Monday's Meditation: In Praise of "Mindless Obedience"
Monday, January 31, 2011 at 10:27AM
“I won’t be a hypocrite. The Bible says partying and getting drunk is a bad thing, but I really like it. Why should I hold back from doing something if that’s what my heart really wants? I don’t think God would appreciate that. Obeying God only counts when we mean it from the heart.”
These are the words of a teenager I once tried to turn back from the edge of reckless behavior. This young person was intelligent, sincere, and determined not to put up a false front. His highest value was “be true to your heart.” He had seen plenty of high-school classmates profess one set of values at some church youth group, yet party themselves into a stupor on Friday nights.
True obedience to the will of God must spring from the heart, right? When Jesus said “if a man looks on a woman lustfully he has already committed adultery,” he was trying to point to the soil of the heart from which all action flows. “Mindless obedience” is the stuff of Pharisees, right?
In our day--perhaps more than any other--we are urged to be be real: “Follow your dreams . . . don’t settle for less . . . be true to your self.” Yes, well, what if I’m a jerk? Should I be true to that self? What if my dreams involve a level of selfishness that puts my family at risk for poverty or loss? Should I be true to those dreams? What if in refusing to settle for less I end up achieving nothing, and must rely on the charity of others? What if following my heart leads me to a god who looks exactly like . . . me?
Monday’s Meditation is a caution: It’s true that the highest obedience flows from a heart conformed to his image: are there lower forms of obedience capable of effecting change from the outside in? How does my heart experience such a transformation, and what is my role in the metamorphosis?
Reader Comments (8)
A question comes to mind: Does obedience "from the heart" mean "doing what I feel like at the time," or "doing with my will set on God?" I think people often mean the former, but I think it is the latter: Obedience "from the heart" is about intentions rather than emotions. You may not FEEL like obeying right now, but you can still obey from the heart by living righteously out of obedience to God rather than for the approval of man.
I only have a few seconds to comment, but here are some random thoughts I had while reading today's post:
* Following your heart is not the same thing as fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Desires can come from different motivations. I think we give our renewed/renewing heart a bad name when we dump the flesh's junk on it.
* Personally I think Jesus' point to the Pharisee's was not about redefining sin for the NT folk, but making the law even harder for those under the law in the OT. It was directed towards the Pharisees, who didn't think they'd broken the law. Jesus redefined it for them. When we try to interpret more meaning from this passage than what was intended, things get fuzzy for the believer and our understanding of the purpose of the law for both then and now. I even think we (modern Christianity) has gotten into a weird trap where we've focused on the lust part of Jesus teaching and seem to ignore the anger part. I think this passage typically needs better context before application is derived.
* I think the OT and NT treat the heart quite differently. I wrote about this on my blog so I'll just add a link as I don't have time to comment more here. http://www.chadestes.com/2011/01/follow-your-heart/
Thanks for another good post and what will no doubt be a great discussion!
Hi guys:
Jesse: Good point. We are all subject to the tyranny of our feelings, and they do not always (rarely?) reflect our heart's true yearning. I chose an example of a teenager precisely because the issue is magnified with young people.
Chad: Always good to hear from you--though it's never often enough! I will check out your link eagerly. You raise an intriguing point about the purpose behind Jesus' "But I say you . . . " statements--I don't think I've ever seen it posited as "making the law even harder for those under the law in the OT." You've definitely given me something to think about.
The true end-game of this post is to set up Thursday's post, which will examine whether our outward actions impact our inner being (or vice-versa)
Peace to you both!
I'll look forward to Thursday's post!
Great points Ray. I think that's why cultivating some spiritual disciplines are so important. Just the process of retraining our minds and bodies can prove very fruitful when it comes time to make "authentic" or "real" decisions. When I think of the Israelites being called stiff-necked, I think of spiritual disciplines as a way to "massage" the neck and help us respond to God's leading. Not sure if that analogy works, but I know what I meant. :)
Such a great thing to be thinking and talking about, and I love the insights from Jesse, Chad and Ed (yes to spiritual disciplines!).
As I was reading your post, the thing that came to mind was my ongoing struggle with possessing the fruits of the spirits. I posted about it not long ago, in relation to conflict resolution, and one of the comments (from Christine) really shifted things for me in just the right way. She pointed out that they are called the fruits of the *Spirit,* not the fruits of Kristin.
In other words, it's not about trying to do what's right, or trying to change our own hearts, or trying to claim certain character traits as much as it is about doing everything we can to dwell in the spirit. I'm not saying that's an easy route to success, but it's a focal point and a place to begin.
Such a great thing to be thinking and talking about, and I love the insights from Jesse, Chad and Ed (yes to spiritual disciplines!).
As I was reading your post, the thing that came to mind was my ongoing struggle with possessing the fruits of the spirits. I posted about it not long ago, in relation to conflict resolution, and one of the comments (from Christine) really shifted things for me in just the right way. She pointed out that they are called the fruits of the *Spirit,* not the fruits of Kristin.
In other words, it's not about trying to do what's right, or trying to change our own hearts, or trying to claim certain character traits as much as it is about doing everything we can to dwell in the spirit. I'm not saying that's an easy route to success, but it's a focal point and a place to begin.
Great points Ray. I think that's why cultivating some spiritual disciplines are so important. Just the process of retraining our minds and bodies can prove very fruitful when it comes time to make "authentic" or "real" decisions. When I think of the Israelites being called stiff-necked, I think of spiritual disciplines as a way to "massage" the neck and help us respond to God's leading. Not sure if that analogy works, but I know what I meant. :)