Lena Wms Supporter Student @Christ Gospel Church, S.S.Teacher, Observer

I firmly believe the answer to this question is a resounding YES! We see this happening all the time! Parents take their children to church, which they should, yet as they mature they are forced to make a decision: Christ or the world. 

More youth are lost to the pull of the world than are held to the decisions they made as a child to follow Christ. Children's decisions are very sincere. However, unless they are nurtured and well established in Christ, the roots are too shallow. Matt 13:5

Take heart parents, it is written, 'train a child in the way he should go, when he is old he shall not depart' e-sword.net Strong's Concordance will give you a bit of a light hearted chuckle on this Scripture. :)

God gave everyone a free will, He leaves the choice to the individual. He will test the motives of the person. For example, a young lady is in church, and serving God. She finally meets a nice Christian man. They get married. Everything seems fine for a while, then slowly you don't see the couple, several months go by, now it is a year. Talking with them, the man wishes to come, but the woman is disinterested. Why? Her motive for being in church was wrong! She got what she wanted, a good man. 

I pick on a woman, as a woman, everyone knows the opposite is equally true!

King Saul is the very best example of motives I can think of. He always wanted Samuel to make him look good before the people. He could have cared less that he had tried to take over the Priestly duties and offer sacrifices. (1Sam 13:8) (1Sam 15:25)

In 1Sam 14:35-39, He tried to circumvent God's authority altogether. Basically he was saying, 'I made a sacrifice, now I am going to do what I choose to do.' When he was reminded by the Priest that he needed to ASK GOD what to do and there was no answer, he attempted to kill his own son. 
His motives? I must maintain my own kingdom. 

Sadly, this is like many people today. They use being a Christian as a catapult to advance their own hidden agendas. More often than not, most begin their walk with Christ as sincere believers. The cares of this life, and failure to return DAILY to the Cross of Calvary quickly allowed insincere motives to take root and grow in their hearts and minds. 

Paul plainly taught us it was only by the Blood of Christ that we would be saved from sinful natures. (Eph 1:7, Col 1:14) Thankfully this includes our motives!

Be Blessed
Lena

October 30 2014 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jeremiah Kaaya Supporter Pastor at Springs of Power Church, Teacher by professional

Yes, many of us do indeed serve God for the wrong reasons. But the question is; if so, why and how? For serving God should be about loving and obeying God. If it is not this, then we only appear to be serving God, but before God, we are simply masquerading as servants of God so we make material personal gains out of it. 

But besides having personal goals yet masquerading as servants of God, it could also be as a result of one's character, a character which is not of God. To be Born Again is one thing and one's way to heaven is guaranteed on this account. And you can only serve God in the true sense of it if you are Born Again. But serving God on its own is about character. For we should be on our knees daily praying to God to have our character transformed from former self to a new person. Though Born Again, many are pretty much in the shadows of their past selves. 

We have pretty concentrated on the gifts of ministry, yet it is not by gifts that we please God, for it is by transformation in character. If we develop the fruits of the Holy Spirit spoken of in Galatians 5:22, we can then stand firm in our service to God. Jesus told Peter to be converted so he could help others. We must serve God from a position of strength (Luke 22:32). For you can't give people what you don't have! But on the contrary, many ministers of God have loved more the gifts than the God who grants them the gifts meant for service. Such human instinct in us must be done away with if we are not only to serve God, but ensure that we are serving Him exactly for what we are meant for and that we are doing so for no other reason other than LOVING God and OBEYING Him.

NB: IT IS NOT SERVING GOD WHICH IS WRONG, IT IS THE REASONS FOR WHICH YOU ARE DOING SO. 

Why and how?:

Financial
Pride
Guilt
Please people
Pressure
Earn salvation 

Financial
After having failed elsewhere, many people think that to masquerade as servants of God will bring them quicker easier financial gains which could easily be extorted from unsuspecting Christians. Of-course we are well aware that we need to support ministry and the ministers thereof. But this must never be aimed at deliberate financial gains from the flock. Additionally, it is wrong to find serving God the easier way of work. If God blesses us materially out of ministry, we welcome and thank God for it, but it shouldn't be the reason we are doing so. 

Pride
This is serving God from a self perceived perception of superiority and arrogance. Many people simply want to be seen from that position of power and prestige but not to serve the Lord with the intent to do so. For your heart must find that point of simplicity in doing all just for Jesus.

Guilt
Some us serve God out of the guilt that; if I am not seen serving God, then I am not accepted of God. This is wrong, for we are accepted of God not for serving Him. We are accepted of Him for accepting and submission to Jesus as Lord and Savior. For guilt comes from the devil and it drives us further away from God, but conviction comes from God and helps to rectify our misdoings. Serve therefore God out of conviction not guilt.

Please People
Some of us go on to serve God simply to please our pastors. It is usually then that we end up messing up every bit of it. For by this, we begin to let people take the position of God in our service to God and we begin to take instructions from people and not from God. This is wrong.

Pressure
"I am the only one to do the job, so I have to do it" This is wrong. You must never let people pressure you into ministry. Join ministry for the right reasons and do exactly what you are directed of God to. Lean on the Holy Spirit not men. God loves you to serve Him in a way not like everybody (1Corinthians 12:12).

Earn Salvation
Nobody can ever earn salvation by their works. For salvation is granted to us by grace through accepting and submission to Jesus as Lord and Savior (Ephesians 2:8-10). For Salvation is one thing, serving God is another.

November 10 2014 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report