Lip service is the best, isn’t it? You simply agree, and people go away and don’t bother you again until the next time they need lip service. It’s the best tactic with parents. They don’t really expect you to do what they tell you to do, they just want you to say you will do what they want. That blind acceptance and empty obedience satisfies and appeases their need to be good parents. I know you know this. I also know the deep-seated guilt following such empty gestures, when you secretly and covertly undermine their wisdom. We do this to our doctors, bosses, friends and teachers all the time! Best of all, we do this to our pastors and especially to God. We simply don’t follow instructions or pay any attention to outsider advice. Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? – Luke 6:46 Let me tackle the question of why it is even important to follow instructions: first, it’s important because you obviously sucked at whatever it was that you were doing, thus invoking somebody to give you advice or instruction. Yes, get a clear grip on that. You aren’t flawless; otherwise, they would stare and gape at you with little else to say. Sorry, the truth hurts. Secondly, following instructions and heeding advice save you trouble when it comes. Trouble will come; but, when you’ve followed instructions, you will already have found shelter to weather the trouble. Third, instructions exist because without them, things wouldn’t work the way they are designed to. It’s like putting together a piece of furniture from Ikea: you can either follow the instructions and get something sturdy to eat your Swedish meatballs on, or you can just eat your Swedish meatballs using the splintered piece of furniture that broke because you didn’t follow instructions. So I’ll ask you: what instructions haven’t you been following? Like a doctor, Jesus gives us instructions on how to get closer to God, and we seemingly ignore it. Jesus provides guidance on how we can live a life filled with the Spirit of God, but we dump it. We have passage after passage in the Bible in which we can find satisfaction, and yet we’d rather walk away dissatisfied. The irony in Jesus’ statement is that we clamor to Him, asking Him to provide instruction. That is what it means when He says, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord…'” The word “Lord” in this passage is a double meaning: first, it means the person whom I revere and follow; and secondly, it means the person I worship. Goodness, it is a condemnation of lip service given by Christians! Jesus doesn’t even tell us to do a lot, He knows we’re not even capable of complex instructions. He tells us to worship God, and love our neighbors. He says, He will provide the faith and grace for everything else; yet, even with that, we ignore His instructions. We don’t worship God, we worship everything but God on most days. And for loving our neighbors, well let me just say that loving people don’t act like such haters. If only we stopped to think about the implications of our reckless disregard for God’s instructions: where would our lives be, if we loved people for who they are and not what we want them to be? What greater things would we be able to weather, if our foundations in worship were dug into an unshakeable God? What amazing opportunities would be afforded to us if we could follow instructions?
