The Prison of God’s Love 3

Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. (Matthew 26:35)

We saw that at the first level of accessing God’s love, there are many assumptions on what God’s love entails.

On that we assume grace covers anything we do, even willful sin.

We saw the dangers that understanding of God’s love brings, from broken relationships and marriages to unreliable believers who are always expecting to receive.

We are looking at the second level, the level of the obedient son.

Is anything wrong with being obedient? I am sure you are wondering.

Like Christ said, God judges beyond acts to motives. And He rewards using the whole package. Acts account for pretty little in that assessment as they are only products of the inner investment and input of soul and spirit. Judging actions only would be like a farmer washing the mango fruit to reward the tree for being productive.

This believer seeks to qualify for God’s love. Sadly he puts all his effort on performance.

As we saw with the son who did not waste resources, he appeared to have deprived himself to serve his father. So much that he asked why he was denied a small goat to party with his friends. He had to be reminded that everything was his as his brother had taken his part.

Like I said in the first post, at this level, one seeks to love using their resources. His gratitude flows through his acts of service. They will do everything they know the father (for a Christian, God) wants.

They will thus not walk in sin like most of the ones who stop their growth in the first level. They do not waste resources as they ‘still’ belong to the father. They are simply consistent in walking in ways they know their father agrees with.

The only problem is that they are using their resources and effort.

That creates a problem, though. Due to that, they interpret whatever the father does as approval or disapproval of what they are doing. That is why the elder son thought his father was biased for extending grace to the prodigal son.

We see that in our churches all the time.

How many preachers draw a simple graph comparing your giving with God’s blessing? Haven’t you heard preachers challenging people to even give their rent and fare monies to be able to access blessings as it shows how much they love God? Yet that is never challenged anywhere as it is assumed as Biblical.

Job’s three friends argued using that theology. They used scripture to justify the fact that what Job was going through was clear evidence that he was utterly sinful. And we see that many times.

As a minister called outside the confines of convention, I have encountered that argument more times that I care to remember. I remember once being challenged by a person I had discipled and raised until he became a pastor to go to him to be taught to pray rightly as it was impossible to him that I was seemingly at the same point materially he found me when he was down and he had completely overtaken me. To him, my faithfulness to God did not make sense. I was too unrewarded to make any sense to him.

That theology finds it difficult to understand Christ’s teachings, especially as they operate in a different realm to the logical.

The last shall be first. It will be impossible to understand a reject, probably a basket case gaining, even bearing much more fruit than we have done over the ages. It appears as if God has neglected our faithful service and poured all His attention on the new kid on the block. Remember the elder brother doing the same thing? Remember Peter wondering how Jesus would deal with John when He revealed how Peter will glorify Him in his old age?

It becomes difficult to concentrate on our assignment when we are always looking to see how God is dealing with others to assess our favor quotient because we assume God responds to us according to our effort.

But it gets even worse. We interpret everything that happens to us and others as an indication of our works. Good things are a product of things that please God and unpleasant things are an indication of God’s displeasure.

Sadly that is the preaching in vogue these days. That is the argument you get when you challenge singers about their ungodly and spurious lyrics and dress, leave alone lifestyle and heresy in their songs. God can’t surely be blessing me this much if what I am doing is wrong. Album sales and media glitz is the indicator of God’s favor! It is sad that even pastors use that argument to explain their heresy forgetting that in the days we live in heresy is a magnet to a populace focused on self-seeking and glorification as prophesied. Or you haven’t read about itching years?

Another thing it promotes is selfishness. Due to the tendency to use our effort to demonstrate our love to God and gauge His response for the same, we will tend to look over the shoulder to see who else loves God as we do so that we can compete over that.

It also breeds partiality in ministry. A minister so inclined will prefer to minister to ‘blessed’ people than needy (unblessed) ones. If things are indicative of blessedness, is it not more sensible to minister to blessed people? Does it not make more sense to work with blessed people? All this time the minister is using mammon as the yardstick that says that a rich thief is more blessed than a missionary who has nothing because he left everything to pursue God’s call.

Again as a minister whose call is unconventional I am talking of things I see all the time. A person will look for ministers like me to pray for their business or project when it is starting. Yet they may not even invite us for the dedication of the same when it is now a mammoth. They will invite more ‘successful’ ministers for the dedication.

This doctrine explains why the only time the church ministers to actual needs and reaches out to the actual poor is when cameras are rolling as PR; because success requires some publicity as it will invite more blessing. Pastors refer basket cases to the likes of me because they know we do not use their yardstick to minister.

But it also affects our giving. Why do churches that have more money than they can use get all the offerings while those that are really ministering struggle to make ends meet? If blessing is material, would I risk giving to a church or ministry that does not demonstrate ‘blessedness’ (probably because all their giving goes to ministry)? Would not I be safer if I gave a ‘blessed’ church as that can easily open my doors of the same ‘blessing’?

They forget that Christ’s anointing was for ministering to the poor and disadvantaged. Also that in Matthew 25 He will be using that as the yardstick to measure our lives as believers.

The saddest part, however, is that it affects our preaching. We end up filling hell instead of depopulating it as our commission demands. We keep people comfortable in sin by showing them a different yardstick for going to heaven.

We give out spiritual positions based on mammon instead of scripture. We hire bastards and whores because they are bringing others like them to bring offerings. We make swindlers treasurers and corporate thieves trustees even when we know about their scandals because we really need their money to remain ‘blessed’. We even invite idol worshippers and even idols to ‘minister’ in our churches because of their huge influence that can invite offerers to our offertories.

Loving God using our strength does this and more.

But the worst thing is that it has a shelf life. A time will come when we will not be able to show that love as it will be impossible.

Remember the disciples running away when Jesus was arrested yet a few hours earlier were swearing that they will die for Him? Remember Peter, who had even wielded a sword to defend Jesus would deny Him three times shortly after?

We can never be able to love God using our effort and resources as there will come a time when they will come to an end. In fact they will easily deceive us that we have all that God requires of us, thus leaving out the real essentials. They could even lead us to hell like the ministers I am always quoting in Matthew 7: 21 – 23.

We need to know God’s word to know whether we love Him as He wills, or as we will. This is because it is the only valid source of God’s will.

If truth be told, this love is all focused on self. In fact it is a worship of self. I am seeking God’s applause as I please myself.

Ask anyone what makes a worship experience rich. The unanimous response will be that it makes the worshippers feel very good. That is why they will pay all that money to attend it.

Contrast it with Biblical worship.

Moses was told to remove his shoes. Then he was sent to confront the people he had run from as he was wanted for murder.

Look at other examples of worship in the Bible and tell me where feeling good ever features.

Have you ever asked yourself why God’s altar had to be built using natural and uncut stones; ones that using a tool on would defile the altar?

Nothing I can ever do can meet God’s standard. I can never improve on anything God has made or done.

The only way for me to be acceptable to Him is doing things according to His revelation. I can only love using the love He deposits in me if I will allow Him. Anything else is trash for the fire.

Let us use God’s word to know how He expects us to love; even better, know how we can access His love.