Worthless Christian Activities

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Yikes! This passage gives us a very strong warning that it is possible to do all kinds of Christian things and then discover that God considers all of our work to be pretty worthless. Can you imagine serving the Lord for years and discovering that He thought all that you did was a waste of time? Sadly, I think this is true for most Christians and Christian ministries. I know that is the case for me.

You see, although Paul warns us about worthless activities (wood, hay and straw), he does not tell us what God's standard is for evaluating our work. What makes what we do wood as opposed to gold? The answer is found in the book of John.

John 15:1-5 (NIV)

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Here at the end of these verses, Jesus says that if we are not abiding in Him, we can do nothing. What does that mean?

To start with, abiding in Christ is not simply being a Christian. It is living in a love relationship with the Lord in which we have an active, on-going communion with Him. We are able to sense what the Holy Spirit is saying and we respond in loving obedience to His leading.

Secondly, when Jesus says we can do nothing, what He is telling us is that apart from abiding in Him, nothing we do matters to Him. We can do plenty of things apart from Christ, good and bad, so the saying that we can do nothing must apply to the value of those works.

So, here in John, Jesus says that if the things we do are not birthed out of an on-going love relationship with Him, they are worthless in His eyes.

Sadly, I think much of my Christian life has been wood, hay and straw. I was taught how to be a performer for God, not a lover of God. It also seems to me that most American Christians fall into that same category - and most churches and ministries as well. We have programs and activities and we are very, very busy. But in the process, we, like the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-5), have lost our first love. As a result, even if God uses our efforts, they amount to very little in His eyes. Our works, because they are not grounded in a genuine relationship with God, are wood, hay and straw, if even that.

So, if you have a very successful ministry, but do not have a deep love-walk with Jesus, do not deceive yourself that God is pleased. He is using your efforts, but they are wood, hay and straw. Likewise, if all you do is mop floors for a living, but your work springs out of a deep love for your Savior, then there is precious gold every time your mop slides across the floor.

What will is take for us to quit doing all kinds of stuff and learn instead how to be lovers? At what point will we finally lay aside our wood, hay and straw so that we can pick up the gold, silver and costly stones that are found in loving God?