Monthly Archives: September 2010

Examine Yourself… Rightly

In light of my previous post, and especially as we go through a critical portion of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of John, I’m struck by a complaint I occasionally hear from others, and occasionally find in myself. It’s basically that our main issue as Christians is laziness.

This view concedes that (perhaps) you’ve put your faith in Jesus, but your main problem is that you aren’t as committed as you should be… you aren’t doing enough… so you should doubt whether or not you are a believer. Exhortations in the faith become exhortations to work harder, do more, and simply work.

What are you examining?
What are you examining?

‘Examine yourself,’ the statement goes, ‘are you doing all you can?’ The implied answer is that if you aren’t, you might not be saved. And really, if you’re honest, the fear is that the answer is always no – that you’re never doing all you could, and should always be doing more. Welcome to the Christian treadmill…

Examine yourself. Not good enough. Try harder. Repeat.

I think this line of reasoning has some twists in it that aren’t healthy. I’d like to explain why in two ways.

The first unhealthy twist is that this particular exhortation usually gets the context wrong.

Mostly people who exhort constant self-examination are thinking of 2 Corinthians 13:5. It says “Examine yourselves… test yourselves.”

But note the ellipsis. What did I leave out? Let’s look again at the whole verse.

“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”

Interesting, isn’t it? That the purpose of the test isn’t how much you’ve done, but whether you are in the faith. Whether Jesus Christ is in you. So the examining I’m told to do is actually primarily an examination of my heart’s faith in Jesus Christ. Not a scorecard (i.e., 7 out of 10, let’s try for 8 out of 10!) but a thumbs up or down.

The verb (to examine) is used in 1 Corinthians 3:13 about testing what kind of work we’re doing; in 1 Corinthians 11:28, 2 Corinthians 8:22, and Galatians 6:4 of testing motives, and even in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 of God examining hearts. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to examine “everything” to see if it is good or bad.

So my self-examination really should not based on quantity. It is not based on “am I doing all I can.” It isn’t primarily a question of laziness. It is a question of kind.

And thus the second way in which this can be an unhealthy twist (related to the first). The exhortation, as stated, is being used to examine production rather than connection.

The Bible’s strong statement is that connection leads invariably to production. Not that production can force connection. The Bible is all about true connection to Christ alone. This is what we’ve seen in John 15. Are you a branch that is alive, or dead? Is there any fruit on that tree, or not? The single determining factor of whether there is or is not fruit is whether you have or have not been united to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Whether you abide in him.

If I have faith in Christ, I’m connected to the vine. If so, I will bear fruit. And that fruit is great assurance… because without him, I can do nothing. Fruit is a sign of connection. And that vital life that produces fruit in me is not my own… it is Christ’s (John 15:1-5).

But it isn’t the amount of fruit. Fruit is only a sign of something that is actually present. To think of this through the context of Jesus’ statements in John… Jesus is my life… even after I sin, letting my own personal frustration offend my spouse. He’s the source of living water, even if I oversleep my own prayer time. He’s really the only reason to be at church, singing. And even as I bear fruit (because of the vital connection I have with Jesus), the one who makes me bear more isn’t me (what ability do I have?), but rather the Father (John 15:2, Ephesians 2:10).

So it is important to self-examine… but in the right context. Our examination is – is it true that I believe’? Do I really trust in Jesus’ righteousness? Do I really humble myself before him? If the answer to this self-examination is a ‘yes!’, then that should lead to joy… and not a treadmill. The ‘yes!’ means fruit will follow, not ‘ok… that’s great that you trust in Jesus… but prove it’.

We are our own fruit-inspectors… and if we see any… any… then we are thrilled that a true connection is there. Life from the source. That’s Jesus. Often true faith is to continue to believe that I am in union with Jesus Christ in spite of my failings and my sin which I see more and more as I grow.

Perhaps another way to get to the same place is to see what Jesus said in a familiar passage in Matthew 7:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of min and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (vv.24-26).

Do you see? Both the wise and foolish man built. There isn’t really a statement of how hard they worked; they both may have sweated much. They may both have had a Protestant work ethic. It didn’t matter. What mattered was what they built on.

The one who builds on Jesus’ message – the Gospel, the good news of faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone, an alien righteousness imputed to us, a Holy Spirit living in us – is the one who stands… not the one who builds (even zealously/thankfully/wonderfully) in their own righteousness.

What matters is what we build on.  And we’re all building.

So if you are examining, today… go ahead, examine why you’re motivated to play guitar… to watch a movie… to come to church… to enjoy a walk. In things called work. In things called leisure. And in things in between. Your whole life is being used by Christ, pruned by the Father, to bear fruit. As you see selfishness and pride, repent. But may you more and more see the fruit of joy, of peace, of patience, of kindness… as you live each and every day in trust of Jesus Christ, thereby building on the rock that is the only chance we will ever have of eternal life with the incredible God who calls us friends.