There’s a belief among many Christians that’s a death trap. It’s the idea that by pursuing what’s right, we are pursuing God.
Imagine for a moment you are in love. You pursue the heart of the person you love. You are passionate and communicate intimately with them. While you may try to show the person how much you love them by doing things to please them, that is not how you pursue them. That’s just a by-product of your love.
Think of Ruth, the woman who pursued Boaz, her future husband, by dressing her best and slipping in his bed to lie at his feet after he’d had a little much to drink. She wasn’t safe, worrying about what the neighbors or other church members might think. She wasn’t worried about doing the right and acceptable thing. She went after his heart by being vulnerable, not by standing firm in her good-girl shoes.
Think of the scandalous woman who tracked down Jesus at Simon the Pharisee’s house. She was captured by Jesus the moment she heard the gossip about Him. She didn’t recline at the table, discussing the Law with Him. She determined to pour out her love, and capture His heart. So she went for Jesus’ heart…via his feet. She did so by shedding her tears on his feet, washing them with expensive perfume, and drying them with her hair…all while kissing His feet! Oh, the scandal of it all fills me with excitement!! All the while, Simon, a Pharisee {those known for upholding and enforcing the Law} was chastising Jesus in his mind for not doing what he considered to be the right thing. And Jesus rebuked him.
…her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much… Luke 7:47
Notice that the above verse doesn’t say that her sins were forgiven because she did the right thing. Or because she upheld the Law. Or because she kept socially-acceptable standards. She simply loved much.
I dare say we needn’t even try to pursue doing what’s right. {Go ahead, call me a heretic.}
God is relentlessly pursuing us…our hearts…and all we have to do is give in to Him. Give in to His love. Communicate with Him. Let our hearts beat with His. Allow Him to develop intimacy with us. God is far more concerned with our hearts than with our actions.
God wins our hearts with His loving, tender heart. Do we really think he wants less from us?
When our heart’s desire is to pursue God, to know Him intimately, to become one with Him, we don’t have to worry about doing what’s right. Holy Spirit will teach us the way to live…and it may not even look like we expected. In fact, it might look a little scandalous.
Rebekah, I’ve done nothing but not my head in agreement with your posts lately. It seems like we’ve both been headed in the same direction.
When I left institutional church two years ago to gather with a small body of believers in different homes, I was scared to death. In the process, I quit reading Christian books, quit listening to the radio, and quit watching t.v. for the most part. I went into isolation. And that’s where Jesus found me. Actually, that’s where I found Him. I found out he never left me. Jesus was all I needed, but I never found Him in books, or, oddly, enough in any of the churches I’d attended. I needed grace, mercy, and healing, and I only found it in Him.
I think you’re right on here. When Jesus is our focus and we’re pursuing a relationship with Him, everything else will fall into place. I’ve gone after doing the “right thing” before. It couldn’t and didn’t save me. It left me with an impossible standard that I’d already fallen infinitely short of. Pursuing the “right thing” does nothing but put you on a hamster wheel.
The church as a whole has complicated the gospel, I think. It’s Jesus, plus nothing, and minus nothing.
Heather, I love that you left the IC. I wish I had the courage to do it! I’m tired of the “hamster wheel.” Exhausted, actually. I think the IC talks a lot about healing, but does little to foster it…at least that’s my experience.
I love your writing. We all have struggles in our lives. Everyones struggles are not the same. It always helps to know that we are not the only ones who are in a crisis in our lives. I always try to not judge anyone for the way that they approach their struggles. We all know how it is best for us to communicate with god about our problems. Keep writing and God will keep blessing people like me through it. May God keep continue to give you words to write. I always wished that I could do it.
Thank you, Don. I think so often we just ignore our struggles. I’m so glad to know a few people who struggle, and don’t mind admitting it. Thank you for your encouragement! (It’s never too late to start something new…write!!)