This May Shock You…God Is Not Impressed | Why Religious Activity Isn’t Enough

You can memorize every Bible verse, serve at every event, and give to every cause — but if your heart’s not in it, God isn’t impressed. In this powerful episode of Behind the Mike Podcast, Mike Stone challenges us to examine our motives, reset our faith, and return to authentic love for God over empty religious performance.

Through personal stories, relatable struggles, and biblical examples like Mary & Martha, the Pharisee & the tax collector, and King David, Mike unpacks the difference between doing things for God and being with God. Learn the warning signs of performance-based faith and discover practical ways to rekindle genuine intimacy with Him.

Key Scriptures:
Isaiah 29:13, Luke 18:9-14, Luke 10:38-42, Mark 10:17-22, Matthew 6, Psalm 51:16-17, Psalm 139:23-24

📌 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- How to know if your faith has slipped into performance mode
- Why private moments with God matter more than public ones
- Four warning signs your heart may be drifting
- How to reset your relationship with God today
- A simple weekly challenge to draw closer to Him

🎯 Whether you’re a lifelong believer, new to the faith, or burned out from church busyness, this episode will inspire you to stop striving and start abiding.

#GodIsNotImpressed #AuthenticFaith #ChristianPodcast #BehindTheMikePodcast #MikeStone #FaithOverPerformance #ChristianLiving #HeartOverWorks #BibleTeaching #spiritualgrowth

CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Global shoutouts & listener appreciation
01:07 – The uncomfortable truth: God isn’t impressed by religious resumes
02:04 – Why do you do what you do?
02:49 – My season as a “spiritual over-achiever”
03:23 – Isaiah 29:13 — honoring God with lips but not the heart
04:01 – Example 1: The Pharisee & the tax collector
04:33 – Example 2: Mary & Martha
04:52 – Example 3: The rich young ruler
05:10 – Example 4: David — a man after God’s heart
05:41 – Jesus’ teaching on private faith in Matthew 6
06:35 – Warning signs of performance-based faith
07:42 – Psalm 51 — God desires a contrite heart
08:14 – Reset step 1: Pray honestly
09:16 – Reset step 2: Spend time with God with no agenda
10:08 – Reset step 3: Serve in secret
11:00 – Reset step 4: Fast from recognition
11:27 – Returning to genuine love for God
11:58 – Psalm 139 prayer & weekly challenge

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Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Hey my friends, welcometo Behind the Mike Podcast.
Grateful that you join me.
And I just wanted to,happen to think of this
before I started,and I thought, I'm
going to shout out tosome people, we've got
people listening and watchingfrom all over the world.
So, all across the US,people listening and watching

(00:26):
from the UK, from South Africa,from the Philippines
and from Brazil, countriesI haven't even heard of
are showing up.
So thank you guysfor doing that.
I also want to shout outto a couple regulars
that I've just noticed offthe top of my head are,
somebody constantly listeningto every podcast episode
from Paris, France,and from Mount Pleasant,

(00:49):
South Carolina.
Thank you guys.
Thank you for joining me.
And, for just hanging inthere with me, through this,
this journey,I want to start today
with something short and simpleand maybe
a little uncomfortable.
You can memorize every scriptureyou can serve at every event.

(01:14):
You can give to every cause.
But if your heart's not in it,God's not impressed.
He's not looking forreligious resumes.
He's looking forpeople who love him
when nobody's watching.
That's it.
That's the thought.
But if we let that sink in,it's it's huge

(01:38):
because it forces usto stop and ask, why am I doing
what I'm doing?
Somebody posed that questionto a group,
whether it was a church,I don't know, an
audience somewhere or whydo you do what you do?
And that really resonatedwith me.
And I thought,why do I do what I do?
From the simplestlittle habitual things that I do

(01:59):
every day to,to the bigger things?
Why am I doing what I'm doing?
And that's the questionthat I want to pose
to you today.
Well, I've had seasonswhere my calendar looked like,

(02:20):
spiritual over-achiever’s dream.
Right?
Sunday morning I was theremidweek Bible study.
Count me in.
Serving on the techteam, helping with events,
volunteeringwhen something came up
absolutely.
From the outside,it probably looked
like this dude'son fire for God,

(02:41):
but on the inside I was tired.
And honestly, my time with Godwas just on autopilot.
I wasn't intentionally runningfrom God, but I was so busy
doing things for himthat I wasn't actually
spending much time with him.
And that's the danger,because doing more can feel like

(03:05):
being closer.
But it's not alwaysthe same thing.

Isaiah 29 (03:08):
13 puts it this way, itsays, “These people
come near to mewith their mouth, and honor me
with their lips,but their hearts are
far from me.” It's a warning.
You can check all theboxes and still
miss God entirely.

(03:30):
Let's walk through someexamples from Scripture.
Number one, the Phariseeand the tax collector.

From Luke 18 (03:36):
9-14, the Pharisee listed
his religious accomplishmentin prayer.
The tax collector simply said,God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
And Jesus said, that man wenthome justified, not the one

(03:58):
with the resume.
Number two Mary and Martha.

From Luke 10 (04:04):
38-42.
Martha was serving.
Mary was sitting at Jesus feet.
Jesus said, Mary chosewhat is better?
Serving matters,but not more than
sitting with him.
One that I think of an awful lotwhen I think about why I'm doing

(04:24):
what I'm doing as thethe rich young ruler

from Mark 10 (04:28):
17-22, he kept all the commandments.
He made that very clear.
But he couldn'tgive Jesus his heart.
And his heart was centeredon his wealth.
And then for David.

