When the power of godliness is absent from a church body, Jesus and true godliness are likewise absent. Sure enough, there may be a form of godliness, a group of people going through the motions week in and week out, performing more from muscle memory than an authentic desire to worship. There will be singing and clapping and enough jokes to fill a standup special, but as far as power, it will be altogether nonexistent.
You can check off all the boxes as far as organization,
entertainment, and convenient service times are concerned, fly in guest
speakers from around the world, and offer a glut of resources, but if Jesus is
missing, absent from the equation, or relegated to a secondary role and a
tertiary pursuit, you have nothing but a hollow thing that will, at some point,
collapse under the weight of its own vanity and self-importance.
True godliness cannot be counterfeited. Even the best among
us at feigning godliness can only manage a form of it because true godliness is
not contingent on how well you dress or how often you show up to volunteer but
rather on how your heart perceives Jesus and who He is to you. You can say all
the right things, dress in a culturally acceptable manner, and clap when everyone
else is clapping, yet your heart can be far from Him. No one around you will
know any different, but God knows. Chances are no one will spot the duplicity,
lukewarmness, or indifference within that hour and a half you spend in church,
but the Lord searches the heart and tests the mind to give every man according
to his ways and the fruit of his doings.
You can fool some of the people some of the time. You can
pull the wool over a pastor’s eyes or a church’s eyes for a season, even
longer, but it doesn’t work with God. We can’t trick God into thinking us
godly. We must be godly. Those with a form of godliness always seem to be
overcompensating for their lack of true godliness. Oftentimes, they are
regarded as the movers and shakers of a church body, always pushing for more
action rather than reflective humility and prayer. We need to start a new
outreach, a new club, a new prayer chain, something, anything, because the
action has replaced true godliness, and they’ve come to believe that it is an
acceptable substitute.
Look at all I’ve done for the kingdom! Look at all the
plaques, accolades, letters of appreciation, and accreditations. Look at all
the titles I’ve amassed and how often I’ve been called out by name for my
endeavors! But what of godliness? Godliness can wait. We’re busy with other
things: this new interactive experience, the expansion, the new campus, or the revitalization
of our community outreach. Our need to be seen doing something by those around
us has replaced the need for God to see us walking in godliness. This is a
dangerous path where actions overshadow spiritual growth, leading to a form of
godliness.
There’s always something that pushes godliness to the back
burner because godliness is not attainable by doing one thing but by living in
truth and being subservient to Christ in all things. Sometimes, the will of God
for your life will remove you from the spotlight. At other times, it will
humble you. If the will of God is not preeminent in all you do, then any
attempt at decreasing the man that Christ might increase or removing an
individual from the path of men’s praise that God might be glorified will be
circumvented and resisted.
Sorry, Skippy, it’s not about you and never has been. If need
be, the rocks will cry out, so the notion that you are indispensable to the
plan of God for the world and can, therefore, take liberties as you will is a
lie the devil planted in your heart.
There is nothing you can do on behalf of the kingdom of God
that can replace your pursuit of true godliness and be seen as acceptable in
His eyes. If you’re too busy to pray because you’re doing so much for the
ministry, whatever ministry that might be, do less for it and pray more. There
is a hierarchal prioritization established by Christ that we seem to have done
away with altogether in our modern age.
Why didn’t Jesus spend less time praying and more time
healing the sick? Why didn’t Jesus spend less time in fellowship with the
Father and more time doing miracles? Because He understood the paramount
importance of these things and practiced them consistently, prioritizing them
so that they came first every time.
If you claim that you are more spiritual than Jesus and, as
such, you don’t need as much prayer or sanctification, that’s the only time you
can ignore these spiritually necessary components of your Christian walk in
lieu of sitting on one more church board or starting yet another ministry.
Oh, brother. Don’t be absurd. No one’s claiming they’re more
spiritual than Jesus. Then why are you acting like it? Why is the focus not on
prayer, fellowship, and growth but on building monuments to men and fighting
for a legacy you have no right to in the first place?
If it’s all about Jesus, why is your name on everything? If
it’s all about His kingdom, why are you so obsessed with building your own?
Those monogrammed prayer cloths you sell don’t have JC embroidered on them. Instead,
they have your initials.
Even those with the best intentions who tirelessly work in
the harvest field must be aware that working for God cannot replace intimacy
with God. We can’t be so busy doing things for God that we don’t have time to
fellowship with Him. It’s a dangerous road to go down and one whose final
destination is a form of godliness. I’ve seen it happen time and again, and
though I may not be gifted in many areas, I do have the ability to learn from
other people’s mistakes.
I’ve seen families torn asunder, marriages break up, and
hearts, once burning bright, turn into smoldering ash because men ignored
consistent fellowship with Christ in lieu of working for Him. It’s not God that
called you to destroy your family or your testimony; it was your own vanity.
His intent will never be that you shipwreck your faith in order to work for Him.
He is not a cruel God, but the flesh is a cruel taskmaster.
Those whom Jesus will declare that He never knew didn’t lack
in the doing stuff department. They prophesied in His name, cast out demons,
and did many wonders in His name, yet Jesus will declare He never knew them.
Your primary goal is not to do things on behalf of the Kingdom but to be of the
Kingdom. It’s not to build things around you but to build up your most holy
faith inside of you. All the other things, the ministry, church planting,
programs, and projects, must flow out from your being in God, in His presence,
hearing His voice, and obeying His commands.
Somehow, we’ve inverted the natural progression of working
for God, and many set out doing before knowing, building before they are called
to build, and elevating their stature at the expense of God’s plans rather than
waiting patiently on the Lord and letting Him guide their steps.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
Posted on 10 August 2024 | 12:17 pm
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