by Steven C. Harper
Synopsis: What motivates faithful disciples to serve God and Christ? Steven reflects upon what the world needs to know about why believers willingly sacrifice their selfish desires and submit to the Lord.
To the one who does not know the Lord or serve Him, discipleship makes little or no sense. Why would someone willingly submit to an invisible being whom he has never seen? Why would one surrender his personal desires to follow the text of an ancient book that is hated and disparaged regularly? Why would someone deny self of pleasures and a life that is not restricted by arcane laws and outdated moral standards? Without doubt, these are the questions of many in the world when they think of discipleship.
There are multiple answers to each of those questions, but I would like to narrow down the answers to just a few for this particular study—answers that should be at the top of our minds as the motivating factors for why we serve the Lord. Consider:
For someone who does not believe in God or for someone who does not know God and His word, a disciple's service to God and Christ makes no sense. Why serve this invisible being you've never seen? Why believe in something or someone you've never seen? Space does not permit an in-depth answer, but, in short, the disciple believes, because he is convicted, that what the Bible teaches is true. A disciple does so because it is logical and reasonable also; it is not a matter (as some atheists love to say) of 'leaving your brain at the door' when one chooses to follow God. While some who profess faith in God and Christ do, indeed, 'believe without evidence' (as the dictionary now defines 'faith') the true disciple believes because he has considered the evidence that God has given us in the written word and has reasonably concluded it is credible, and thus, believable. Only then can one truly have faith, for faith, as God defines it, is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).
Let us acknowledge that conviction is quite different than a feeling; there are no examples within the New Testament record of someone being converted because he merely felt he had been touched by God or moved by the Holy Spirit to do so. No. Each and every time, it required the preaching and teaching of God's word before one could be convicted and then acknowledge the gospel story to be true and obey it. This is expected, for we are told plainly, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). One who claims faith in God or Christ without ever having heard or read the word of God has no faith at all!
With this said, the disciple who is truly convicted by God's word will willingly and readily serve the Lord. One cannot believe the words contained within the Bible to be true and not be moved to action! When we find that we all are sinners (Rom. 3:23), we should be looking for a means of forgiveness or cleansing. When we find Christ has all authority and is the head of the church (Matt. 28:18; Col. 1:18), we will be striving to learn what He has commanded, and then obey. When we learn that we will all stand before Christ in judgment in the end and answer for what we have done in this earthly body (2 Cor. 5:10), like Paul, we will "make it our aim…to be well pleasing to Him" (v. 9).
When asked about which commandment was the greatest, Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:37-40). If we go back to the time when the Israelites were about to enter Canaan, Moses told them then, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him" (Deut. 30:19-20). God has always wanted His people to serve Him out of love, rather than by compulsion or coercion. Those who serve Him today do so because they love Him, and not because they "have to."
Even this point may be misunderstood, though, for many today claim to love God, but do not demonstrate it in reality. Jesus Himself said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15); so, do we really love Him, or are these mere words? Do we serve Him because we love Him, or is it just tradition? Do we serve Him because we love Him, or is it just 'something we do'? Is it for love that we serve, or is it merely a ritual?
Jesus condemned the religious leaders of the first century for their superficial service to God and rebuked them: "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'" (Matt. 15:7-9). Today, we would call that 'lip service,' where one says and does all the 'right' things, but without any true conviction or sincerity. The true disciple understands that God is seeking "true worshipers" who will "worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). So service and worship are offered willingly and sincerely from the inward man to Him, because he has seriously considered the written record of God's dealings with man. He has come to the conviction that God has granted to us something far greater than we deserved. Knowing what we do about God, the true disciple can only respond in awe and love as we serve and worship Him—and rightly so.
We know that God loved us enough to send His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8), and that Jesus loved us enough to die for us (Eph. 5:2). So we see that love was behind all they have done for us. That being true, faithful disciples know that love for our fellow man must be behind all we do, too. In fact, the apostle Paul wrote by divine inspiration, "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). No matter what we do in our service to God or our fellow man, love must be the motivating factor behind it all, else it is essentially useless.
Love is not constrained by the color of one's skin, one's nation of origin, one's wealth (or lack thereof), or one's political beliefs, because true disciples remember Christ died for all men, and love means helping any who are in need. This was best illustrated by the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), which shows us our "neighbor" is anyone and everyone we meet. God even demands that disciples love their enemies (Matt. 5:43-44)! Finally, true and faithful disciples understand that they cannot claim love for God if they don't love their brother (1 John 4:20-21). They don't do it out of mere duty, but because God loved us first. So, what drives you?
Author Bio: Steven has worked with Avenue N church of Christ in Rosenberg, TX, for almost four years. He and his wife, Anita, have four children. The church website is avenuenchurchofchrist.org. He can be reached at santee5@hotmail.com.
