love motivates us, we will joyfully serve whether or not anyone else does or not. We realize that we too are by nature reluctant to obey God at times; so, we extend mercy to others who have yet to “see the light.” People generally respond to our tone as much as they do to our words. If we are joyful in our service, we will more be more likely to inspire others.
No one likes to be “guilted” into obedience. God loves a cheerful giver, not someone who obeys merely because they are under duress. (2 Corinthians 9:7)
As a great man of God once said, “Expect the best from God and the worst from people, and you will never be disappointed.”
Can we know if we are doing enough for the Lord? By now I hope you see that this is the wrong question. First of all, Jesus has done it all for us already. Secondly, how can we even measure our devotion and performance, since only God can see into the heart? We are not even adequate to judge ourselves. Thirdly, what right do we have to make that judgment? Only the Accuser of the Brethren (Revelation 12:10) enjoys pointing out our deficiencies. God reserves to himself that responsibility, and the Bible says he is our advocate, not someone who condemns us. (Romans 8:33-34)
Perhaps a better question might be what is it that we truly love to do, and how can we translate that into blessing others and glorifying the Lord?
Do we love talking to people? How then can the Holy Spirit help us to nudge conversations toward the Lord? Do we love to be hospitable? How can that be used to make people feel welcome and loved? Do we love to fix things? How can we serve our neighbor in that way? Do we love to cook? How can we bless people with that gift and skill? Do we love to play golf? How can we use that sport to talk to people about Christ? Do we love to work with wood? How can we use that skill to make connections with people and bless them? Do we love to kayak, camp, hunt, fish, sew, clean, do yard work… The list can go on and on.
You get the point. If we can serve others doing what we love to do, we will never resent or avoid it.
I have known someone who regularly shared the gospel in a public setting, who told me that seeing results was not his concern, only being obedient. I am fairly certain that he saw little fruit because people quickly pick up on whether or not we love them. His demeanor did not exude love. If we don’t care if someone comes to the Lord, why on earth should we bother? How can we properly represent Christ who laid down his life for his enemies? If we share the gospel out of a sense of duty, it will be less than inspiring to the one listening to our message. We need to realize that how we come across is an advertisement for what we share. We should never share the good news about Jesus merely to check off another task in the hope of eventually “doing enough.” We should share because we are excited about the Lord and want more people to know and love him as we do.
People will likely be more open to our message when they observe excitement and enthusiasm in the speaker.
Some of us pray only because we hope to get something from God for our efforts, and the Lord understands that. Sometimes our aspirations are quite noble and sometimes selfish. We may put in time in prayer in the hope that God will pour out revival. We may think that we have to earn it. But shouldn’t our motivation be something even higher? What if we prayed simply because we love to be in God’s presence? How would we like it if our spouse or child only came to us when they wanted ask us for something, but did not care to spend time with us otherwise? Isn’t that how many of us treat prayer?
It all boils down to our motivation. God’s motivation in all of this is crystal clear. He loves us past comprehension, wants to be with us, and wants the absolute best for us. King David discovered the joy of being in God’s presence. Here is a psalm he wrote, perhaps as a young man.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11 (ESV)
These are not the words of a resentful, dutiful servant. David did not worship God when he tended sheep in the wilderness because someone made him do it. He did it for the sheer joy of being with God. Worshiping and spending time with God seemed to be one of his chief desires, at least when he was at his best. His love for God propelled him into worship, psalm writing, fighting God’s enemies, and government service. David was exceptional at most everything he did because, I believe, his love for God motivated him to give his very best. As was the case with Paul, he no longer lived for himself, but for God.
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:16-17 (NLT)
We see a progression here. Spend time with the Lord, in his Word and in worship, because we love him, and then we will be inspired and able to heartily and joyfully serve him and others as he directs.
Like us, David and Paul had their ups and downs. No one is perfectly consecrated all of the time, except for Jesus. We should not beat ourselves up when we fail. Since Jesus has already made us measure up, that is not a concern. The only thing we really should focus on is growing in our love for God and others. When love motivates us, we just naturally go the extra mile.
So instead of asking, “are we doing enough,” perhaps we should first thank Jesus for doing enough on our behalf and then ask him to so work in us so that we love him and other people more.
Perhaps we should follow David’s example and spend quality time with the Lord in the Word, worship, and prayer. Then perhaps we will find ourselves expending ourselves out of love for God and others, and no one will be able to rate our performance, because love cannot be measured, except by God, the one whom we serve and who loves us past comprehension.
