by Danny Kang
For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to do amazing things for God. My prayers when I was younger were along the lines of, “God, I want to be in the NBA…for you. God, I want to be popular…for you. God, I want to have a girlfriend…for you. God, I want to do things…for you, etc.” I really wanted to do incredible things for God. As a matter of fact, I wanted to change the world for God.
Starting about three years ago, there were more opportunities to do things for God. In fact, these were incredible opportunities where I got to do amazing things for God. I got to go to different parts of the world and throughout the U.S. to tell people about Jesus. I got a chance to pray for people and see God heal them in incredible ways. (I’ve seen deaf people hear again. I’ve seen people who came limping into cafés with crutches and then walk out without them. I’ve seen people who were tormented by evil spirits set free and experience freedom!) And as the years went on, there were even more opportunities to do things for God. But I was missing something.
Here’s what I thought: “Because I am doing a lot of things FOR GOD, it must mean I am doing what God wants me to do.” The more I did for God, the more godly I thought I was and the more “radical” I thought it made me. But to be completely honest, during those moments when I did many things for God, I knew that something was off and something was missing. What I didn’t realize is that just because I did many things for God, it didn’t mean that I did many things with God.
Doing things for God does not mean that you are doing things with God.
Let me explain.
“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.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
Have you ever read something in the Bible and you wish you haven’t read what you just read? Or even better, have you ever read something in the Bible and wish it never existed? Yeah, that’s how I feel whenever I read this. Jesus is saying this to both the religious people and the non-religious people! Every single person who was a part of that crowd heard Jesus say this. I can probably guarantee you that no one left that day saying, “Oh golly gosh, that was the most encouraging thing I’ve ever heard Jesus say! I feel so encouraged.”
This is so counter-cultural and so different from what the religious people taught and thought during that time. They believed that the ones who prophesy, the ones who cast out demons, and the ones who do mighty works FOR God must mean that they are the most godly and holy. They believed that doing those things FOR God meant that they were heads and shoulders above everyone else! They believed that doing those things FOR God must mean that you are close to God!
Look at the last sentence of what Jesus tells them. “I never knew you; depart from me.”
The original meaning of that phrase, “I never knew you” is “I NEVER KNEW YOU!”
For the first time in their lives, someone is telling them that it’s possible to do all these things FOR God without it being FROM God. It’s possible that you can do all these incredible things FOR God…without God.
It’s possible to do many incredible things FOR Jesus and miss out on the intimate relationship with Jesus.
Anyone feeling really encouraged yet? No? Me neither, but…
I want to compare that story with this one:
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13
I want you to catch the weight of what this is saying. This is right after Peter completely heals a man who had been crippled since birth, and right after Peter preaches the Gospel where 5,000 people come to know Jesus! (Peter just did INCREDIBLE things FOR Jesus.) The religious leaders couldn’t believe what they were seeing! They have never seen a boldness like this before, especially coming from these two men who had NO education and NOTHING special about them. The only source of the disciples’ boldness and power that these religious leaders could trace back to is found in the last sentence…
“They recognize that they had been with Jesus.”
The disciples are doing absolutely incredible things FOR Jesus, but it’s because they had been WITH Jesus.
What is the key difference between these two stories?
Whether or not you have been WITH Jesus.
It’s not about duty. It’s about intimacy. Christianity is first and foremost a passionate love affair with a suffering Savior who loved the “hell” out of you so that you can enter into a breathtaking and eternal relationship with the now risen King! Not a bunch of do’s and do not’s.
There is no greater joy than being with Jesus! It’s only when we’re with Him that our hearts come alive in a way unlike any other! It’s in the moments when you’re with Jesus that intimacy grows and you really get to know, not only your Savior, but also your Friend. It’s in the moments when you’re with Jesus that you realize how unbelievably loved you are and hence, your worth. It’s in the moments when you’re with Jesus that you realize that no amount of accomplishments can ever satisfy the desire of being with Him. Not only that, but it’s in the moments when you’re with Jesus that you realize you want to impact and change the world, not only FOR Him but WITH Him.
The more you’re with Jesus, the more you become like Jesus, and the more you become like Jesus, the more you live like Jesus. This includes, Kingdom impact!
If your first and main priority is to be with Jesus, you will exponentially impact, influence, and accomplish far more for His Kingdom than doing things for Jesus, without Jesus.
I heard it said this way: If your desire is to seek the FACE of God (intimacy) and not His Hands (power), then His Hands will be all over your life.
I believe we need a generation of believers who will be marked in the place of intimacy. We need of a generation of disciples whose lives are marked by the phrase, “they had been with Jesus.” We need a generation of people who are absolutely in love with Jesus and from that place, will be launched to carrying the mission of Jesus.
If you are with Jesus then you will inevitably do things for Jesus. When your heart’s longing is to be with Jesus, you will change the world WITH Jesus. And that’s far more powerful than doing things for Jesus without Jesus.
In the words of Jesus Christ, “…with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”