“Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
C.T. Studd
Several months ago I was in a friend’s house and he had the above quote on a plaque in his entry way. It’s not the first time I’ve seen or heard those two lines from C.T. Studd’s poem/hymn in a Christian home. The idea that the highest aim of our lives as humans is to live for God is an incredibly common belief among the Christians I know.
This belief manifests itself in a constellation of related practices and beliefs. For instance; if you’re really a good follower of Jesus your every thought will be “does this please God?” or “Am I doing this for God or for my own good?” We are called to lay down our lives, do everything for Jesus, and trust that as we do so we’re pleasing God.
There’s a serious problem with that thinking. While the desire to live for God isn’t in itself wrong, it has a way of becoming the primary driver in many Christians lives.
Let me state this bluntly at the outset; if you’re living your life for God you’re doing it wrong.
Working For God
Far too many men and women who truly love Christ are wasting their lives striving with all their mortal strength to do something for God. They’re building churches and pastoring thousands. They’re zealously evangelizing and studying apologetics, ready with an answer to any troublesome question a prospective Christian might have. They’re making radical moves for the good of people, drilling wells in Africa and freeing children and women from slavery. They’re parenting and trying to raise their children up in the way they should go.
But, the reality is, they’re doing it in their own human power. They’re doing it for God. They are doing it.
No good protestant Christian would say that they are working for their salvation, but the functional mindset of “Only what’s done for Christ will last,” almost always results in “I must summon up the power to live for Christ, because he gave his life for me.” It’s works-based righteousness glossed over with gratitude.
This is a far cry from what Jesus proposes and what the Apostle Paul demonstrates about the life of a believer. Jesus says that those who come to him will find a light load and an easy burden. Why? Because they will be yoked with him, the one in whom all power and strength rests. The burden is easy and the load light because Jesus is the one carrying the weight, not because Jesus makes us strong enough to do it on our own. God doesn’t help those who help themselves. He helps those who cry out in the midst of their helplessness.
Or, to turn to the Apostle Paul,
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
And,
“work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:12-13
Doing things with the motive, “I’m going to do this for God because he’s done so much for me” falls short of faith and places us solidly in the realm of performance, outside the realm of grace. In each of the verses above the clear message of the Gospel is that the life of faith is one that isn’t focused on doing things for God in response to his grace, but instead doing things with God.
Working with God
Whenever we try to do something on our own power we ultimately crash and burn. We weren’t created for powerful independence . That’s the path that Adam and Eve pursued when they ate of the fruit in an attempt to become more like God. Instead we are called to humble, delightful dependence. We are meant to be a channel through which God’s power flows like water, not a pump summoning up the waters from below the earth.
The beautiful news of the Gospel is that we’re not called to do things for God on our own power; we’re called to do as Jesus did and walk in the Spirit’s power and leading, letting God work in through and with us.
God’s priority is relationship, not production. Connection, not perfection. Jesus is the perfect one. In him we are invited into a partnership where we work with God, gently learning to move as he moves and do as he does.
This gentle flow of love drawing us in is a far cry from the brutal, will-powered path that most Christians feel their sanctification and obedience must be.
Are our lives meant to be lived in the way that God wants us to live them? Absolutely! As Paul says over and over again, he was (and we are) slaves to Christ. We are to devote our lives to the service of our beloved. However, that service is done first and foremost with Jesus, not for him. It comes from delight, joy, and love, not simply trying harder.
Only what’s done by Christ will last
C.T. Studd was wrong, at least in his phrasing. It’s not what’s done for Christ that lasts. Anything done on human power, whether it’s for evil or for good, whether for the Kingdom or for self, will fade. As the prophet Isaiah graphically states, all our works are like blood-stained rags. The author of Hebrews declares that anything that doesn’t come from faith is sin, and Paul states that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” and “it was not I who worked, but God working in me…”
Only what’s done by Christ will last. And, wonder of wonders, we are invited by God’s grace to partner with him in his Kingdom work. To live from the overflow of his endless love in the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is a life of walking with God, following his lead and relying on His power by faith. Let’s live with, not for.
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