I haven’t published a blog entry in over seven months. This absence was not purposeful, I just had better stuff to do. And judging from all of the reader feedback lamenting my absence, so have you.
I’ve been busy starting my own production company and heading its first production. More on this later when I finish the first episode.
My friend John Strong, who is the director/editor on the production, and I were discussing the conflict alluded to in the title: working hard or striving to do God’s will. As any Christian worth his weight in communion wafers will tell you, we’re supposed to be doing God’s will. Right?
If it were only that simple I wouldn’t need to break my seven months of seclusion to wax philosophical.
The most obvious question is how do we know God’s will? Because in order to do God’s will we first have to know what it is. The problem here is what if what we “know” is God’s will is not his will at all? I mean didn’t the Crusaders’ “know” God’s will? The Inquisitors? The Jury at the Salem Witch Trials? The list could go on, but that is about all of the bad Christian antics I can think of (and yes, I plan on doing an entry about this at some point in the future).
With Radical Islam presenting such a vivid picture of what it is like when someone “KNOWS” God’s will it may be wise to be a little more circumspect. In other words we are wrong in our understanding and knowledge of God. I know I’m wrong I just don’t know how or in what respect my understanding is skewed. Knowing that I don’t know it all gives me the humility and ability to listen and learn from others despite the fact that their understanding is different from mine.
Now this was a slight departure from what I “knew” I was going to be writing about in this entry but … well, it does illustrate the point I was going to try to make.
I believe that we are to work hard. We are to live our lives as unto God and in everything we do try to please him and bless others (which is one of the biggest ways we please him). In everything we do we are to do it with all our might as unto the Lord.
The problem with “doing God’s will” as mentioned above is that we may be wrong about what his will is but our certainty that our actions are right could lead to unmeasurable harm. Jesus said that his followers would be persecuted and killed and that those who did this would think that they were serving God. Certainty in fallacy. Its a new phrase I just coined. I’ll see if it catches on.
I believe (notice I’m not certain and am leaving room for my beliefs to change) that Radical Muslims have this problem. They know they’re right and are laying down their lives because of this certainty. The problem is that they are wrong (probably) but will only realize this once they have been used and cast aside by their “handler.”
The second problem with “striving to do God’s will” is that the onus or responsibility of bringing about His Will is on us. The problem with this assumption is that if it is our responsibility then we’re in charge. In the New Testament we (followers of Christ) are routinely called stewards or servants. Never are we called the boss or owner. When we strive we take onto ourselves pressures, difficulties and all the frustrations that don’t belong to us.
In my own life God (I believe) has been leading me into this current production (which has consumed every free moment [after family and work] for the last eight months). I believe he is going to bless it, open doors and that I am honoring him by doing this. But I can’t and won’t say that this is His Will and that anyone who disagrees with the project or how I produced it is wrong.
An interesting example of this is found in the book of Joshua, when Joshua meets the Captain of the Lord’s Army (probably an Arch Angel or maybe even Jesus). Joshua asks him who side he is on and the Captain says neither side. The Captain then offers Joshua the opportunity to get on his side.
God is not on our side. God is not a Republican, Democrat, American, Christian or Muslim (although it could be argued that he is a Messianic Jew). What God asks of us (I believe) is for us to be on his side, to work hard, to please him and bless others. We get on his side by knowing his word. We work hard when it is something we believe in and find a purpose in and will then persevere and be faithful to complete. We please him by the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness and self-control: I’ve rehashed them since they seem to have gotten lost in all of self-help pseudo-spirituality that we’d rather rehash) and these fruits are essential to our helping and blessing others.
I think that if we do this (get on God’s side, work hard, please him and bless others) then we are in God’s will. But this is more of a journey and not a destination. And for many of us this is our first opportunity to please God by practicing patience and self-control.
As I’ve been writing this entry I’ve tried to decide whether I am the pilot and God is my co-pilot/navigator or whether He is the pilot and I am the co-pilot. I believe that I’m the pilot. Ultimately I am in charge of my own life (free will). And this is how God intends it to be. He is my navigator and has a plan for the trip. I should be working hard with all the piloty stuff and not trying to plot my own path by looking at the map.
In my own recent endeavors God has constantly reminded me that what I am responsible for is how I conduct myself on the journey. I can’t worry about the destination. But if I do what I know to do and do it with all my might as unto the Lord, then what He does with my business, well that’s His business.
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