Lip service

A number of years ago, I was impressed by a message given by Vance Havner. Dr. Havner began preaching in his teens and pastored several large Southern Baptist churches in the southern US. I heard him speak at a pastors’ conference when I was in my early 20s and he was in his late 70s or early 80s. I was struck by his humble spirit, his steadfast faith, his amazing gift of preaching and his longevity in ministry.

Recently, I was reflecting again on Dr. Havner’s statement that night: “It is a dangerous thing to traffic in unfelt truth. . . . It is like water pouring from a lion statue in a park. The water flows from the lion’s mouth, but the stone lion never tastes it.”

The danger of trafficking in unfelt truth stalks all of us as believers. I ask myself from time to time while singing in times of worship, “Do I really mean these words? Am I singing these words from a heart focused on the Lord, or am I just singing words, words I don’t feel or ‘taste’?”

This can also happen when we are sharing our faith with someone, teaching a Sunday school class, leading a small group or preaching a sermon. We are trafficking in truth, the truth of God’s Word. The question we must ask ourselves from time to time is, “Do I feel this truth, do I own this truth, is what I am saying what I believe with all my heart, or am I parroting something I have heard from others? Am I pouring out words from thoughts that have had little or no impact on my life?”

I believe Jesus was speaking to this issue in Matthew 15:8: “These people honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” Ultimately, this is a personal issue, one between us and the Lord. We are not to judge one another in these matters because they are unseen matters of the heart.

Solomon cautioned, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The danger of trafficking in unfelt truth is real. Being aware of a danger is an important step in avoiding that danger. It can help us to monitor whether the words on our lips are flowing from a heart in right relationship with the Lord. King David prayed, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). Our challenge as believers is to be sure the words of our lips and the thoughts of our hearts agree. As they do, we will find increasing freedom in our Christian lives, and what we say or sing will be much more than “lip service”. It will be the overflow of a heart in tune with the Lord.

Carlin Weinhauer is pastor emeritus of Willingdon Church in Burnaby, B.C. This article was originally published in the May 2002 Willingdon Church Newsletter.