What We Might Be Getting Wrong About Christian Obedience

One of the essential aspects of the Christian life is obedience. The Bible discusses it often, preachers give sermons on it, and we sing songs about it. Yet, we somehow misunderstand obedience and apply it to our lives incorrectly. Christian obedience is about love, is selfless, can come at a price, isn’t performative, and should reflect Jesus. The effects of not properly grasping this can be devastating to our faith and testimony. So, let’s try to get it right.

What Is Obedience?

We all have some idea of what obedience is, but it’s important for all of us to be on the same page. To help with that, we should define the term. Most dictionaries say obedience is “compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.” All right, that looks correct, and for many Christians, this is where obedience starts and ends. This kind of obedience is about doing what we’re told, but Christian obedience requires more.

Christian Obedience Isn’t About Us

Lots of people just follow the rules because they’re rule followers. For instance, I was considered an obedient kid. I did what my authorities said to do, and I often went above and beyond. This, of course, earned me many compliments, special privileges, parent/teacher conferences that sounded like a fan club meeting, and a puffed-up ego.

I wasn’t a Christian, so none of this could have been about Jesus, but it could have been for the people I obeyed. It wasn’t. I didn’t obey my mom because I loved her. Instead, I just wanted to stay on her good side. Obeying my dad wasn’t a response to the sacrifices he made to provide for us. It was my attempt to make him proud of me, and ultimately, make him love me. As for my teachers, I obeyed them so well because I was unpopular and desperate for validation.

All of that obedience was about me. I looked like a good kid, but every act of obedience served me. If we obey God the same way, we’re missing it. Christian obedience isn’t to look good to those around us, to impress the pastor, to show off our talents and skills, or to keep God happy with us. Christian obedience is a submission to God’s laws, commands, and will. Moreover, we obey Him because we love Him. True Christian obedience isn’t demonstrated by checking boxes on a list because we have to. We choose to obey because we love Him and we, as His children, want to serve Him. Obedience for a Christian shouldn’t be a burden or annoyance. It’s a blessing instead.

Christian Obedience: Some Verses

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

John 14:15

I taught this verse to my children when they were two years old. It should be Christianity 101, but we sure can be stubborn with God. Ladies, if He commands it, obey Him. Full stop.

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

John 14:21

How do we display our love for the Lord? Obey Him. And do you see the tapestry of love in this verse. We love Jesus, the Father loves us, and Jesus loves us. Remember, though, how did our love manifest in this verse? Obedience.

“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'”

John 14:23

What a lovely promise. A home with God. Keep in mind that the next verse begins “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words” (v.24). The Lord makes it very clear that Christian obedience springs from love, and He blesses that.

Christian Obedience Can Cost You

The Early Church is an example of how much obedience can cost a believer. If Church history is to be believed, eleven of the twelve apostles were martyred. Their crimes? Preaching the gospel. If you don’t have confidence in Church history, then turn to the New Testament. The Apostle Paul was stoned, beaten, imprisoned, threatened, and ultimately killed because he obeyed God’s leading and command to preach and teach the gospel. He wasn’t alone, though, in his struggles. Christians who refused to denounce Christ were also beaten, stoned, imprisoned, or killed.

Christian obedience has cost many lives since the Early Church, and various forms of persecution still happen today. Open Doors US watches trends in the fifty countries in which Christians experience the most extreme persecution, and the most recent report in 2026 indicates that 4,849 Christians died for their faith in the last reporting year. Additionally, 3,632 Christian churches and properties were attacked, and 224,129 Christians were forced to leave their homes, go into hiding, or leave their country entirely.

We Must Obey God Rather Than Men

If you’re anything like me, you might wonder if it’s worth it? I mean, isn’t it easier to play along with ungodly authorities than to stand against them? Certainly, it’s much less frightening and dangerous. Turning to Scripture, we come across an account of the Apostles being arrested in Acts. They had been told to stop preaching Jesus, and yet they continued to so, leading to an arrest. Did they run? Did they apologize and promise to never teach in Jesus’ name again? Nah…

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”

Acts 5:27-29

They pretty much said, “Yeah, but we did it anyway, and we’re going to keep on doing it.” Hmm. Who are we concerned with pleasing? God or man?

Christian Obedience Is Not Performative Obedience

Only God knows our hearts. We say that a lot, and it’s true. I don’t know your motivations, and you definitely don’t know mine. However, we all understand that there are people in churches every Sunday who don’t obey from love, and they aren’t really willing to pay a cost in order to obey. They do, though, want everyone to see how obedient they are. Perhaps, they even want to correct you and “help” you improve your walk with the Lord. These checklist Christians are usually performative, often self-serving, and we sometimes liken them to Pharisees.

From the outside, this looks like obedience, but it is much more like the self-serving “obedience” I used to perform for my family and teachers. Unfortunately, this performative obedience can fool people fairly easily. Churches are filled with those who use outward obedience as a mask for their sin or even their unregenerate state. They look like “good” Christians, but they might not even be born-again.

Jesus addressed frauds like this throughout His ministry. One of my favorite instances can be found in Matthew 23.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

Matthew 23:27-28

Hypocrisy and selfish obedience have no place in a Christian’s life. Let’s ask ourselves why we obey. In addition, we should reflect on when we obey. Do we only obey when people are watching or are we obedient when we’re alone, too?

Christian Obedience Reflects Jesus

If someone practices performative obedience, there is no way they are modeling their obedience after Christ. He didn’t obey the Father for clout or personal gain. Nor did His obedience make Him popular with the influential religious leaders of the time. Infamous in their eyes but not popular. Jesus’ obedience was based in love, and it was notably demonstrated through service and sacrifice.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Philippians 2:5-8

Is this not the ultimate act of obedience? He went to His humiliation, torture, and death because it was the Father’s will. He asked for there to be another way (Luke 22:42), but Jesus ultimately accepted whatever the Father required. How many of us won’t even obey God about relatively small things such as media choices, dating partners, or regular church attendance?! Even so, He expects service and sacrifice from us, as well.

 “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”

Matthew 16:24

As a believer, you are not your own. You belong to Him. As Romans 6 says, we are slaves to whomever we obey. So, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. The choice is clear when you know Jesus.

“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

Romans 6:15-18

Final Thought

Obedience sounds like it might cramp our style. I mean, fun doesn’t immediately come to mind when some says obedience. Well, a “fun” experience is not what our life is defined by as Christians. (Though, I can confirm there is a lot of fun to be had as a believer.) We’re meant to love the Lord and obey Him no matter what He commands. Christian obedience may not always be easy for us, but without a doubt, we should want to obey God.

If you don’t obey the Lord, consider Jesus’ very simple but convicting question in Luke 6 because it makes no sense to call Him Lord when you won’t submit and obey Him.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

Luke 6:46

What are your thoughts on Christian obedience? Have you struggled with it? Has it blessed you?

Image courtesy of Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash.