Are You Tired Of Paying God With Lip Service?

Look around at the business world today and take note of those who claim to be Christians. Include yourself in this assessment. Some are easy to identify because their business practices clearly align with what they believe the Bible says. The rest are more difficult to identify because their practices are no different than the non-Christians around them. Why is this? Are these business people guilty of paying lip service to God or is there more to it?

Who I Am Not Talking To!

Before we get to my main points, let me clarify who I am not talking to – the ones who have never had a relationship with God. The purpose of their claim to be Christians is simply to gain unwarranted credibility and attract more customers or better employees. These business people are painting whatever picture they need to paint in order to build their business. I am not speaking to this group…they aren’t reading my material anyway!

Why Are Our Standards Not Aligned?

For the rest, I don’t need to tell you that business is difficult. There seem to be new challenges every day and sometimes it is simply overwhelming. So when it comes to the idea of raising the standards of our business practices to align with God’s word and His desires for us, some Christian business leaders simply say, “Enough!” and stick with the status quo. They continue in their efforts to live in relationship with God, but they don’t believe they have the energy to raise their bar any higher.

Others have a desire to live out their faith, but have always been taught that business and their Christian faith are separate ideas, never to be mixed. I fell into this category for much of my life. Even when these Christ-followers begin to realize that God desires our entire commitment to Him (EVERY part of our lives!), most have no idea how to start!

We Are To Honor God

Regardless of the reasons, it is clear from Scripture that we are to honor God with our hearts and actions, not just pay Him lip service. Look at the verses below from a passage where Jesus was addressing the religious leaders.

He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
Matthew 7:6

Something Must Change!

This same idea can be applied to us as we claim the name of Jesus in our lives, but then go into the marketplace and act as if our relationship with Him has no effect on our actions or business practices. Folks, this simply cannot continue! Either we are following Jesus AND carrying out His teaching in every part of our lives OR we are not following Him – paying Him lip service instead. We cannot continue to carry only PART of our cross daily.

If you are one who knows your business practices do not align with Scripture and you are committed to change that, then I have some advice for you. First, know that I am excited for you! You are going to embark on a great adventure and will have incredible stories to tell about God’s provision. Get ready, because the ride can be a wild one!

3 Steps To Eliminating Lip Service

Now that you are ready to get started, there are three simple steps to follow to bring change to your business practices. Before I explain the steps, please know that while these are simple, they are still difficult. Please do not blow off these steps because they are not complex. Do not take them lightly because they are so simple. Just follow them and watch to see what God does!

Step #1 – Acknowledge The Gap

If there is to be change, you must first acknowledge that there is a need for it. You cannot tiptoe into these next two steps until you have fully committed your heart to this first step. It may be that you have been thinking about this for a while. Good, you are probably ready to jump! If this is a new idea to you, I promise you it is worth your time to pray that God would prepare you for commitment to the rest of this process.

Step # 2 – Read & Pray

The next step is to go the Bible and read Psalm 119, several times. Read the whole chapter – it is not too long. Read it and stop to think about the heart from which it is written. Read it again. If you are in the right mindset, this chapter will resonate with your heart and you will understand why it is part of the first step.

Once you have read it several times, get on your knees and pray in your own words what the author of this Psalm asked of God. Pray for specific help with your business practices. Beg Him to show you where you need to act first and to give you the strength you will need to do so. Also ask God to help you align other areas of your life with Scripture, if that is needed. You are fully aligning your heart with His.

Do this first step repeatedly for several days. Come back to it as often as you need to. God will respond. He is certainly faithful to requests like this. As you begin to feel your heart shifting into alignment with His, add Proverbs to your daily reading.

Take small chunks and pray about them. Ask God where your business is not in alignment with these verses. The book of Proverbs is chock full of business wisdom and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to execute Step #3 in the process.

Step #3 – Act

Very simply, you now must act. Take what God has shown you and take action on it. He will cause areas of your business to bubble up to the surface of your mind. Dig into these areas and determine what He is asking you to change. Now, change them!

I promise you there are areas that are not in alignment with His word. I also promise you that many of these areas will be very difficult for you to change. Sometimes it is a matter of an easy tweak to what you are doing, but often it will require some foundation-level changes. While these are not easy, they are worth the effort to change.

Get Ready!

God will honor your efforts here. He desires every part of your life to be in alignment with His word. As you move toward this position, He will guide you, give you the strength to proceed, and reward you. Like I said, get ready because the ride is a wild one!

Are you paying God lip service? Ready to change?

What is your first step toward eliminating lip service?

Whose accountability are you going to enlist?

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