Lesson Seven: I Never Knew You
Devotion #3: Staying Out of Trouble
Pastor Keaton Washburn
I spent the summer between my junior and senior year of college interning at a church in my hometown under their Youth Pastor. It was a wonderful summer where I was given many opportunities to teach and lead (some of which I failed and others of which I did alright), for which I will always be grateful. Over the course of the summer, though, there was something that the Youth Pastor said that will stick with me for many years. One of my tasks at the beginning of the summer as an intern was to assess the needs of the youth group. What was going well? What areas were the students excelling in and struggling spiritually? How engaged and trained were the leaders? As I was discussing this with Jesse, the Youth Pastor, he said to me, “Lots of the students grew up in church; they know the right things to say, they are very moral, and they stay out of trouble.” That all sounded like good things to me. I was ready to put that under the strengths section of my assessment. However, he continued, “That is one of the greatest problems we have here. The students are good kids, but they lack intimacy with the Lord and true spiritual hunger.” Up to that point, I had thought that the point of church and youth group was to produce good, moral teenagers who stay out of trouble. Yet, there is so much missing to that. I went on to learn a lot that summer.
Continuing in this idea, let us look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” These can seem like intimidating words from Jesus. They can lead you to wonder, “Am I really saved? How do I know?” As we examine Jesus’ words, we learn a couple of things that are not indicators of true salvation.
John Stott points out that this confession of “Lord, Lord,” is polite, orthodox, fervent, and public. Yet, it is still lacking. Manners alone do not save. Knowledge alone does not save. Zeal alone does not save, nor does baptism. Though these are good and often facets of salvation, they are not salvation. So, how do you know if you are saved? Jesus tells us in verse 21, “The one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” To do the will of the Father is to be obedient to the Lord in all things. Kent Hughes puts it this way, “Jesus is referring to a profound heart obedience that is not only on the surface but permeates our inner being.” It is this heart obedience that is the fruit of salvation. As I learned in my summer as an intern, the goal of the Christian is not to be moral and stay out of trouble, but to seek the will of God with an earnest heart.