Treachery, Revisited.

God is so amazing. Sometimes, in the middle of a sermon, His Spirit will turn the discourse in an unexpected direction. And it does us good to take notice and respond appropriately.

Pastor Sam spoke this past Sunday, and as a wrap-up to the church anniversary he preached on the mission and vision of our church in light of our mandate to love, grow, and serve (for more on this, read Thom S. Rainer's book "Simple Church").

But something happened during the sermon. Pastor Sam shared with the congregation an allegory that he used a few weeks ago when speaking at a workshop with the men and women involved in the music ministry at our church. The allegory was that of a man who, without fail, gives his wife flowers every week, but at the same time is involved in an affair. The point of the story was that the flowers were not a representation of love, but were instead a cover-up for treachery.

The great indictment is that we do the same thing to God. We sing, dance, shout, clap, memorize volumes of Scripture, preach, feed the poor, and do countless other things that give an external appearance of nobility, humility, and unadulterated love for our Lord. But something else is occurring behind the scenes: stealing the Lord's tithe; gossiping and slandering leaders; performing activities out of routine (or out of perceived obligation) instead of serving from a heart of love; and the list goes on. And we think that our exertions of these spiritual favors are sufficient to cover up our unthankful hearts.

Guess what? God is not interested in the favors, He's interested in our hearts- and as Pastor Sam has noted so poignantly, God is not obligated to accept every gift we offer (re-read Psalm 50 for a crash course in what God thinks about "lip service").

Friends, let's pay attention. When God keeps mentioning something, there's a reason. And, let's continue to pray that our brothers and sisters in the faith will walk in holiness. God does not want us to perish, so He woos us with His love and demonstrates great patience... but He will not wait forever (see Second Peter 3:9).

It really was not my intent to blog the anniversary service with a harsh word, but that is where we will be this week. It's a week of warnings, and I hope you'll be courageous with me as we seek to rescue our spiritual siblings from the trap of treachery.