The Standard
It's 4:00am - can't sleep, so I'm reading a book by Donald Miller called "Searching for God Knows What" and I'm reminded once again what this Christianity thing is all about (or rather what it's not about). It's not about 'getting to go to heaven' - it can't be, or else it would be about me. Does that make sense? If my Christianity is about 'earning crowns', then I'm doing it for the wrong reason.
I honestly don't think people set out to become legalistic hall monitors. I think that we (and yes, I'm part of that group as well) usually set out to do 'good things for God', and the reason we do that is that we've been indoctrinated into a culture where doing good things is rewarded. When you are little, you get 'presents' for doing good things. Behave in church and you'll get some candy. Don't hit your brother and you'll get some candy - maybe that's why we're an overweight society as well, but that's another blog. At any rate, we're indoctrinated into this mentality that God loves 'good little boys and girls' more than He loves 'bad little boys and girls', and so we 'learn' to try to earn God's love. The problem with that is that God's standard is much higher than behaving in Church - His standard goes to the core of who we are. When we're confronted with God, we are confronted with the depths of our own depravity - and there is no costume or make-up which will mask that depravity. As a result, we learn to pretend. We pretend that we're really not that bad by lowering the standard. And the standard is other people. That's the root of legalism. When we make other people our standard instead of God, we become legalists. Here's how it works: we can't maintain the righteous standard set by God so we make other people our standard of righteousness. In so doing, we 'develop' a set of religious rules which usually leans toward things that we tend not to struggle with. In other words, it's easy for homosexuality to be included in my 'no-no' list because that's not a struggle I have (for the record, I'm not saying that homosexuality isn't a sin, I'm merely using it for an example). Then, I can look around me and feel rather justified in my own righteousness because it's pretty easy to find people who fail to meet the standard I've set. And, if the people who fail to meet my standard are known for being Christians, then I feel much better about my standing with God because I know I'm doing better than those around me. Ever felt like that? Ever patted yourself on the back because you're a better Christian than someone else? That's exactly what the Pharisees did - they set their own rules and then thanked God that they were better at keeping the rules than the horrible sinners they were daily confronted with.
Christ took another approach, though. Even though HE WAS THE STANDARD, He didn't 'look down on people' for not meeting it - He knew they couldn't. He simply made it His life to meet the needs of those around Him.
I'll never measure up - I just can't. If, however, I can change my focus FROM either (1) trying to meet the standard, or (2) holding others to my own standard (you know - teaching as doctrine the commandments of men), and TO truly being a friend to those around me, then I'll be a lot closer to The Standard than I ever could have with my focus on me.
What a mighty change in this world would be wrought would Christians only learn to live for those around them.
Mat. 25:34-40 (NIV)
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Grace and peace,
PTL
I honestly don't think people set out to become legalistic hall monitors. I think that we (and yes, I'm part of that group as well) usually set out to do 'good things for God', and the reason we do that is that we've been indoctrinated into a culture where doing good things is rewarded. When you are little, you get 'presents' for doing good things. Behave in church and you'll get some candy. Don't hit your brother and you'll get some candy - maybe that's why we're an overweight society as well, but that's another blog. At any rate, we're indoctrinated into this mentality that God loves 'good little boys and girls' more than He loves 'bad little boys and girls', and so we 'learn' to try to earn God's love. The problem with that is that God's standard is much higher than behaving in Church - His standard goes to the core of who we are. When we're confronted with God, we are confronted with the depths of our own depravity - and there is no costume or make-up which will mask that depravity. As a result, we learn to pretend. We pretend that we're really not that bad by lowering the standard. And the standard is other people. That's the root of legalism. When we make other people our standard instead of God, we become legalists. Here's how it works: we can't maintain the righteous standard set by God so we make other people our standard of righteousness. In so doing, we 'develop' a set of religious rules which usually leans toward things that we tend not to struggle with. In other words, it's easy for homosexuality to be included in my 'no-no' list because that's not a struggle I have (for the record, I'm not saying that homosexuality isn't a sin, I'm merely using it for an example). Then, I can look around me and feel rather justified in my own righteousness because it's pretty easy to find people who fail to meet the standard I've set. And, if the people who fail to meet my standard are known for being Christians, then I feel much better about my standing with God because I know I'm doing better than those around me. Ever felt like that? Ever patted yourself on the back because you're a better Christian than someone else? That's exactly what the Pharisees did - they set their own rules and then thanked God that they were better at keeping the rules than the horrible sinners they were daily confronted with.
Christ took another approach, though. Even though HE WAS THE STANDARD, He didn't 'look down on people' for not meeting it - He knew they couldn't. He simply made it His life to meet the needs of those around Him.
I'll never measure up - I just can't. If, however, I can change my focus FROM either (1) trying to meet the standard, or (2) holding others to my own standard (you know - teaching as doctrine the commandments of men), and TO truly being a friend to those around me, then I'll be a lot closer to The Standard than I ever could have with my focus on me.
What a mighty change in this world would be wrought would Christians only learn to live for those around them.
Mat. 25:34-40 (NIV)
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Grace and peace,
PTL
posted by posttinebraelux | 1:53 AM
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