If you are reading this, there is a good chance you have been conditioned by some assumptions you are not aware of.
One is the way that we (in the West), compartmentalise the many areas of our lives. We like to think that we are balanced and look at our lives like a pie chart…
While the percentages will change for you, (depending on your priorities), the below graph shows a few of the common areas of our lives:
For simplicity, the above chart lumps a number of areas together. The relationship section could (should) be separated into sections, like spouse, children, parents, friends etc.
Pretty simply, the priority and focus you put in certain areas will be reflected in the results of your life. For instance, if you put more priority on sport over your spouse, you will be good at sport and your marriage will suffer. If you focus on your job and neglect health, your body will suffer.
Re-aligning your priorities can have a huge impact on your life, but for some things in life, it misses the point and will leave you waning.
In the above graph, the pie slices are percentages out of a 168 hour week:
- Work: 50 hours = 40 hour work week plus travel / dressing
- Sleep: 49 hours = 7 hours per night
- Eating / Cooking = 21 hours per week
- Relationships: 14 hours = 2 hours per day
- The next four are 1 hour per day. (Chores, Fitness / Health, Leisure / Sport, TV / Reading)
You will notice there is a 2% section on Religion or Spirituality, which equates to ~3 hours per week. This is may be high for some people, but would represent someone who attends church of some description just once a week.
For some, they think that this once-a-week visit ticks ‘the religious box’ & is a safe guard in case there is some kind of God / afterlife / Judgment Day.
Unfortunately, I have met many of these people – it is very sad. It is clear that their passion & purpose is anything but God. Talking to them after church reveals quickly that they have finished their ‘service’ to God…church is over & they are ready to get back to their ‘real’ life: the things that they are actually excited about.
Many will arrive at church right before the start (or late), the slightest extra effort needed to attend will force their hand at excuses of time or distance. Of course sports matches, school events or parties on the weekend are all well within reach. They simply warm the pews during the services they do attend and the second the service is over, all they want to talk about is sport or business or politics or movies – anything as long as it is not about God!
It grieves me for a number of reasons: only they are fooled. Others aren’t and God certainly isn’t, so they have just wasted 3 hours out of their week! They will often hurt others in the church too, who actually believe they are genuine.
These deceived souls (referred to as hypocrites in the Bible), are missing something that the Bible reiterates over and over: religion is useless.
“Religion is useless”
Knowing that God exists does nothing to help you. 1You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? James 2:19-20 (NLT)
Attending church does not give you a free ticket anywhere 2Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”Luke 18:9-14 (NLT)
Those who God has awakened, those who are truly re-born, they are wanting to please Him 3“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.”Luke 17:7-10 (NLT) they have a deep love for the Father 4 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Galatians 4:6-7 (NLT) they worship Him in more than just singing 5 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. 1 Peter 1:17-20 (NLT) they serve Him 6God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT), they love other Christians 7We love each other because he loved us first.
If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. 1 John 4:19-21 (NLT) and their focus is to help others 8We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 1 John 3:16-19 (NLT)
You life in Christ, is actually all consuming – not just a slice. The Bible words it:
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)
Our life, our real life, the one that lasts forever, is not just a portion of the week. Not just a few hours or sometimes: it. Is. EVERYTHING! Our real life is hidden in Christ. He is our all. Have a read of the below scripture…again and again – let the depth of it sink right in!
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. John 17:21-23 (NLT)
Getting back to our pie chart, it should look more like this:
After our lives have been invaded and changed by Jesus, (conversion), He transforms us and we make choices to obey Him (sanctification). The result is that we become more and more like Jesus, His life consumes and overtakes it… our life becomes an extension of His. This is a far cry from a 2% slice of our life!!
I plead with you, if I have described you, if you are living in denial – going to church as an act or some kind of back up plan for heaven…living in [secret] sin:
Cry out to God & ask Him to convict you & open your eyes before it is too late! Your hypocrisy, your act, your religious duty & false notion of ‘good’ works is absolutely meaningless to God.
His standard is perfect, His knowledge is complete, His Judgment is final. Do you know that right now, the wrath, the anger of the Creator with unlimited power is resting on you. 9And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” John 3:36 (NLT)
The only hope – Jesus!
The Good News – once you have submitted to Him and His life, you will understand that your life was completely empty before. No matter the trials, no matter the hurts, no matter what happens – His peace will be with you.
Lord, please help us to hand over full control of our lives to You. May we be honest with ourselves, You and others. Give us the desire and persistence to turn away from the sin that traps us and work for Your Kingdom. Let Your grace empower us to…
Footnotes:
- 1You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? James 2:19-20 (NLT)
- 2Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”Luke 18:9-14 (NLT) - 3“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.”Luke 17:7-10 (NLT)
- 4And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir. Galatians 4:6-7 (NLT)
- 5And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake. 1 Peter 1:17-20 (NLT)
- 6God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT)
- 7We love each other because he loved us first.
If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. 1 John 4:19-21 (NLT) - 8We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person?
Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 1 John 3:16-19 (NLT) - 9And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.” John 3:36 (NLT)