Your Kingdom Service and the Fire Test
In the corporate world, we are accustomed to the concept of Quality Assurance, a process ensuring that products and services meet specific standards before they reach the end user. However, when the Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle Paul regarding our spiritual walk, He introduced a form of quality assurance that transcends human metrics. The Bible explicitly states that every man’s work will be tested by fire to ascertain the veracity of its quality and value.
To the casual observer, or perhaps the comfortable Christian, the idea that God would subject our labours to such intense scrutiny might seem like quality assurance taken too far. Yet, this is the inescapable reality of the Kingdom. It implies that God will have to subject your labours (whether you are an usher, a chorister, a preacher, a giver, a counsellor, a greeter, a drama evangelist, or operating in the high calling of the five-fold ministries) to His Fire measuring device.
The Apostle Paul lays this foundation clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:13 (NKJV):
“Each 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.”
The Nature of the Furnace
We must not be mistaken about the nature of this testing. When we speak of fire, our minds often drift to the physical. But the fire of God is not the domestic flame we are used to.
“Can you imagine your 30 – or 40 year old kingdom service thrown inside fire? It is not the kind of fire that is used to cook rice and noodles. It is a blazing furnace that is configured with Purity and Judgment.”
This fire is the very essence of God’s holiness. Hebrews 12:29 reminds us that “our God is a consuming fire.” This fire does not consume the believer’s soul, for that is secured by the blood of Jesus, but it consumes the facade of our service. It burns away the chaff, the pretence, and the hypocrisy, leaving only what is genuine. It is a fire that discerns not just what was done, but the spirit in which it was done.
The Metrics of the Heart
By the metrics of God’s testing fire, the work will be measured along with the underlying motives, motivations, intentions, and expectations. In the eyes of heaven, the volume of your activity is secondary to the purity of your heart. You may be the most visible person in your congregation, but visibility does not equal validity.
We must ask ourselves the hard questions now, before we stand before that blazing furnace:
- Was your singing service meant to show your talents or glorify God? Did you desire the applause of the congregation more than the pleasure of the Father?
- Was your ushering service a true act of servanthood, or was it a means to gain access to influence or money that could be misappropriated?
- Was your preaching designed to pierce hearts with truth, or to build a personal empire and secure a celebrity status?
The Lord warns us against performing righteousness for an audience of men. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:1 (ESV):
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
The Tragedy of Wasted Years
There is a possibility that one can spend a lifetime in church activity, racking up 30 or 40 years of what looks like dedicated service, only to watch it incinerate in seconds on that final day. This is the tragedy of “wood, hay, and stubble” (1 Corinthians 3:12). These materials may occupy space; they may look impressive when piled high, but they have no resistance against fire.
“By the metrics of God’s testing fire, the work will be measured along with the underlying motives, motivations, intentions, and expectations.”
It is important that we should be aware of the kind or quality of services we offer to the King of kings. He is not a desperate employer looking for warm bodies to fill a vacancy; He is the Lord of Glory who demands excellence of spirit. He will not take any inferior quality from us.
If our service is born out of competition, envy, strife, or a desire for self-aggrandisement, it is considered inferior goods. It will not pass the test. Jeremiah 17:10 confirms this: “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
Preparing for the Fire
Every action or inaction behind the services will be tested by His own kind of PURE FIRE. The question, therefore, is not “Are you busy?” but rather, “Are you genuine?”
Are you getting ready? The fire is inevitable, but the loss of reward is not. We have the opportunity now, while we still have breath, to align our motives with His will. We must repent of service done for the eye-service of men and return to the heart of worship. We must serve with the reverence of those who know they are handling holy things.
May the Lord help us to do enduring and abiding works: works of gold, silver, and precious stones that will shine brighter in the fire, not burn away. Let us labour so that on that day, we receive a “Well done” and a full reward, rather than suffering the heartbreak of seeing a lifetime of labour turn to ash.
This is extraordinary. Pure fire is the gauge to measure quality and value of service.