There is a saying in the film industry when an actor is not interpreting a scene correctly, he will ask the director, “What’s my motivation?” He wants to know why his character would do the action that the director wants him to do. Why would my character want to do this, because it seems out of character? The action is contrary to what the actor believes the character to be about.
“What is my motivation?” This is the question we will ask together as a church today.
1 Corinthians 10:31 “31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Giving God glory is what is supposed to motivate us. Did you notice what is not in this verse? There is nothing about making you happy or comfortable. But we really like making our happiness the priority. We are drawn to the message of God’s love and a desire to be accepted. God does love you and will accept you, regardless of what you’ve done, or where you’ve come from.
Now, let me be clear..God loves you so much He will take you just as you are...But He loves you too much to leave you that way. The danger for us, is if we focus our new life in Christ on how awesome we must be for God to love us so much. God’s amazing love for us should be the motivation that drives us to bring Him glory.
So...why do you do what you do as a Christian? Why do you attend church? Why do you give? Why do you serve? Do you consider those things optional? These questions are looking
to discover the motivations for your actions. Motivations are birthed from your beliefs and mindset.
Here’s what I mean. If church attendance is something you engage in because you enjoy the music, the sermon or the friendships, it reveals your motivation. Selfishness.
I know that sounds harsh, but it expresses itself like this: I’ll go to church this week...if I’m gonna get something out of it. But if there’s nothing I’m interested in at church this week, I’m not interested in going.
That mindset reveals something about us. It reveals that we believe church is all about what we deserve to get out of it. But is that what our motivation is supposed to be? No, it is not. Our motivation is to give God glory. Does believing that the body of Christ exists to serve your wants and desires glorify God?No it does not.
Does it glorify God if you don’t feel like coming to church, but you come anyway, because you recognize that you are here for a reason...that the gifts you are supposed to bring to the body are more important than what you can get from the body? Does that glorify God? Yes, yes it does.
Does it glorify God when we lay down our wants, to care for what a brother needs? Yes it does. You may be doing church stuff, but are you doing it for the right reasons? To bring glory to God...or to serve your wants? Maybe you started with good intentions, like the church at Sardis in Revelation.
Revelation 3:1-3 ““And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what
remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent...”
It’s time for a motivation check. This is something we should do regularly as a disciple of Christ. You can think about checking your motives just like the oil in your car engine. If we don’t monitor the oil in our car, it turns to sludge and builds up in the engine. This creates friction and prevents the engine from running smoothy. If this happens, eventually the motor will seize up and you will have a complete engine failure.
Perhaps you have heard someone use the expression “This organization runs like a well oiled machine.” What are they saying about that company? They are saying that things are running smoothly, without friction.
As a body of believers, our motives are what keeps things running smoothly. And we should check them regularly, for the same reason we check the oil in our car regularly.
Your car has a warning light for when your oil needs to be checked and changed. There are also warning signs for us a believers when our motivations need to be checked and changed. You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.
If your motivation is your own comfort, the Christian life will certainly not be the life you’re interested in. If you want to go all in, it will mean understanding the difference between seeking your own comfort vs seeking God’s glory.
But it’s not all suffering and pain all the time...rest assured, there is something in this for you...but it comes later.
Matthew 6:19-21 “19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
As disciples of Christ we are in the treasure hunting business. This passage describes the kind of treasure we should be collecting. Heavenly treasure. But how do we do that? By living according to the word of God.
Matthew 5:14-16 “14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Clearly it says to let everyone see your good works. Now look at this in the very next chapter.
Matthew 6:1 ““Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
That seems to be a complete contradiction. Do we let our good works be seen or not? Yes...and no. Our good works here on earth will be rewarded, but only if we do them with the right motives. It is all about your motivation, and that is shown in each verse. Let’s look at them again.
Matthew 5:16 “16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
We are not to be ashamed of living for the King and doing what His word says. The love we show to each other and those outside of the church will draw people to God and bring Him glory. But if we don’t keep an eye on our motives we can slip into this verse.
Matthew 6:1 ““Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
If we are doing a good work in front of other people just so they will see how awesome of a Christian we are...we get our reward right then, which is the praise from men.
