I keep fighting this natural inclination to be a Christian by the books. You know, read your Bible daily, pray, fast, tithe, be nice to stupid people, and hop on one foot while reciting scripture backwards in Yiddish. The standard stuff of everyday Christian living. The problem is, none of that will make me a better Christian.
One the most annoying (or great, depending on your view point) aspects of Christianity is that the why is more important than the what. Our motives will kill us all in the end.
Why are we supposed to read our Bibles and pray daily? The Sunday school answer is that it helps us get to know God. Excellent. But why do we really do it? Why do we do any of the “spiritual” things that we do?
I think the majority of us fall into one of three categories.
Category A: Appeasing a Vengeful God
People in this category do anything and everything to try to buy their way out of hell and make life on earth as pleasant as possible. The theory is that, while Jesus said that his sacrifice on the cross was a free gift for all mankind, he didn’t really mean it. How could he? Nothing good is free. So we read the Bible to log hours, pray to let the Big Guy see we care, fast to show how amazingly holy we can be, tithe to make sure God knows we’ll put our money where our mouth is, and be nice to stupid people because God might strike us dead if we aren’t. And we very much don’t want to be dead.
The single thread that runs through this category is fear. We’re terrified of God. We’re afraid that He lied when He said He loves us and that perfect love casts out fear.
Category B: Just call me Super Christian.
People in this category want to be super heroes like the ones you read about in the Bible. They want to call down fire from heaven, walk on water, raise the dead, outrun chariots, destroy legions of enemies with nothing but a donkey’s jaw bone, and pretty much kick @$$... in a totally holy and pious manner. These people aren’t afraid of God. Rather, they view him as a means to an end. The Bible is full of amazing people doing amazing things, and following all those spiritual disciplines seems like a good way to get in on that action.
Category C: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
This isn’t about keeping up with the Jones’. This is about making the Jones’ feel like the filthy heathen sinners that they are. The kind of people in the category strive not for God’s attention, but for man’s. Mother Teresa ain’t got nothing on them. No sir. These people walk the Christian life perfectly, never taking a step out of bounds, always meekly following the words of the Bible in a surprisingly public fashion. They’d start their own fan club if they weren’t so humble.
What’s important, really, really important, is that all three categories look the same on the outside. These are good people living good lives. Sadly, that isn't enough. Category A is riddled with guilt, afraid they’ll never be able to appease their terrible God. Category B is eternally frustrated, sadly incapable of making mountains move or dead men breathe. Category C invests so much in how others see them that a tainted image is tantamount to death.
It’s the why that’s wrong, not the what. Why do we do anything we do? What drives us? What moves us forward? If it’s fear, if it’s the lust of power, if it’s pride, than we’ve strayed. The thing that should motivate us is love.
You see, you’re not good enough to warrant salvation. You’re not good enough for Jesus to die for. You never will be. No matter what you do, you’ll never earn salvation. It can’t be bought at any price. But you can receive it because, while you don’t deserve it, Jesus wants you to have it. If you read your Bible, do so to know Him more. If you pray, do so to talk to this wonderful Savior who laid down his life for people who hated him. Do all that you do with the startling knowledge that you’re loved beyond reason.
Well… that turned out way preachier than I intended. I’ll have to come up with something about motorcycles or rock climbing for next time. As a side note, the title for this post comes from the Stone Temple Pilots song “Where the River Goes” off the album Core. Which, in retrospect, seems like an odd choice for this particular post. Fortunately for me, I’m far too lazy to change that now.
One the most annoying (or great, depending on your view point) aspects of Christianity is that the why is more important than the what. Our motives will kill us all in the end.
Why are we supposed to read our Bibles and pray daily? The Sunday school answer is that it helps us get to know God. Excellent. But why do we really do it? Why do we do any of the “spiritual” things that we do?
I think the majority of us fall into one of three categories.
