Legalistic motivation vs grace motivation
Paul Dames
There are two vastly different sets of motivations I’ve seen in regard to Christian service to God. They may overlap in some believers lives to some extent, but they still are basically very different. On the one hand there are people who serve God based on a sense of self adulation. Such were the Pharisees. What drove them? According to the Scriptures they were lovers of money (Luke 16:14), they loved the front seats in the Synagogues (Luke 11:43), and they loved their titles of importance (Matt 23:8). This is what motivated their lives. Their service to God was not based on a pure love for God. Rather, they USED God’s kingdom principles to accomplish selfish gains. This is particularly important for us as Christians to know, because we are warned by Jesus not to be like them (Matt 16:6).
This implies that there WILL be Christ followers who have a natural bent towards Pharisaic- ism. Their church experience is , like the Pharisees, a huge opportunity to engage in the things that they love: self importance, money and status. Therefore the deep love that they are supposed to display to their brothers, are compromised and lacking. Therefore, like the Pharisees, they also use their religion to condemn other believers who are not as far up the ladder as they believe themselves to be (Matt 12:7). They have become competitive in nature, and are trapped in a deep deception of self importance.
Such Christians are always “warning” other believers through a Pharisaical fear-mongering paradigm that holds “a loss of salvation” or “gnashing of teeth” over Christians’ heads as a form of motivating believers into greater levels of obedience. What’s really behind this strategy is that they want to be LEADERS who are seen to possess extra-spiritual knowledge and achievements far above the average Christian, deceiving the gullible into becoming their special “disciples”. They are looking for a following that brings them some sense of spiritual prestige. They desire their own fan club. And that’s why they are extremely aggravated by Christians who ignore their special revelation or their recipe for the “deeper experience.” As with Diotrephes, they love to be first, they slander other ministries that labor for the gospel, and they persecute the true followers of Jesus:
“I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction. So if I come, I will call attention to his malicious slander against us. And unsatisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and forbids those who want to do so, even putting them out of the church….” (2 John 1:9,10)
Pharisaical Christians are so self absorbed that they are unable to freely accept their brothers in Christ. They will only do so if you agree with everything they believe, because their ego is very fragile, for their identity is built on their “leadership” and self importance. Because of their insecurity, they are very fearful of “deception”, and they focus on the “warning” Scriptures so much that they have become suspicious of their brethren, thinking that “most Christians are deceived” and in God’s bad books (Matt 27:63). They see Christendom and the world through the distorted lens of an angry God, and themselves as His appointed agents of law-givers and wrath.
But there is another motivation as well. I call it the GRACE MOTIVATION. Such a motivation stems from a pure love for God that has been refined by God Himself, and which is birthed from a clear revelation of the goodness of God. From this perspective, God is no longer seen as merely a Benefactor for personal gain, but actually as a true Friend. The Bible speaks about a pure motivation, as recorded in the Psalms:
“The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.” (Pm 110:2,3)
God never had any interest in religion that is mere lip service (Matt 15:8). Jesus spoke many times of the state of people’s hearts. It is from this “wellspring” that a person’s life is directed towards his destiny. God desires “truth in the inner parts” (Pm 51:6). Jesus also said that his people would “worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). There is a true worship that rises from a thankful heart, that has been transformed by God Himself. These people live the abundant life. They live in the overflow of God’s goodness.
We know that the rebirth experience is one where God in fact changes our hearts, by taking away the stony heart, and giving us a heart of flesh (Ezek 36:26). Our spirits are therefore made pure and righteous, and from this place, we serve God through faith and love. God bids our minds to be renewed in order to catch up to this spiritual reality.
Now, here is where the big difference lies. With those who embrace Pharisaical Paradigms, there is no such thing as serving God with a pure motive, because such men believe that most men, even Christians, are sinful at heart, and therefore must be threatened, pushed, and driven into obedience. They are the kind of shepherds who seek to DRIVE the sheep from behind the herd. They have to make people feel condemned in order that they can be inspired to serve God through fear.
Yet, there are those, on the other hand, who’s lives have already been so changed, and their paradigms are so much aligned with Scripture, that they only seek to live by the motive of LOVE. They have DISCOVERED the love of God for themselves, and they are so inspired, thrilled and impressed with God, that they cannot think of any other thing in life to do, but to please God. They have also emptied themselves of the things of the world, because they have personally, through hard experience, discovered that the world and its pleasures are empty and destructive. Their lives are driven by only one thing – to constantly live in the PRESENCE of God, and to do exploits for Him. They have lost all self-interest and self aggrandizement, and are basically “in love with Jesus”.
Their daily routine consist of spending time with Him in prayer and worship, having ready ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, and where He is leading them to. They no longer serve their God out of any sense of fear, but rather are eager to drench themselves in His love, to experience his glory and goodness on a daily basis, and in turn to pour out that love onto others. As with the woman with the alabaster box, and the woman who washed Jesus’s feet with her tears, they are living from a deep revelation of His incredible love, mercy and forgiveness, and therefore, they love much (Luke 7:47).
Such people don’t live from any place of fear. In fact, their only fear is that of grieving the Holy Spirit, and in all such worldly things they have no interest. Their one pursuit is Him. Like Paul the apostle, they want to “know Him” and the power of His resurrection (Phil 3:10). And consequently, they ARE living in it. They realize that their life on earth is a GIFT, and that every day on earth is an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ, and to live for Him and His glory. Such is a VERY different motivation. It is the motivation of an eternal FREE CHOICE.
I want to speak of a THIRD MOTIVATION here, and it is an IMAGINARY motivation. It is one that people speak about, but DOES NOT EXIST among true believers. It is that of “serving God out of fear”. It comes from the fear mongering persuasions of the hypocrites – the idea that if we do not serve God well, there will be much punishment and loss – even the threat of Hell. Therefore many Christians who fall into this trap, seek to do many things for God, like “going to church” five times a week, acquiring certain doctrines and understanding, and “doing” things to keep God happy, and to keep Him from being angry.
But the reason that I say that it doesn’t exist, is that no believer can ever serve God, in truthful reality, merely from a fear of punishment. No one ever gets up from bed, saying to themselves, “I am going to lovingly win a soul for Jesus today so that I will not be punished by God.” Or “I am going to lift my hands to God today in worship lest He strikes me dead.”
This may sound crazy, but in reality, it is true. No such MOTIVATION exists in reality, because it cannot exist IN TRUTH, as these two (love and dread) cannot co-exist in harmony. It will either be the one or the other.
This then proves my point that all fear mongering is not going to achieve one lick of good for the Kingdom of God. Instead, it is the kindness of God that leads men to repentance (Rom 2:4). When other people witness your joy, your abundance of life, your heart of welcome with no strings attached, and they clearly see the fruit of the Spirit operating in your life, then their desire for God will be stirred up as well. Therefore, there is no need to ever complain about the cold – when each one of us have the ability to start a fire.