A Diagnosis of Self

It is incredible what we are willing to do to make others believe we are faithful followers of Christ – everything except actually following Him faithfully. We wrap ourselves up and boast in our “good” works while our secret sins devour our hearts. So you live by the rules, but what is your motive? If you stop at simply fleeing from sin, you are just religious. It’s fleeing to Jesus that makes a Christian.

“You can run from God either by breaking His rules, or by keeping them. The former says God doesn’t own me. The latter says God owes me.” – Tim Keller

We do nothing to earn the Gospel, but if we do nothing in response to the Gospel, then we never understood the Gospel. Just slapping the title of “Christian” on everything does not automatically make you, your organization, or your efforts righteous or useful to God and His kingdom. This can lead to a place of self-entitlement and self-righteousness whereby you behave and maybe even think to yourself that God is so grateful to have you on His team and at least you are not like all the other people around you.

 Take a moment to look at Luke 18:9-14. Jesus is giving an example to some people who were pretty self-righteous. Two men went to the temple to pray. The first was a Pharisee, the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee boldly approached the presence of God in the temple. His prayer went something along these lines (our paraphrase), ”God, I thank you that I am not like those other people – greedy, unrighteous, sinners, our even this tax-collector. I go above and beyond what everyone else does, I give more, I pray more, I am more righteous”. That’s a whole-lot of I’s .

The tax-collector, didn’t walk close to the presence of God in the temple, but hung his head, and began striking his chest, crying out to God, “God, turn your wrath from me, a sinner!”  Verse 14 reads, “I  [Jesus] tell you, this one [the tax-collector] went down to his house justified rather than the other [pharisee]; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Web MD style, lets look at our hearts and diagnose ourselves according to God’s word.

1.     Ask yourself honestly, what do I think about and talk about, positively or negatively, the most ?

a.     If its yourself- you are an idolater glorifying yourself

b.     If its others – you are an idolater glorifying other people (spouse, children, classmates, boss, etc)

c.      If its your work – you are an idolater glorifying your job, efforts, or your income and standard of living

d.     If it is the life, works, death, and resurrection of Jesus you are not an idolater but a worshiper of the true God

Matthew 12: 34b “ for the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart”.

You always talk about what you love. Check your heart.  Are you an idolator? Repent. Turn to Jesus.

2.     Ask yourself honestly, what kind of fruit am I producing?

The Bible explains in Matthew 7:17-19 that everyone is producing fruit. We are able to identify those who are of God and those who are not by their fruit. Good trees produce good fruit; bad trees produce bad fruit. The question is, how do you distinguish between what is good fruit and what is bad fruit?  You do so through:

a.     Spending time studying (not just reading) God’s word. As you read it, apply it to your own life, not just mentally diagnosing other people’s sin by the Word of God but looking for your own sin and seeking to put it to death daily. 

b.      Also, spend time in prayer, not just over things that seem overwhelming or because it’s what you are supposed to do, but do so because apart from constant communication with God you cannot possibly produce good fruit! Even fruit that to others looks good will not come from a place of worship to the Creator of the universe if it is not being covered in humble prayer.

c.      What are you doing for others? Are you slandering them, ignoring them, or devoting yourself to prayer with and for them? Are you providing for their physical and spiritual needs? Are you seeking Godly counsel to direct you to Christ, rebuke your sin, and pray regularly and fervently for you? Are you doing that for others? Husbands, are you leading your wives in God’s word and in prayer?  Are you loving them as Christ loves His bride, the church, and encouraging them to grow in Christ as well as in things they enjoy? Are you communicating with them face-to-face? It is not enough to simply provide financially.  Wives, are you submitting to your husbands? Are you being the helper that God made you to be, spurring him on toward Christ? Fathers, are you leading your Children? Are you praying with and for them? Are you opening God’s word with them daily? Are you being real about your struggles now and in the past with them? Do they see you as a loving and fun dad or a perfect model of what they will never be able to live up to? What does your life and relationship with your church, friends, co-workers, spouse, and kids communicate to them about Christ?

3.     Ask yourself honestly, what are my motives for the things I do? It’s fake Christians who give Christianity a bad reputation (2 Tim 2:19). 

a.     Do you do these things so that others will think you are a “good person” and a true believer? If so, you are an idolater. Merely professing faith is not enough and it will be revealed through your words and fruit. Are you seeking short-term fame or eternal glory with Christ? If the idea of eternity is not present, then it is unlikely that humility is present.

b.     Do you do these things out of guilt? You can’t guilt yourself into spiritual growth. Eventually it will burn you out and you will be a lifeless shell of a person seeking righteousness and justification through works and religion rather than Christ.  God lavishes us with grace.  It would be better to do things worshipfully and less often than more often and it be a religious job. That is exhausting!! There is no condemnation for those in Christ.  We have no need to do things out of guilt but we have all the reasons in the world to do things out of joy and grace knowing that He who is working in our lives is continuing the work until He returns! And then we get to spend eternity enjoying Him!! If that is not your motivation or that doesn’t excite you, check your heart!

Righteousness comes through Christ alone! You cannot inherit righteousness. You cannot earn righteousness.  It is a gift that comes only through accepting Christ as the Savior of the world, the author and perfector of your faith, and the only way to become righteous and gain salvation.

You won’t celebrate the righteousness you’ve been given through Christ’s perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection if you are busy polishing the righteousness you think you independently have. Yes, God desires joyful obedience from us. Question is, are we obeying for the joy of it or so God will owe us for it?