The Spiritual Audit: Is Your Faith an Asset or a Liability?

In the corporate world, quarterly audits are non-negotiable. Businesses scrutinize their ledgers, pivot their strategies, and trim the fat to ensure they haven't drifted from their mission statement. Yet, when it comes to the most vital enterprise of human existence—our relationship with the Divine—we often settle for a vague, unexamined "religiousness." We must ask ourselves: Is our faith a living organism or merely a historical monument?

The Paradox of the Hollow Tree

True religion operates on a razor's edge of balance. Inward devotion without outward expression is a tree without fruit—useless. Conversely, an outward display of piety devoid of inward sincerity is a tree without a heart—lifeless.

We live in an age where "spiritual but not religious" is a popular mantra, yet anything that makes God a secondary object effectively makes Him no object at all. To offer God second place is, in reality, to offer Him no place. As the scriptures warn, the health of a nation is inextricably tied to this spiritual alignment: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance." (Psalm 33:12)

The Cost of the Worldly Gaze

The legendary singer Jenny Lind once sat by the shore, her Bible open, watching a sunset. When asked why she abandoned the fame of the stage at the height of her powers, she noted that every day she spent in the spotlight, she was losing her appreciation for the sunset and her love for the Word.

When we immerse ourselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasure and profit, the Bible inevitably loses its "charm." But this loss isn't just aesthetic; it is catastrophic. Daniel Webster once remarked that if we neglect the Bible’s authority, a sudden catastrophe may overwhelm us. It costs something to be religious, but it will cost infinitely more not to be.

The Audit: Measuring Your Spiritual Capital

To move beyond a superficial faith, we must subject our souls to a series of "challenging inquiries."

1. The Knowledge Audit: Is Your Zeal Governed?

Zeal without knowledge is like a fire without a grate—it destroys rather than warms. We all wish to possess wisdom, but few are willing to pay the price of Study. The more you practice what you know, the more you will know what to practice. "Hear, my son, and be wise; and guide your heart in the way." (Proverbs 23:19)

2. The Faith Audit: Does It Move You?

If your faith doesn't move you to action, it isn't faith; it's an opinion. Noah wasn't just "informed" about the flood; he was moved. "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household..." (Hebrews 11:7)

3. The Love Audit: Is It Unselfish?

Love is not a commodity to be bought; it is a self-expenditure. You can give everything you own to the poor, but if it isn't fueled by agape, the ledger remains at zero. "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (I Corinthians 13:3)

4. The Influence Audit: Do Others Follow Your Lead?

In John 12, the chief priests wanted to kill Lazarus—not because of what he said, but because his very existence caused others to believe. Does your life serve as a "guide to paradise," or are you spiritually invisible?

5. The Mercy Audit: Do You Forgive as You Are Forgiven?

We often "hand people over to God’s mercy" while refusing to show any ourselves. We act like the servant in Matthew 18 who was forgiven ten thousand talents but choked a fellow servant over a hundred pence. If you cannot show mercy, you have fundamentally misunderstood the Gospel.

The Final Reckoning: Why Didn't You Tell Us?

The most haunting challenge for the modern Christian is the silent cry of the unreached. If we claim to hold the "Light of the World," why is the world still so dark?

Nineteen hundred years have passed, Since disciples were told to go. You say you are Christ’s disciples, And yet, His very last command is disobeyed by you. Interest speaks all languages. If we truly cared, we would find a way to communicate. If our belief was truly "unspotted," our lives would be a magnetic force for the Truth.

The acts of this life are the destiny of the next. Are you determined to press on? The sum of a prepared eternity is simply this: Believe what the Bible tells us and do what it bids. "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!" (I Corinthians 9:16)