Lip Service Is No Service To God

Luke 6:46-49: "So why do you call me 'Lord' when you don't obey me? I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

One of the groups with whom Jesus had continual conflict were the Pharisees. These were religious zealots that were great at ceremonial show in Jewish culture, but their hearts were consumed with the exaltation that came with such pomp, rather than true praise for the Almighty God. The members of the Pharisaic group were great at praising the Lord in public (see Matthew 23), but their hearts were full of idolatry (the worship of themselves).

In the first verses of Luke 6, the Pharisees were angry with Jesus because He had healed a person with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath. Jesus was not playing by the rigid rules that the Pharisees had put into place to exalt their control and privilege over the people. After Jesus shared the Beatitudes with His disciples, He began to teach them the difference between those who were the true followers of God and those who were not. Jesus told His hearers that the truest evidence of a genuine follower was the spiritual fruit produced by the person; namely, a person who had the blessing of Christ within his heart would produce goodness for the Lord's kingdom. Those who did not have Christ might possibly put on a good show of spirituality, but the goodness of the Lord would be noticeably absent.

Jesus then shared that the litmus test for the true believer would be demonstrated in the trials and tribulations of life. The one who truly had come to a relationship with Christ and was obedient to Him as Lord would demonstrate spiritual fruit irrespective of the difficulties of life. He would be able to remain committed to the Lord, because He had set His hope (His foundation) upon the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ. No painful experience would be able to thwart His focused allegiance to the One True God; rather, that believer would be strengthened in his resolve, for his faith was anchored in the Lord.

What is telling from the cited passage is that the true believer will dig deep below the superficial layers of his life to set the foundation. Digging deep suggests that the person has received the offering of Christ's grace by earnestly seeking Him above all other persons and things. This process is no mere cordiality, but a passionate pursuit of the Lord. Like a person who takes on the painstaking task of digging deep to find the truest bedrock for his foundation, so too the true believer faithfully seeks the Lord and submits to Him as Master. The Word tells us that a person who seeks God with His whole heart will in fact find Him (Jeremiah 29:13).
When the painful trials of life come his way, the true believer knows that God is the Sovereign Lord who reigns supreme and uses all circumstances for His ultimate glory. Thus, as that person has surrendered himself to the Lordship of Christ, he will follow Him with absolute loyalty irrespective of the circumstances that befall him.

Conversely, the one who speaks his allegiance to the Lord, but has not been transformed by the awesome grace of Christ, is one who has built his life upon the shallow, shaky sand of himself. Although he has great lip service for the Lord, his truest disposition is revealed when tribulation comes his way. That is, when the trials of life are introduced, this person shows through his behavior that Christ is not his anchor. Many times, we will see that presumed believers will disavow their allegiance to the Lord or they will begin to live lifes of chronic rebellion against the Lord in response to the calamites of life. What is telling is that this person may have had a superficial "religiosity" but no intimacy with the Lord. Whereas he may have attended church each Sunday, noticeably absent is the evidential fruit of a truly transformed life.

We would do well to hear these words of the Savior, and examine ourselves to see to which foundation we have fixed ourselves. Have we dug deeply into the soil of life and placed our faith in Christ as our Sure Foundation, or have we placed our faith in ourselves? Do we merely have a form of spirituality through spoken word and yet lack the substantive fruit that reveals that we have been truly transformed by the grace of Christ? We will know our answer when the difficulties of life come our way (and they're coming!). I have always believed that the truest test of our relationship with Christ is revealed in times of temptation and tribulation. When you enter these valleys, examine your foundation. You may find that you need to surrender your life to God as your personal Lord. We can learn much from the hymn, The Solid Rock, for it tells us a most important truth: "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand."