It has certainly been a while since my last blog post. What I have written today I am sure ruminates with many of us. Whether we like it or not, we live in a culture that believes that we are entitled to whatever we want. Wants and needs usually cross on very fine lines. We may say that we "need" something when in fact God is saying, "no you don't. I have this plan that is even better in accordance to My purpose" This blog explores this tendency and puts it through the test of Scripture. I believe that God has shown this to me and that all Christians need to be aware and careful that they do not make themselves out to be their god. I hope you enjoy the blog and that it stirs some thoughts in you.
The Bible never says that we should strive for having "more of God" but rather that we let Him have more of us. This is much more than semantics. Whenever we ask God into our lives we instantly have all of Him. The only thing holding us back is not God, but ourselves, and how much we are willing to give up to follow Him. I find particularly that most Christians have a hard time accepting what God has to teach them because it is so radically different from what our culture (even our Christian culture) and socialization has taught us to believe.
One counter-cultural example of God’s teachings would be that He expects us to suffer for Him. He would tell us to not run away from the suffering, but to learn from it and to trust Him through the difficulty (see the situation how God sees it); to be content despite circumstances. When we can get to this place we will no longer desire to simply avoid and pray against difficulty and pain, but rather, embrace it. We would embrace it because of our excitement in following God’s will; we will see it differently as an exciting place and time where God can teach and mould us; where he comforts us. We learn not to go by what we feel or see, but by our God who leads us out of grace and love. In another example, our culture would tell us to only go to something as we need it. However, even when we feel that we have no worldly needs, God expects us to and desires that we hold onto Him like we would when we are facing trial. This means that we do not drop God when we see Him as no longer needed. We need Him just as much, if not more, when things are going well.
It is never in our power to have more or less of God. However, God is always ready and waiting for us to fully surrender to Him; to give ourselves to Him. Our “portion” that we have of God never changes from Christian to Christian.
The Bible says,
2 Timothy 2: 1-4,
“1You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”
The Soldier in this army does not let himself get entangled in life to the point where he cannot follow orders. In the same way, we need to be always ready to say "yes" when God calls and to allow Him to completely mess up our schedules when necessary. It is never contingent for a soldier to have “more” of his commanding officer, rather, it is contingent that the officer give more of himself to his commanding officer in order to better serve Him. We definitely seek God, however, we need to realize is that our Lord is waiting for us to give our selves wholly to Him. In fact, the only way to live a Spirit-driven-life is to be fully surrendered to God. Otherwise we are just fooling ourselves and walking by our own strength.
What was just described is the "narrow way" that few find. Are we really following God, or just our own ambitions? Are we filtering through all the junk that our culture has taught us is truth, and seeking the truth of God no-matter how easy or hard it may be to accept? Are our presumptions and socialization shaping our perception of the truth, or are we letting God show us the reality of that truth? If we hold onto things that we think are Godly because that is just how we were taught, we are in danger of falling into many pits. Many times truth is a very hard thing to accept and we must not allow ourselves to override it with a counterfeit truth (no matter how much more comfortable the counterfeit truth may be).
Is “Christian” Entitlement a Byproduct of our Culture?
Our culture is a culture of entitlement. It gives us the mentality that “we deserve better” and that God should serve us, and bless us in any way WE choose to serve Him. We almost naturally force this mentality on the truths of Scripture. We find verses, claim them, call them God’s promises and expect God to serve us as we want Him to. This leads people to take Scripture out of context such as many Christians do with Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is not a promise to us today, but to the Israelites of that era. Yet, Christians of “entitlement” claim it for themselves and mourn when God does not follow through with his “promise”.
When many Christians read a passage and claim it for themselves, they forget that the world of the Spiritual and culture are different. Christians may choose a verse (can be very dangerous) where they see a promise that they will be prosperous. However, prosperity as well as many other words in the Bible hold different connotations than what people like to apply to them. For example, in some cases prosperity may simply that God will use the person. That person will be prosperous as God sees as prosperous. This doesn’t necessarily mean that God will give them riches and Gold. God sees that world very differently then what we see it as. Another example is happiness. What makes people happy by the world’s standards does not make God happy. Part of maturing as a Christian is that we eventually adopt God’s wants and desires. What makes God happy will eventually make us happy as we follow Him. The only way to get to get a spiritual perspective is that we let God teach us through surrender.
A great example of “Christian” entitlement is a heretical group called “The Word of Faith Movement” (also known as the Faith Movement and the Vineyard Movement). They believe that if they can only just have enough faith that they can have and get anything that their heart desire (thus making God into a cosmic santa claus). This movement is where the sayings, “Name it and claim it”, and “Grab it and blab it” came from. This movement and the culturally encouraged mentalities like them fulfill what Paul warned the church about in 2 Timothy 4:3, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” People today want entitlement, and if they can slap God’s name on it, all the better for them to accept it. They may think that they are following God however, the most deceptive lie is one that is one hair away from the truth; a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” led by “false prophets” (Matthew 7:14-16). This is just one example of just how our culture can force itself upon what would otherwise be Godly truth. The context is changed to suite themselves. God always furthers His agenda and not ours. God’s agenda will always bring people closer to Him and bring Him glory. This is one way to test whether or not something is from God. God does not merely create spectacles, nor does He do anything for nothing.
Along the lines of “entitlement” many Christians only real desire to obey God is because of what they can get out of it (such as our “reward” in heaven). Whenever the Bible says that we should strain towards the goal, the goal (and reward) is having the great privilege of eternally being in God’s presence. God does not say “follow me because of the great riches I will give you.” (This would be a lie from the devil and not a truth because it leads us away from God to other things: a counterfeit truth)”. Rather, God tells us to follow him because of His great love for us and because we were made to serve Him.
What Does God Entitle Us To?
“Well done good and faithful servant” should be our goal, just as it was for the servants who were entrusted with the money of their master in Matthew 25:14-30. Again, their “reward” was not a gift, but rather more responsibility and the opportunity to share in their master’s happiness. There was no increase in wealth, nor were they then given the opportunity to now do whatever they wanted to, believing that their master would bless them no matter what they did now, as they had earned their master’s trust. Instead, they remained servants. However, they became servants that their master was able to celebrate with. Their reward was that they became closer to their master, not free of him. Although it was their choice to put the money to work in the way they did, it was only because they helped further their master’s interest that they received this reward. Earning more with what they were given helped further their master’s interest, whereas burying the money did not further the master’s interest. It was only using what the master gave them (their skills, abilities, resources etcetera) that they were able to earn any more money for their master. None of this money was given to the servant, nor were they responsible for the presence of the money given to them. It was only using what was given to them, and using it in a way that helped their master that they received their reward. For 1 Timothy 6:7 says, “For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it”. Everything in this life is what God has given to us to use for HIS glory. If the master really would bless His servants no matter what they did with what they were given, then the third servant, who buried the money, would also have been blessed and received a reward. However, this did not happen. It is only when we use God’s gifts in a way that furthers His plan that we can ever hope to be blessed. The premise of this blessing for the servants was not wealth or land of their own to make their lives better and easier in the world’s eyes, but instead the opportunity to become closer to their master and to gain his favour.
The third servant did what he did out of fear. His intentions were good, but at the core was fear. His actions were based off of what worked best for him, not what worked best for the master. Many Christians today are much worse than even this servant because they think that God wants them to “exploit His wealth” (think about it) like the prodigal son has done in Luke 15:11-32. Thus making matters worse because at least the prodigal son knew that he was doing wrong. Even though burying the money kept it safe, and was easy, the path he should have taken in this case was the harder one. Because the servant who buried the money did what he wanted, and not what the master wanted, in Matthew 25:30, the master had him thrown out. This can be a scary truth to face for many: that they can find their own ways to serve God, but without God’s desire being the drive behind it, it is utterly worthless. The intentions can be as noble as any others, and the person may honestly desire to do good, just as the third servant did by keeping the master’s money safe, but if it is not what God wanted you to do, then you will be thrown out too. Therefore, it is vital to make sure that you are following God’s will in what you do. Don’t just look around you for something good to do for God without asking God what it is He wants you to do. His will and your ideas may be very different. Many people mistake what they want and desire for what God wants and desires. This is because they want to feel as though they are really making a difference. However, this brings it back to their core being themselves, and not God. He won’t bless what He did not orchestrate.
Control of the path you take needs to be God’s. He is the one who should be leading you down a path. If he isn’t the one leading, don’t expect God to change course to follow you.
Should We Desire “More” of God?
Desiring more of God sounds like a wonderful and noble cause to work towards, but at it’s core is a desire for God to do the moving towards the person. This is a false premise. We are not waiting for God to come down on us, neither do we simply need more of Him. This mentality is stemmed in the cultural belief of entitlement whether we like it or not. Rather, the weight is on us to go to Him because he is already with us. He is waiting for us to tell Him that we will follow Him no-matter what (daily surrendering to His will and not to our own). To be “Spirit Filled” and to live a “Spirit Filled Life” goes only as far as we allow God to have more of us. God entitles us to follow Him; we cannot entitle ourselves. Thus we are the ones inhibiting ourselves from living the Spirit filled life, and not God. God is always ready to lead us, the question is: Are we ready to follow Him?
Some may read this and think “Oh yeah, I know that. I just need to work on being better and convincing God that I’m a good person for him to allow closeness”. This is another lie. We cannot woo God into drawing us close. He is ready to do that, and will do so as soon as we surrender ourselves to Him, realizing that we can never be good enough to earn God’s love. God is not looking for spiritual ability. He is looking for spiritual availability. His love and attention are not something we can earn or deserve. It is only by God’s grace that we can come to God’s throne.
