Outside/Inside: Serving God with the Right Heart

Weekend Word with Keith Garner

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.” (Luke 11:42 ESV)

This is a passage that is often used as a proof-text for tithing. While I do not necessarily disagree with that application, there is a more important point that does not receive as much attention. This passage also speaks to our motivation for serving.

There is a story of a teacher who had to repeatedly tell a student to sit down. Frustrated, the teacher finally threatened a harsher punishment if the student did not obey. The student sat down, but while pouting and folding their arms said, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but on the inside, I am still standing.” Would you say the student is being obedient because they sat down? Obedience is not just an outward posture; it is also a matter of the heart. True obedience is not simply doing what we are asked while complaining about it in our heart. True obedience is when we not only do what we have been directed to do, but we also love the one who gave us the command, and we love the command itself. We love the command so much that we happily fulfill it, regardless of how difficult it is, because it comes from the one we love.

There is such an emphasis on serving in the church today. Serving is good, but there is a difference between serving and serving spiritually. Serving is when we act because there is a need and our pastor asked. Serving can make us feel good, needed, or important. But there is no eternal blessing in coming early to set up chairs or do a technical check just so the pastor sees how committed we are, or if we spend the whole time wishing we had never agreed to help.

Serving, pursuing justice, and even tithing are nothing without the love of God. Spiritual service is not just loving God the person. It also requires loving His precepts and the act and effort it requires to obey. We can’t be sitting on the outside but standing on the inside.

As we serve this week, take a moment to check the motivation of your heart. Spiritual service is motivated by a love for God and His precepts. It is okay to serve because there was a need and someone asked you to help—we just can’t call it spiritual service. Let’s offer our service this week as a spiritual act of worship.

— Keith Garner