Here is an interesting fact. All our good works are stored as treasure in heaven, regardless of our motivation. But there is a catch. Not all heavenly treasure is equal.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 “11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”
If you are building on the foundation of Jesus, by doing things His way, with humility, preferring your brothers and sisters over your own desires...your treasure will be made of Gold, silver and precious stones. But if you are building on Jesus just so it will bring glory to you, your “treasure” will be made of wood, hay and straw.
Do you want to make sure I know when you’ve done something to help someone else? That will absolutely get you brownie points with me...but it won’t get you anything from God.
God will bring His fire to reveal what each work is made of.
What happens to Gold, silver and precious stones in fire? They are purified and made more valuable. But what happens to wood, hay and straw in a fire? They are consumed and leave nothing.
Remember, in this life...It’s not all about you...it’s about God’s glory. It’s not about what you can get...it’s about what you can give. That is the right motivation.
The world’s culture teaches “It’s all about me.” The church has adopted this mentality as well. One thing we like to do is make the Bible about us.
Here’s what I mean. When we read a verse in the Bible, we immediately try to figure out how we fit into the story and how we can benefit from it. Because that’s how it’s been preached in church.
Here’s a classic example. The story of David and Goliath. You remember that one, right? The Philistines are lined up for battle against the army of Israel. The problem was that everyone in Israel was scared of Goliath.
Well along comes little David the shepherd boy, who gets angry that Israel would allow this Philistine to defy the army of the Living God. So David goes down to face Goliath and says this:
1 Samuel 17:45 “45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I
come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
Of course, David kills Goliath and everyone in church shouts because the pastor preaches that whatever you are facing in your life right now, whatever your Goliath is...you can defeat him. You will be a victorious child of God. He just put you in the story as David, having the victory over the enemy. That sounds great.
But, here’s the problem. You are in the story all right, but you are not David. You are the Israelite army cowering on the sidelines. Jesus is the David character. He has defeated the enemy... and because of that you don’t have to be afraid any longer. You are on the victorious side, but not because of what you did. It’s because of what Jesus did.
Do you see the difference? If you begin to see yourself as the hero in the Bible stories, it will give you a false sense of who you are, who God is and what your place is spiritually.
Stop thinking of yourself as the main character of Bible stories. The bible is not about you and your comfort. The bible is about God wanting a family and all He has done to make sure He has one. You are not the hero, Jesus is.
We have made church so user friendly that we decide where to attend based on this question. What’s in it for me? Does it have the music I like? Does it have something my kids will like? Because I don’t want to have to make them go. Does the service only last an hour? Is it comfortable? Do they preach that God will calm all the storms in my life? Me, me, me.
None of these things should determine where we attend church...because it’s not about us and what makes us happy. It’s about King Jesus and what makes Him happy.
Church is like a spiritual potluck. The church provides the spiritual meat...but each of you are supposed to bring a side dish...for the benefit of everyone. If the meat this week is ham and your don’t care for ham, you are not supposed to just stay home and wait till they are serving steak next week. You are supposed to bring the spiritual side dish you have been assigned by God for the benefit of your brothers and sisters. How long have you been here, eating from the spiritual buffet without bringing anything to the table? Or maybe even worse, complaining that we don’t have anything you like, when you show up empty handed.
Maybe next Sunday will be someone’s first time here and they really need what you were supposed to bring. Will you consider someone else over yourself?
Let me tell you a shocking story. I was here at church one day not long ago when a guy stopped in to ask me something. He had been attending here only a short time, but here is what he asked. He said, who cleans the church after the service on Sunday? I replied no one really cleans the church till the lady we pay shows up once every two weeks. He then said, is it ok if I take out the trash after the service? What do you think I said?
What would motivate someone to ask if they can take out the trash. A heart for serving others above themselves. That is the kind of selfless servant God is looking for.
The reason that this guy wanted to serve is because his parents have instilled in him that the church is a place to serve, not be served. His parents have lived a life of service as missionaries to Mongolia. I’d say they raised him with God as the top priority.
How about you? Do your kids know that God is the top priority? Do your actions show that you actually believe that?
That is how we make what we do at church a “worship” service. We come to bring our worship to God. Our worship is much more than singing. It’s about selflessly serving with our gifts, giving generously, for the benefit of those in the church who might be struggling. It’s about loving our neighbor as ourself.
What is your motivation?
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