The Limits of Witness

Just as thoughts and feelings can become idols, so can actions.  Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7: 21-23

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

It is hard to believe that someone who calls Jesus Lord, preaches the Gospel,  prophesies,  casts out demons,  and does great works can find themselves rejected by God, but that’s what Jesus says here.  If we do all these things and haven’t known Jesus personally, it really does us no good.

Being Jesus-connected is more than just being active in the church, or even in good works outside the church. It is a living and ongoing relationship.  It is easy for us to get caught up in the activity of doing what we think is God’s work, and forget to consult with Him about what He really wants for us. 

In our culture we often define ourselves by what we do.  When two people meet, the first question they ask is about their occupation “What do you do for a living?”  The greatest compliment you can give them, which is heard at many funerals, is to call them “a hard worker.”  The worst insult is to call them “useless.”  We often define our lives in terms of how much we can get done, or how much we influence the world around us. 

But this is just another form of community spirituality. Our ultimate worth comes from our relationship with God, not from what we do in the world.  When our lives become obsessed with action, we become a house without foundation. We try to get the outside of our lives in order, but the interior connection is not there.  This leads to burnout and frustration. 

Faith is more than just going through the motions. Head and heart must also be present.  We must know the Lord of our faith, both intellectually and personally.  In real faith, actions are an expression of a whole-life commitment to God. The details of our actions matter less than the reasons we are doing it.

Doing is not enough unless it also includes knowing and being.  We can go through all the motions and never become grounded in our faith.  When that happens we see several problems.

An over-obsession with outward actions leads us to judge ourselves by performance. If we are making a difference in the world, but if we do not perceive ourselves as making a difference, we get depressed and down.  What gives meaning to our lives is not what we accomplish but doing the will of our Father. His will may be for us to accomplish great things, or it may be to spend our time guarding little things.  We are like soldiers who are willing to march on the front lines, but are not willing to do guard duty on a lonely wall at midnight. Yet our place of sitting still is just as important as our place in the heat of battle. 

This action-oriented approach often becomes a problem at the end of life. What happens when we can no longer do for others or even ourselves?  What happens when we a sidelined by illness,  caretaking a loved one, or by job loss?   Can we be happy doing nothing important? Al of us will face a time of imposed idleness.  If we are not strong in our relationship to God, these can be the most difficult times we face. 

Then there is the problem of judgmentalism.  Mission-oriented people can fall into the trap of believing that everyone must have the same mission that we do.  There are many missions that God may give—evangelism, foreign missions,  discipleship,  social action,  political action, and many others.  But not all of us have the same mission. There is no one “main” mission of the church.  The Christian life is not about mission, but submission to Christ.  We must know Him and hear Him,  before we act. 

 Legalism is another problem.  Legalism is an obsession with doing everything right. It is the assumption that if we don’t do the right things in the right way that God will not accept us.  This is a distortion of the relationship we have with God. God loves us, not our action.  He does not exclude us from His fellowship because we do not do everything correctly.   He cares for who we are more than he cares for what we do.  Our best efforts for God all fall woefully short.  Compared with the perfection of Christ, our greatest efforts are like childish crayon scrawls next to the Mona Lisa.  But God, like any loving parent, would rather have those pictures painted by a loving son or daughter than all the great works of art combined.  He accepts us because He knows us. We do not witness for Christ to earn his love;  we witness for Christ because we already have it.

Witness In the world is a good thing. But it is not the only thing. A relationship with Him must come first. 

How about you?  Was there ever a time in your life when your service to God eclipsed your relationship with Him?  If it did, how did you get back in touch with God?

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