Quick thought experiment: do you do something kind for your wife/husband/mother/father/sibling/friend/etc. solely in anticipation that they will somehow reward you? Do you refrain from doing something unkind in the hope that they’ll refrain from punishing you?
I guess you could answer yes to either question, but that’s a rather bleak view of how relationships are nurtured. I like to think I have a higher motivation for my actions than rote, dog-like training from my youth.
The reason I ask this is because I often hear people talk about Christianity (and any religion probably) as just a system of reward/punishment relating to the afterlife. You believe/do the right stuff, you’re rewarded in Heaven. You believe/do the wrong stuff, you’re punished in Hell.
The problem with that notion is that it’s rooted in the assumption that believers in Jesus Christ are motivated out of either desire or fear. We follow Jesus because we desire the reward of eternal life, and we avoid sin because we fear God’s wrath. That’s a valid assumption when you look at certain theological segments of Christianity, but it’s one I strongly disagree with on Biblical as well as philosophical and experiential terms.
I’ve heard more than one preacher express it this way: who is a better fighter? A soldier, or a lover? A soldier will fight for duty and honor and glory, but a lover will fight for the one he or she loves…to the death and beyond. I heard once of a story of a mother who lifted a car single-handedly in order to save her baby. I don’t know if it’s true or why it was necessary, but the point is this: if you love someone enough, you will do ANYTHING for them. Why? You know, it doesn’t even matter why. If you love someone enough, you will do crazy, bizarre, outlandish things just to get a little smile. You could live for weeks just on the scent of a letter from a loved one who appreciated your little joke. People in love do wacky things.
People in love with Jesus will do anything for Jesus. Reward/punishment, frankly, will not even be on the radar screen in many instances. I’m sure I’ll go to Heaven if I don’t give some food to a bum on the street. But if I know that Jesus smiles when that guy is blessed in His name, that means everything in the world to me. Why? I don’t know why. Because I love Jesus, that’s why.
Some people live their lives as soldiers in God’s army. The metaphor has its uses, but I strongly believe this: a lover will outfight a soldier any day. I’d rather be a lover first, a fighter second. I’d rather be a worshipper first, a warrior second. King David understood this truth, and I think he’s a pretty good example to live by.
Be a radical lover of God.
Follow me on Twitter
Subscribe to blog feed
4 Comments
I feel that we should avoid sin and follow Jesus not to get rewarded, but to do so to become a better person. It gives you confidence knowing there is something greater than you trying to pull us out of the muck we live in down here. And when you have confidence, you can approach people better and that rubs off onto other people and it’s not something you have to be blatant with your faith about. You be a nice person and love everyone because you are filled with inspiration from God.
I like this. You’re so right — “if you love someone enough, you will do ANYTHING for them. Why? You know, it doesn’t even matter why. If you love someone enough, you will do crazy, bizarre, outlandish things just to get a little smile. You could live for weeks just on the scent of a letter from a loved one who appreciated your little joke.” I know this feeling. And a song came on the radio today that reminded me of it. It’s by the La’s about the pull of a love that consumes, and these words, even though they’re in a pop song, resonate with yours. Here are the lyrics with “she” substituted appropriately with “He” for you
There He goes
There He goes again
Racing through my brain
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains
There He goes
There He goes again
Pulsing through my veins
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains
There He goes
There He goes again
He calls my name,
Pulls my train
No one else could heal my pain
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains
etc.
Here they are on YouTube if you’re interested in hearing the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvPm0-tIQk0
cheers!
Hey Brooke, nice to see you here! Thanks for sharing that song…I’ve loved that one ever since I heard it in the movie “So I Married an Axe Murderer”. Did you ever see that? Hilarious romantic comedy. But anyway, I never thought of singing it that way before.
That is a very funny movie — I miss Mike Myers! The version of the song in the movie is a cover by the Boo Radleys — a bit tepid I think, because I like the grittier sound of Lee Mavers’ voice and the rougher production in the La’s original — you get the feeling he needs to get it off his chest. He’s a working-class man in a bit of ecstacy and agony over some girl who he can’t live without… Sigh. There’s nothing more romantic than a man who has to sing about what he’s feeling! To me, music of all kinds is so spiritual and uplifting, and so taps into the human condition and suffering and ecstasy and hope and love and pain and salvation. I wonder, if Jesus were alive today, would he front a band? And would he play guitar or keyboards?