Service God's Way

For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.

Do not tear down the work of God.... (Romans 14:18, 20)

There are times when I find it very helpful to discover meanings and definitions within the text that shed a lot of light on terms and concepts that are important for us to know. Because of the pervasive nature of deception in this world and particularly in religion, it is extremely important to keep watch for clues of the genuine where God is trying to reveal the real truth to us if we are willing to pay attention.

In these verses I see notice given that religion as many people tend to view it is likely practiced quite differently than the way God wants us to experience it. This whole passage, even this whole book, is addressing that very problem. Paul is trying to get people to see that God's desires for His children are radically different than the assumptions we have often had about what He wants for us. Much of what is labeled as “service” for Christ is, in His eyes, not really serving Him at all but is tearing down what He is working to build up.

The contractor that I work with likes to tell this little example to his customers on occasion. He tells them that sometimes people want to know if they can save any money by helping him as he works to repair their house and how much they might save. He tells them, “Well, I am certainly willing to let the homeowner help me work. Sometimes I offer to pay them ten dollars an hour and for others I charge them ten dollars an hour. That depends on how much real assistance you are, and right now I don't know which it will be until I see how you work.”

I think that God may feel that way about us many times. We have such grandiose plans of how we want to further God's work on earth and we spend much of our time, our lives and energy and creativity working to build up what we believe is the church of God while in actuality we are sometimes dismantling many of the things that from God's perspective are the elements of the true body He is knitting together. I have come to realize that quite likely God has to advance His work in spite of most of our efforts for Him much more than His work benefits because of our supposed work for Him.

But I also believe that God's work in the lives and hearts of people could advance much more quickly if we actually got closer to His heart ourselves and learned to see things from His perspective instead of what we are used to thinking. But this requires a much more radical paradigm shift in many areas of our thinking and the scrapping of most, if not all of our assumptions about God and about religion that most people are often unwilling to do. It is very difficult to let go of our deep-seated beliefs about religion and life and relationships. It is all we have ever known and we feel much safer clinging to the known than allowing our lives to be caught up in the swift current of God's passion for souls and be swept into the unknown to be used as He desires to use us.

I think about the previous verse here that explicitly describes what the kingdom of God really is and how different that is from how we perceive religion and God's kingdom. We are so addicted to force, to compulsion, to externals, so obsessed with appearances and so infiltrated with subtle pride and independence that it is nearly impossible for us to believe that God could ever operate outside our narrow parameters. But Paul tries to make it clearer here for us. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

The external nature of religion is so deeply ingrained in my own thinking from my upbringing that whenever I read this verse a voice inside instantly points out that the word righteousness must mean right behavior and that means focusing on being a good person and obeying and.... If you are familiar with this kind of thinking I believe you can get the drift toward performance. But this only betrays my own problem of fighting against false ideas about religion that still reside inside of my brain and tends to infiltrate everything that passes through it. While God has been very gracious in sharing with me many things that are opposite of what I previously believed and assumed, I am becoming more and more aware of many assumptions still very much entrenched within my heart that need to be exposed and replaced with God's perspective and God's ways.

Because of this I am coming much more into sympathy with the Psalmist who repeatedly wrote that he wanted to understand God's ways, His laws and His statutes. I used to cringe every time I read those sorts of things in the Psalms because for me laws meant arbitrary and repulsive rules and restrictions that were anything but life-giving or appealing. But in the past few years as my perception of God has changed so much in response to His on-going revelations to my heart, my definitions of religious words and phrases has been repeatedly revised and transformed. I am coming to be much more attracted to the true God of heaven, my Father who I am coming to actually believe loves me in ways that make a difference to my heart. I have been slowly accepting His view of true religion as the falseness of popular religion has been more and more exposed in the light of surprising and exciting revelations of His true character. Because of this I am becoming more intensely hungry to know more about Him and how He relates to us because it is so much more attractive and appealing than I ever dreamed in previous years.

That is the reason why each time this inner voice tries to convince me that righteousness means primarily outward performance that I have to remind myself that this definition comes from a lying spirit that still haunts me from my past. It is a religious spirit but still a lying spirit nonetheless. And this verse is one of the most effective flashlights that shines light on the false nature of this assumption about the word righteousness. This verse makes very clear that God's priorities are primarily about the condition of my heart and my spirit and not about external trappings and performances of religion. If I don't get that crucial truth firmly in place within my belief system nothing else will ever fit together correctly. This truth is absolutely fundamental to a proper relationship with God and a healthy perception of true religion.

I see this verse as a warning for me. It tells me that religion can easily become a distraction from experiencing the real kingdom of God. True kingdom thinking is not to be focused on the externals and working hard to maintain appearances but is all about the condition of my heart, my attitudes and my relationships. Anytime I find myself zeroing in on performance in any arena and forget that the condition of my spirit is more important, then it is very likely that I will find myself getting out of balance and becoming derailed from the truly important things that keep me in touch with my Creator.

The externals are the symptoms by which I can learn what is going on at the deeper levels of my being since I often cannot consciously access what is really in my heart most of the time. I believe that much of what God is working to repair and correct is at the sub-conscious level of our being and is therefore frustrating to those who want to measure and keep tabs on their Christian growth. But it is impossible to perceive much of the deeper things within us simply because they are outside the ability of our brain to access. But our conscious choices do have great influence on our subconscious processes and it is our spirit that lies at the center of the great battle between good and evil, between God and His archenemy and the great deceiver, Satan.

So while the externals are not to be ignored or marginalized, they need to always be put back repeatedly in their proper place in our priorities and God's Spirit must be sensed and followed more consistently. If I give more focus and attention to Sabbath-keeping than on the condition of my spirit for which the Sabbath was given, then I am getting derailed from true spirituality. If I get more obsessed about facts of Scripture than I am attracted to the heart of the One the Scriptures are trying to reveal to me, then I am becoming anesthetized by deception. If I get worked up and anxious in the slightest about diet, about dress, about religious activities and performances then I am being sucked into the false security of counterfeit righteousness and I need to repent and turn again to seek God's face and deepen my vital connection with His heart of passionate love.

God, You know the weakness and falseness of my heart far better than I can ever know. I throw myself on Your mercy and grace and trust in Your love, Your wisdom and Your kindness to keep bringing me back to focus my whole life on knowing Your heart. I give You permission again and ask You to reveal Yourself much more clearly to my heart and teach me Your ways. I want to see much more clearly Your eternal principles that for us have been called laws. Please cleanse me of all resistance to Your work in my heart. Take me today, bless me, transform me and mentor me. I want to see what You are doing and to be used by You to cooperate with Your true work in other people's lives instead of ignorantly tearing down the very things You are trying to build up in other hearts. Open my eyes, my ears, my heart and draw me to Yourself today for Your name's sake.

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