Category A: Appeasing a Vengeful God
People in this category do anything and everything to try to buy their way out of hell and make life on earth as pleasant as possible. The theory is that, while Jesus said that his sacrifice on the cross was a free gift for all mankind, he didn’t really mean it. How could he? Nothing good is free. So we read the Bible to log hours, pray to let the Big Guy see we care, fast to show how amazingly holy we can be, tithe to make sure God knows we’ll put our money where our mouth is, and be nice to stupid people because God might strike us dead if we aren’t. And we very much don’t want to be dead.
The single thread that runs through this category is fear. We’re terrified of God. We’re afraid that He lied when He said He loves us and that perfect love casts out fear.
Category B: Just call me Super Christian.
People in this category want to be super heroes like the ones you read about in the Bible. They want to call down fire from heaven, walk on water, raise the dead, outrun chariots, destroy legions of enemies with nothing but a donkey’s jaw bone, and pretty much kick @$$... in a totally holy and pious manner. These people aren’t afraid of God. Rather, they view him as a means to an end. The Bible is full of amazing people doing amazing things, and following all those spiritual disciplines seems like a good way to get in on that action.
Category C: R-E-S-P-E-C-T
This isn’t about keeping up with the Jones’. This is about making the Jones’ feel like the filthy heathen sinners that they are. The kind of people in the category strive not for God’s attention, but for man’s. Mother Teresa ain’t got nothing on them. No sir. These people walk the Christian life perfectly, never taking a step out of bounds, always meekly following the words of the Bible in a surprisingly public fashion. They’d start their own fan club if they weren’t so humble.
What’s important, really, really important, is that all three categories look the same on the outside. These are good people living good lives. Sadly, that isn't enough. Category A is riddled with guilt, afraid they’ll never be able to appease their terrible God. Category B is eternally frustrated, sadly incapable of making mountains move or dead men breathe. Category C invests so much in how others see them that a tainted image is tantamount to death.
It’s the why that’s wrong, not the what. Why do we do anything we do? What drives us? What moves us forward? If it’s fear, if it’s the lust of power, if it’s pride, than we’ve strayed. The thing that should motivate us is love.
You see, you’re not good enough to warrant salvation. You’re not good enough for Jesus to die for. You never will be. No matter what you do, you’ll never earn salvation. It can’t be bought at any price. But you can receive it because, while you don’t deserve it, Jesus wants you to have it. If you read your Bible, do so to know Him more. If you pray, do so to talk to this wonderful Savior who laid down his life for people who hated him. Do all that you do with the startling knowledge that you’re loved beyond reason.
Well… that turned out way preachier than I intended. I’ll have to come up with something about motorcycles or rock climbing for next time. As a side note, the title for this post comes from the Stone Temple Pilots song “Where the River Goes” off the album Core. Which, in retrospect, seems like an odd choice for this particular post. Fortunately for me, I’m far too lazy to change that now.
Comments
Personally, I don't mind preachy.
I'm A--.
Hmmmmm, bleck. A-- has good intentions for the most part, jumps through some hoops they think they should jump through to show God they care, and generally takes two steps forward and one step back. They constantly compare themselves to the Jones's and feel they'll never be as good a Christian as the Jones's are, but then they look at the Smith's and think, "At least I'm not THAT bad." And then the Higginbothams come along and remind A-- that a sin is a sin is a sin and they're no better than a murderer.
I had 3 hours of sleep last night. Somebody should probably take my keyboard away. :D
Glad you don't mind preachy. I seem to get into kicks now and again where everything I say comes off preachy.
F&D,
Three hours of sleep is insane. Parent's should invest in a stasis chamber when they get kids. That way one parent can sleep through the appocolyps while the other deals with the night's tragedy.
How do you know so much?
Anyway, I'm the first one. For sure. I'm terrified of pissing God off. Other than that, I want to live my life.
MM,
Nope, never been a parent. I've been a kid though. My poor, poor parents.