by Sean Jackson

Created on: October 13, 2008

Who's the boss?

People don't like being told what to do. It's easier to can wrap your mind around the "concept" of a creator god in some abstract, non intervening form than it is to actually apply any principals said "god" may require of us. Particularly when such rules conflict with what we want to do at any given point in time. That's why "new age" religions are so popular, especially with the well educated elite. They focus on the self, a subject with which our human nature is totally at ease. True Christianity places the focus on God and Christ rather than us. True Christianity encourages us to look past ourselves and focus on others, to esteem ourselves lightly and do good not to get recognized for being a really nice person, but to do so privately so our Father in Heaven may receive the glory.

So much of what passes for religion today is mostly about making us feel good about ourselves. Even much of mainstream Christianity falls for the "new age" feel good psycho babble to some extent. "We're all sinners"; "God makes no mistakes"; "Jesus loves me just the way I am" are all common phrases that, when taken to the extreme, prohibit serious self examination which is necessary in order to draw closer to God. Yes we all sin but the duty of a Christian is to examine our life and choose to live in a way that is pleasing to God. And while God certainly doesn't make mistakes we more than pick upthe slack. Perhaps the most egregious way in which Christians shortchange their walk is by living by the spiritually stunted beleif that "Jesus loves me just the way I am". True His love is all-encompassing but we are required to walk with Him. He came to us in our sin because that's where we were living. That doesn't meanthe life we were living was ok by God.

True Christianity is hard work. It requires a total life transformation. It isn't good enough to thump a Bible and tell everyone else how sinful they are. Holy Scripture is a rather unflattering mirror we all must gaze upon. True faith requires sacrifice and telling your flesh no. That's the hard sell. A reasonable person can look at the irreducible complexity of life and be persuaded towards the existence of a "higher Being" so long as nothing else is required of them. In this world of moral relativism where everyman is his own arbiter of what is right and wrong, selling people on giving up their own position of supposed authority and live by rules they wrongly perceive as being too authoritarian or rigid can be quite daunting. Christians who ignore God's law in their life don't help things either.

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