After last night’s sermon, I was asked the question ‘Do you think partial obedience is worse than disobedience?’ Anything less than whole-hearted obedience is clearly not God’s will for us and whilst it can be difficult to categorise in terms of ‘good-better-best/ bad-worse-worst’, I think partial obedience is perhaps more dangerous than disobedience in the sense that we can actually be oblivious to the disobedience when we are partially obeying whereas defiant disobedience often involves an act of the will which is more visible to us.
Our hearts are deceptive as well as wicked (Jer 17:9) and when we are partly obeying God, we can be completely blind to the ways in which we have not fully or completely obeyed Him. Saul is adamant in his first confessions to Samuel that he has done what God wanted, greeting him with words of triumph (‘The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.’ (1 Sam 15:13)) and then ‘But I did obey the Lord!’ (1 Sam 15:20) He has a plausible excuse for all he has done: ‘I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.’ (1 Sam 15:20-21) When we do some of the things God has told us to do, we can rationalise the things we have not done; we can justify our actions very easily. It is this aspect of rationalisation and justification which can make us blind to our own shortcomings.
All drivers know the dangers of a ‘blind spot’: the area around the vehicle that cannot be directly observed by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances. It can lead to accidents and is exceedingly dangerous.
Our own faults are often hidden from our own vision in the same way that a blind spot hides other drivers or a pedestrian from a driver’s vision. Jesus used dramatic imagery to convey this: ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.‘ (Matt 7:3-5)
How, then, can we guard our hearts against partial obedience? What are the mechanics which will keep us from obeying in part rather than in full?
- David’s prayer in Psalm 139 is one of our best defences: ‘Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ (Ps 139:23-24) By inviting God into every part of our hearts, we give Him free access to sift our mixed motives, fearful hearts and dumb ignorance, allowing Him to illuminate our hearts through the power of His Spirit.
- God’s Word is a hammer (Jer 23:29) and sword (Heb 4:12) with power to smash our defences and expose the true motives of our hearts; regular exposure to His Word is a cleansing force for good. (Eph 5:26)
- Sometimes we need the incisive prophetic word spoken into our circumstances (as Samuel did with Saul or Nathan when exposing David’s adultery.) This can come in different ways, including the powerful use of story or a specific word of knowledge. Stories have a way of ‘getting under our skins’, allowing us to see actions from a different perspective or allowing us to empathise with a situation that is not perhaps immediately familiar to us. Jesus used stories many times to convey spiritual truth and we need to be open to this means of unveiling our eyes.
- At times we need the honesty of other people to help us see ourselves clearly, but as the verses in Matthew 7 make clear, this is not always an easy task and it can be easier to tear down than it is to build up. Trusted friends who love us earn the right to speak clearly into our lives and can help us to be more accountable. There is a need for us to warn those who are sinning (see Gal 6:1, also James 5:16) and for us to heed warnings made to us, but this can be a difficult area for us to accept;
Given all that God has done for us, the best way we can ensure our whole-hearted obedience is to delight ourselves in the Lord and meditate on His goodness and unfailing love.
‘In view of Your matchless sacrifice, take every treasure, take this life.’
‘In these empty hands, I have it all – the pure joy of knowing You, my Lord.’ (‘All That I Am’, Rend Collective)