10According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.11For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.12Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,13each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.
We can claim the name of Christ, but if His presence, His principles, and our relationship with Him are not central in our lives, then I think it's important that we do the proper evaluation and take corrective action. As, it's been said, we can recognize that only what is done for the Lord will last. A good foundation is predicated on a right heart relationship - we have to make sure that our actions are flowing from a heart that is devoted to Him and that we are dedicated to following Him as He leads. If we attempt to do righteous works, but our hearts are not right, then we are engaging in hypocrisy. And, if we claim to be Christians and we are not participating in His work, then we have to take a second look and ask the Lord to cleanse us and set us on course.
I think it is safe to say that Jesus reserved His harshest criticism for those who claimed to be religious, and indeed outwardly looked pious, but whose hearts were not right with God. In Matthew 23, for instance, He outlined seven "woes," directed at the hypocrites. Here are some examples:
25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.26Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.27Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.28Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness
I have to admit, I have not listened to the music of a Christian so-called, "metal," band called As I Lay Dying. I can't say that I had even heard of them until the lead singer, Tim Lambesis started making the news. He is now serving time in prison for attempting to have his estranged wife killed by a hitman.
Lambesis, the musician now says that he is actually an atheist, according to a report on the ChristianHeadlines.com website. He says that As I Lay Dying originated as a Christian group, but members lost their faith over time. Though the band felt that they were lying by portraying themselves as Christian, the group wanted to keep record sales up with the Christian audience. He said that, "We talked about whether to keep taking money from the ‘Christian market...We had this bizarrely ‘noble’ thing, like, ‘Well, we’re not passing along any bad ideas. We’re just singing about real life stuff. Those kids need to hear about real life, because they live in a bubble.”
Lambesis now feels that “when you change your views, you kind of owe it to the fans to be honest.”
According to the singer, As I Lay Dying is not the only band putting up false pretences. "We toured with more 'Christian bands' who actually aren't Christians than bands that are. In 12 years of touring with As I Lay Dying, I would say maybe one in 10 Christian bands we toured with were actually Christian bands," he said.
Lambesis now feels that “when you change your views, you kind of owe it to the fans to be honest.”
According to the singer, As I Lay Dying is not the only band putting up false pretences. "We toured with more 'Christian bands' who actually aren't Christians than bands that are. In 12 years of touring with As I Lay Dying, I would say maybe one in 10 Christian bands we toured with were actually Christian bands," he said.
The Christian Post reports that remaining band members have formed a new group called, Wovenwar. All members of As I Lay Dying, it seems, are being described as ex-Christians, which is a term that I would have to question. And, this series of events could lead to a discussion of eternal security. But, I do want to point us in the direction of identifying hypocrisy in our own lives, and asking the Lord to eliminate it. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus reserved His harshest criticism for those who claimed to be religious, and indeed outwardly looked pious, but whose hearts were not right with God.
So the question that we can ask ourselves is, "what's in our heart"? We have to make sure that we don't claim to be a Christian and even attempt to do righteous works and look holy on the outside, when all we're doing is going through the motions. These band guys said that they were putting on false airs, along with most Christian bands, which I highly doubt, but God is the judge. I'm not sure that Mr. Lambesis carries a whole lot of credibility these days. But, they did claim the name of Christ, and their actions now have undermined that.
I think that this can motivate us to check the condition of our hearts and to ask the Lord to cleanse us of all that is not pleasing to Him. We know that God calls us to live in a manner consistent with the condition of our hearts - if our hearts are right before Him, then we will produce lasting and legitimate fruit for His glory.
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