1 Samuel 13 (04:46):
14.
David wasn't perfect,far from it, but he was called
“a man after God's heart.”God values authenticity
over perfection.
One of the biggest indicatorsof our love for God
is what our faith looks likewhen no one else is watching.

(05:10):
Jesus said in Matthew 6,when you give,
don't make it a show.
You have to let people knowwhen you pray.
Close the door.
You don't have to be visibleto everyone when you fast.
Don't advertise it.
God seeswhat happens in private.
I've noticed in my own lifesome of my closest

(05:33):
moments with God.
They weren't on a stageor behind a microphone,
or even in a church service.
They weren't quiet moments.
Things that I remembervividly from my past.
Sitting in my carbefore work, praying,
reading scripture in my bedroombefore anyone else woke up,

(05:56):
worshiping in my living roomwhile the TV was off.
Those momentsdon't get applause,
and maybe that's the point.
Here's some warning signsthat you might be slipping
into a performance based faith.

(06:16):
You ready for this?
Number one, your identitydepends on your ministry role.
Do you find the more importantor visible ministry roles
better define your identity?
Number two, you get resentfulif no one notices your service.
This comes down to “whydo I do what I do?” question

(06:40):
are you truly serving the Lord?
Or is it moreabout being recognized?
Number three, you're doingspiritual disciplines
out of habit, not hunger.
I grew up in church, so wepray before meals and at bedtime
we go to Sunday school.
We don't work on Sundays.

(07:01):
We serve others,especially in church.
And the list goes on and on.
And number four,you feel burnt out,
but you keep goingjust because you should.
Well, I've checked allof those boxes at some point,
and every timeGod has to pull me back

(07:22):
and remind me I didn't askfor your schedule.
I just ask for your heart.
Psalm 51, verse 16 and 17 says,“You do not delight
in sacrifice,or I would bring it;

(07:42):
you do not take pleasurein burnt offerings.
My sacrifice is a broken spirit;a broken and contrite
heart,O God,you will not despise.”
God wants authenticity.
And here's how we can reset.
Sometimes we have to do thisoften.

(08:03):
Pray honestly.
Don't try to impress himwith the right words.
I remember distinctlyin high school
we had a group froma local college come over.
There were Christian ministryat the college
and they came overto our youth group.
And when we closed in prayer,we all held hands
and stood in a circle.

(08:24):
And these guys were so cool.
You know why?
Because I remember evenat 15, 16 years old, that prayer
was genuine.
Those prayers were genuine.
I remember we all laughedduring the prayers because
basically they were poking funat themselves.

(08:46):
You know, God, you know,I get so sidetracked.
I forget about you sometimes.
And, you know, everybodychuckled a little bit,
but it's true.
And what I learned from that isthat's what God wants.
They don't have to putfancy words behind it.
Just be honest with them.

(09:07):
Spend time with him.
With no agenda.
There have been so many timesI travel a lot,
and there have beenso many times
where I'm by myself.
And I could pop the earbudsin, or I could, you know,
listen to podcastsor music or whatever,
or I could scroll on my phone.
But what I love to do,especially on a longer drive,

(09:29):
is just talk to God.
Just spend time with himthinking, praying, singing,
whatever that looks like.
Not prepping for ministry,not checking boxes.
Just spend time with him.
Number three servant's secretand let him be

(09:52):
the only one who knows.
I don't know if you've everexperienced this,
but there are times when theHoly Spirit just stirs
something inside of meand prompts me to do something
that really, maybe even out ofcharacter for me.
But I just felt the prompting.
And so I did something.
Sometimes it's for somebody,but it's those times

(10:13):
when you're done and you realizenobody saw that.
And I could go on social mediaand post about it.
Nothing wrong with that.
But it's the timesthat I just walked away
and kind of winkedat God and said,
thanks for that.
Something different about that.

(10:35):
Just doing something,following him, spending
time with him,with nobody noticing.
And number four, fastfrom recognition.
Kind of what I just said.
When something happensand the Holy Spirit prompts you
to do something, you know,I'm on social media a lot.
I've got this podcast.
I've got my YouTube channel,my Facebook page,

(10:57):
TikTok, you name it, I'm on it.
I just want to share the gospel.
But to be able to do thingswithout recognition,
that's really where it's at.
That's where the joyreally comes from.
I don't do this for recognition.
God called me to this and 2019.
It's just a wayto share my heart about him.

(11:21):
And it's those timeswhen the recognition
doesn't come that I realizeI'm doing it
for the right reasons.
How about you?
Let's go back to the start.
You can memorize every verse.
That's great.
I could serve at every event.
Perfect.
And you can give to every cause.
Awesome.

(11:43):
But if your heart's not in it,God's not impressed.
He's not looking forperfect records.
He's looking for genuine love.
One of my favorite passagesof scripture has been for years.
Decades is Psalm 139.
And Psalm 139.
Verses 23 and 24 says,and this is my prayer.

(12:07):
This is often my prayer.
“Search me, O God.
Test me.
Know my anxious thoughts.
See if there isany wicked way in me.
And lead me in the wayeverlasting.” So here's
the challenge this week.
Do something forGod that no one else

(12:29):
will ever know about.
Let Him be your only audience.