I believe every true believer desires in their heart to be Jesus’ disciple. I also believe they can fade out, have seasons of despair, and grow jaded and seared. Having said that, even those ‘far away’ in their walk with Christ still have a spark of desire for Jesus, albeit some are confused.
All of this began with a calling… “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” (2 Timothy 1.9). In fact, this “calling” was by direct involvement of God-The-Holy Spirit. He didn’t stop there according to Philippians 1.6— “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” If you are saved, and alive in this world, you can rest assured God is not done working on you! Therefore, as I stated before, I believe there is still a spark of desire to be like Jesus in the heart of every true believer.
Take a moment and remember when you were first saved. Remember the first time you felt that love rush through you. Maybe it has been a while and you have experienced a few revivals since. Think of those moments… God was working and you could tangibly feel it, maybe even see it. Your desires were to Him only and you were tender-hearted. Brokenness was the only word that could describe it. Something happened… eventually you either got out of the mix of it all, or even worse, you began to go through the motions.
Now I am sure many believing church-goers are saying to themselves at about this moment, going through the motions cannot be worse than getting out of fellowship. Well, in fact, they are the same. Let me explain from an Old Testament text where God is speaking directly to the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 29.13— “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, And with their lips do honour me, But have removed their heart far from me, And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” So God said, Because they draw close with their words and attempt to honor me with their mouths, but their hearts far from me, and their reverence for me consists of tradition learned by rote…
First, let’s consider the heart problem. God said they come to me with a mouth of service but there is no genuineness or desire to complete what they are saying. Some would call that hypocritical. The exact diagnosis is— lip service. Saying one thing but not knowing why or caring why produces lip service: attempts to come near without heart. Merriam Webster dictionary defines lip service as: “an avowal of advocacy, adherence, or allegiance expressed in words but not backed by deeds —usually used with pay” They were giving lip service to God in that they said all the right things, acted upon all the right things, but their heart wasn’t in it. Do you think there are believers today who give lip service? I think so. I think there are many who find themselves “going through the motions.”
Next, let’s look at what results from this behavior. Verse 13 started with— “Because…”; meaning their is some follow up to this. So let’s look at verse 14, which says— “ Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.” Basically God says— I am going to blow their mind! The people will see what I can really do. Meanwhile their so-called discerning, wise men will not know what is going on. This tells me the counselors and spiritual leadership of the day may be part of the problem. They will be the ones lost. Everyone is just simply going through the motions, but the ones only taught them by their leaders. No one even knows why they are doing what they are doing.
This brings me to the next point— The lessons from the leaders only consisted of tradition. Specifically, men’s traditions. This makes it clear why God said in 14 that He was going to confound them with a true God-sized thing. They had compartmentalized God’s things, they had boxed God in with their legislated answers for everything. Were the times of worship wrong…were the sacrifices wrong…was the service to the Lord wrong? No, but it was done without the heart. Their heart was far being engaged in what was going on. They had their mind on the duty of it all instead of the heart of it. The what and how replaced the who!
How did this happen? Verse 13 again said— “And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” In other words, they learned by rote. Rote means— “mechanical or habitual repetition of something to be learned” (Webster online). If you do without thought or question and it becomes a traditional habit; eventually you will just do it mechanically and not from the heart. Robotic motions is exactly what “going through the motion” is.
Does this happen to us today? Yes! As I asked you to reminisce about the times when it was you and God and you were “all in”. Did that stroll down memory lane make you consider your own present condition? Do you feel that you may be just going through the motions? Do you feel that maybe you have done things some-what robotically? Like— Coming to church, writing a check, paying your respects, but really just don’t care. This is the definition of a believer who is not a disciple. A disciple wants to. A disciple is engaged. A disciple knows why. A disciple is heart-in first! We cannot lead others including our own children and present members of our churches into this robotic legalism with no heart for God. If I struggle to come to church then frankly its a me-and-God-problem and not others, the teaching, or the environmental style. I cannot afford to give one more check when my heart is not engaged. My obedience must be with the heart, and not because I have always done it this way.
Highland Baptist Church specifically; we are autonomous and what another church does is truly their prerogative to talk to the Lord about and be led by the Holy Spirit. Having said that— I want God to show up. I want Him to blow my mind and make me to stand in awe of Him. What I don’t want, is to be the guy who has lost all discernment and demand things keep going this way no matter what. I do not want to become robotic and lead people into going through the motions any more! Even church and it’s elements can become an end to themselves. Why is there Sunday school? Why are there screens? Why do we do an envelope? All of which needs to be asked. Our heart must be in it. We must draw to God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.
There is then a grave danger in going through the motions. It starts by doing and not knowing why. Paul said to the church of Colossi: Colossians 2.20-23— “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.” This verse clearly states that this worship of the will shows or looks like humility and honor… but in fact are ordinances made up of men’s traditions and not God’s. Literally says “doctrines of men.” Doctrines or traditions of men have no power or eternal significance, no matter how genuine they are. I can be as genuine as I can be, believe with all my heart, and with true desire say the rosary; but it is not going to make God move one inch. He is not concerned about the mind-numbing actions of traditional worship as much as He is the true disciple who is heart-in all the way. We are told to love God, not the pew, with all of our heart. We are told to love God, not the piano, with all of our soul. We are told to love God, not the offering time, with all of our mind. We are told to love God… love God… love GOD with all of our being!
God help us if we are going through the motions. God give us mercy if we are doing anything without all of our heart to Him. He is not replaceable! We cannot afford to learn to do by rote and not from the heart. It MUST be real!