"By their fruits you shall know them."

                                                            Matthew 7:16

Sometime during the last century, the church seems to have adopted cultural standards for success. Factors such as income, attendance, and level of activity replaced the biblically based criteria of leading souls to Christ and making disciples.

Somewhere, somehow, sometime, many churches have adopted, implemented, and perfected a model of activity-based spirituality as the meter to determine how devoted a Christian you are.

-        The more you do around church, the holier you are.

-        The more events you attend, the more committed you are

-        The more committees you sit on, the more faithful you are.

-        The more ministries you participate in, the more alive your faith is.

-        The more you are at church, the more mature you are.

That's the theory of many churches today. The problem with this (besides the fact it is unscriptural) is that sometimes activity can replace a personal relationship with God. People are so focused on proving how faithful they are by how much they do at church, that they have no time left to sit alone and quiet in the presence of God.

The activity-based model of spirituality is flawed. And it's not Biblical. It is derived from the cultural ideal of living the American dream; of the more you do the more successful you must be. It’s from our “lift-yourself-up-by-your bootstraps” work ethic. It’s from the “God-helps-those-who-helps-themselves” creed. It’s from the “more is better” mentality. And that means in the end, our spiritual maturity is measured solely by our busyness, a characteristic of our culture and not the Christian faith.

I’m not saying it’s wrong by any means to participate in whatever God is calling you to do at church. After all, James say faith without works is dead. But whatever you do cannot be at the expense of your personal relationship and time with God.

The Bible's measure of spiritual maturity is not busyness, but fruitfulness. What are the fruits of what you are doing for God? Is your ministry producing fruit in the lives of others, or is it a check list, hoping that you can do enough to merit God’s grace and love?

Be busy for Christ and in His name. But don’t neglect to get to know personally the One in whose name you are busy.

"Father, Help us to always remember the reason we serve in Your name   In Jesus' name, AMEN."

Grace,

Rev. Dan