A critic of a recent essay wrote to me and said, “Stop relying on what some Jewish zombie said 2000 years ago and just for once, FOR ONCE, do the right thing based on what is in your hearts and minds.” He took issue with the Bible and Christian faith in general stating his own belief that we can save ourselves by intelligently following our emotions. Sounds good, right? The whole ‘noble man’ thing is a very attractive philosophy to us. We want to think that deep inside of us, underneath our wounded feelings, our inadequacies, and our impulses, there is a self-directed being capable of accomplishing great good without any need for a Savior or God.
History would argue differently. Generally, people left to ‘follow their hearts,’ do not succeed at nobly improving the world except for themselves! We need the guidelines of law to restrain us, don’t we? In any social setting, chaos soon follows a break-down of governing authority. Take the teacher out of the classroom for a few minutes and she will return to students in disarray! Ramp that up to a national level and look at a place like Somalia where the central government collapsed. Cruelty and tribalism soon followed, bringing even more suffering and poverty to the people of that land.
The Bible teaches us why we cannot ‘just follow our heart’ to a better world. Here’s what we learn. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9, NIV) Our natural desire is self-preservation, which unchecked by law or Spirit, becomes an expression of selfishness. The turning point in the Bible is when Christ Jesus entered the world to bring us the message of salvation from sin and to teach us that transformation can happen through God’s power. The Law of Moses, though good, was insufficient to make us truly good because of the "sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." (Romans 7:18-19, NLT) We need a Savior, who loves us and through His love makes us new, inside out!
My critic is right in his observations that religion can, and often does, become just another tool of power and a way for those with privilege to take advantage of the masses. Simply becoming part of an organized religion cannot produce the necessary change. What is needed is an encounter, through faith, with the Living God. And, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)
The Christian who is one because of spiritual transformation, and not simply because his has gone through some ritual, does not have an escapist philosophy that avoids engagement with the real, suffering world, nor does he live with any desire to conquer others with his way of life. Instead, like his Master, he is ready to give up his life to defeat evil with love. As Keller says, “If we embrace the Christian teaching that Jesus is god and that he went to the Cross, then we have deep consolation and strength to face the brutal realities of life on earth. We can know that God is truly Emmanuel – God with us- even in our worst sufferings.” (Reason for God, Riverhead, 2008) We see the cross is followed by resurrection and therefore we have great hope that our dying to self will be followed by the emergence of something new and glorious.
My heart and mind are informed by the truth of the Word and I am made alive through faith in Christ Jesus. But, I will not trust my impulses alone. Instead, I will trust the One who leads me higher. I will find myself often in the company of those who also seek Him.
"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.
For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.
But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." (Philippians 3:8-14, NLT)
Disciple, are you ready to die to Self and live for Christ?
Are you engaged with the world, meeting the challenges with hope and love?
This is the heart of the Gospel which we follow. Onward – for the glory of God!
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