HEALTHY CHURCH: The Narcotic of Activity

      Our world is all about vision, goals and success. Even in the church, it is easy to fall into a pharisaical perspective — “I pray more than you, tithe more than you, attend church more than you, read my Bible more than you, so, therefore, I must be more spiritual than you.” We may not say it out loud, but many times, there is a voice inside of us crying out for others to notice our dedication. In Experiencing God: Day by Day, Henry and Richard Blackaby state, “No amount of activity for God will ever take the place of a heart that is right with Him.” The temptation is always to replace relationship with Him for service to Him.

      In A Praying Life, Paul E. Miller, speaking about the challenge of prayer, hits the proverbial nail on the head: “Because it is uncomfortable to feel our unbelief, we come face to face with our cynicism, we dull our souls with the narcotic of activity.” How many times have you been praying and thought, “I need to get up and accomplish something. I need to get something done.” You begin believing you can accomplish more independently without intercession and prayer. You diminish the importance of an intimate relationship with Him while still crying out along the way, “I’m a doer and need to be doing something.”

      This mentality creates a spiritual crisis and flies in the face of what Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” There needs to be a great awakening in your heart and life of just how totally dependent you are upon the Lord and the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself stresses His dependence on His Father in John 5:19 — “The Son can do nothing of himself” — and in verse 30 — “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Jesus had no identity outside of His relationship with His Father.

      The Blackabys continued in their December 6 daily devotional, “We can be deceived into assuming God is more interested in our activity for Him than He is in the condition of our hearts. God has made it consistently clear that He will not be pacified by even the most generous offerings and zealous service if our hearts are not right with Him (Micah 6:6-8).” Psalm 51:16-17 teaches us this, “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” God first looks at our hearts.

      Ministry and life can never be described as easy. That is a reality, not a complaint, but Jesus tells us that we can come to Him, and He will provide us rest. Do you feel very rested, or does the exact opposite actually describe you better? Listen to the promise of Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” What describes you best in this passage — weary and heavy laden or rested and light? Is your soul experiencing any God-produced rest?

      Here is the good news: God invites you to come to Him when you are weary. That is the only criterion mentioned in this passage, and many of you are over-qualified and way too close to burnout. If you say you are overwhelmed, He says come. If you say you cannot take another step, He says come. If you say you are so weary that you do not know how much longer you can continue, He says come. If you say the burden is more than you can bear and more than you can carry, He says come. Being with Him is far more important than doing things for Him.

      Psalm 37:7 says, “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” An unknown author stated, “The word rest here means to stop, be still and be silent. God tells us that to succeed, we must turn down both the speed and the volume of our lives. That, to be attuned to His will and the way He’s working in our lives, we must be better at tuning out the world.” Psalm 91:1 emphasizes this truth, “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most-High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

      Listen again to Paul E. Miller in A Praying Life, “What does it feel like to be weary? You have trouble concentrating. The problems of the day are like claws in your brain. You feel pummeled by life. What does heavy-laden feel like? Same thing. You have so many problems you don’t even know where to start. You can’t do life on your own anymore. Jesus wants you to come to Him that way!” The great news is that your heavenly Father wants you to come to Him exactly as you are. A personal relationship with Him is where the real you meets the real Him. You remove your spiritual masks and come to Him just as you are.

      Craig Groeschel expounds on this challenge of relationship over performance, “What you attempt to control the most often reveals where you trust God the least.” Maybe that describes too many of us who attempt to hide our dependency on God through our busyness and activity for Him.